9: Writing Correspondence

CHOICES AND STRATEGIES: Choosing a Type of Correspondence

IF THE SITUATION IS . . .	AND YOU ARE WRITING TO . . .	TRY THIS TYPE OF CORRESPONDENCE
Formal	People outside or within your organization	Letters. Because letters use centuries-old conventions such as the salutation and complimentary close, they are the most formal of the four types of correspondence.
Moderately formal	People outside your organization	Letters or email. Letters are more formal than email, but consider how your readers will need to use the information. Recipients can store and forward an email easily, as well as capture the text and reuse it in other documents. In addition, you can attach other files to an email.
Moderately formal	People within your organization	Memos or email. Memos are moderately formal and can be sent in the body of an email or as an attachment.
Informal	People outside or within your organization	Email or microblogs. Email is good for quick, relatively informal communication with one or many recipients. Micro-blog posts such as Twitter tweets or Facebook status up-dates can be useful for quick questions addressed to a group. Microblogs are the most informal type of correspondence.