Thank you for your post on letter writing.  Can you give some tips on how to do the envelope?  I'm handwriting them out just now!!

Hi, I'm glad you liked the letter writing post.  In the past I have descended to handwriting the envelopes too but it is not very professional.  I guess you have to hope that someone lower down will open the envelope and place the pristine letter on the recipient's desk.  Not good enough really though for a Super PA!!

Wherever possible I use window envelopes.  You can get them in a range of sizes including A4.  This can save an amazing amount of time when you are doing letters throughout the day.  After a bit of practice you will learn the best place on the page to put the address, and where you have to fold the letter so that you can see it clearly in the window.  You may want to design a letter template with the address perfectly placed for a window envelope, or you may even discover that someone before you has already designed a template with this in mind.  Check it out before you reinvent the wheel.

If for some odd reason you can't get hold of window envelopes, my next suggestion would be using labels.  These should be easy to use on most printers and some brands (e.g. Avery) are actually listed in Word by product code so the layout is already done for you.  If you use a generic product it might be worth finding out the equivalent Avery code and setting your Word labels to that same number.  It is possible to customise the spacing and placement in labels, and I'll cover that in another post.

Finally, your printer might actually print directly on to envelopes.  It may have a separate envelope feed and when you select the envelope option in Word it will print in the correct place depending on your settings.  In Word 2003 you will find this under Tools-Letters and Mailings-Envelopes and Labels, in Word 2007 click on the Mailings tab and select Envelopes.

Happy mailing!!

I do large mailouts and I would like to print them out with the signature in place, instead of asking the person sign each letter, or photocopy the signed letter.  How do I do this?

This is a great idea, and a brilliant time saver for both you and the person signing the letter.  It is really very simple if you have the right equipment.

Basically just get the person to do their usual signature on a blank piece of paper.  Use a scanner to scan it in.  If you don't have  one in your office see if the IT department has one.   Failing that, a local print/photocopy company might be able to do it for you - it might be worth buying a scanner in this case as they are pretty cheap. Here is a selection available from Amazon (I have used both these and found they were up to the job):

I have found I get a better quality result if I ask the person to sign very large in thick pen on A4 paper, scan it, and then reduce the size down to their normal signature size.  These gets rid of any imperfections in the image.  Whichever way you do it, you can then use an image editing  programme to crop the white space away from the edge and re-size if necessary.  Your scanner may well come with some software to help you do this, and Microsoft Photo Editor comes with Office.  You could also download a free application such as Google's Picassa image editing programme.

Once the image looks good and is the right size and shape you can save it as an image file (e.g. a jpeg, tiff or gif).  Back to your letter, assuming it is in Word, go to Insert-Picture, find the file and insert it into the letter.  You can of course add a signature to a template so that it opens already signed!!  Not all managers will be happy about that, so best to check.  They might still want to review the letter.  

I wouldn't be tempted to use the boss's signature to give yourself a pay rise.  Chances are you wouldn't last too long in the job.  A good PA secretary can be trusted with such valuable items as someone's signature (and where the chocolate Hobnobs are kept!).

Hi.  I've just been moved into a job that involves administrative work.  I am a bit anxious about some of the secretarial aspects like letter writing.  Are there rules on how you should layout letters and envelopes?  How many lines between different parts and formatting?  I'm a bit confused about what is best practice.  Nina

Hi Nina

Sometimes the skills and experience of secretaries is not fully appreciated, and I think it is in this sort of area where this becomes more apparent.  You can spot a poorly laid out letter a mile off, but it can hard to appreciate why it doesn't look right.  Here are some tips.

1. My first port of call would be a secretary or PA working higher up the ladder.  Approach them and ask if they could give you some sample letters so you can copy the style and layout expected by management. This person will also know if there are corporate guidelines written down somewhere.  Don't be shy.  It shows you are interested in meeting their professional standards, and it may make you a good contact for future advice.  Generally people like helping others, and this is a good way of making friends in a new environment.
2. If you are taking over from someone else, you might find letters filed away in a cabinet, or on the computer network, in which case you could copy the layout of those.  If you're not sure, take a copy of one and ask the person you are going to be typing the letters for if they are happy with the layout, or if they want to change it.  That shows initiative on your part, and a desire to turn in a good quality piece of work.
3. Some organisations have electronic templates for documents set up on the computer system.  These are often found with the other Word templates.  You might need to ask around to find these.
4. Pop down to your local library and see if there are any 'how to....'  books on writing letters.  Most libraries will have a good range of books under the business section.
5. Search the internet.  I did a quick search for 'letter template Word' and got a selection of links, one of which was from Microsoft

My own layout tips are:

• Most business letters are done on letterhead paper so you probably don't have to worry about putting in the sender's address.
• The recipient's address should go on the left, and these days the left margin is left-aligned, not indented.  Below the last line of the address leave a blank line and put in the date.  I tend to go for a left aligned date but if the letterhead address is printed on the right of the page you could align it on the right.
• Insert a couple of spare lines and then the salutation (Dear....), another blank line and then the subject.  Formatting the text of the subject varies quite widely, so I would go for what looks most pleasing on the eye.  I tend to bold and centre it, unless the corporate style states otherwise.
• Another blank line and then the letter starts.  These days we do not indent paragraphs so a full left aligned paragraph is correct.  You may wish to justify the paragraph.  Justify means that both the left and right hand margins are lined up in the paragraph.  When using justify, check that the word spacing in the lines is pleasing to the eye.  Sometimes short paragraphs look better with left justification only.
• After the last paragraph leave a blank line and then put the signature line.  If you have named the person after Dear, put 'Yours sincerely', if you letter starts Dear Sir/Madam you put 'Yours faithfully'.
• Leave enough space for the signature and then put the name and job title of the sender below.
• Sometimes you need to do copies to other people.  Leave a line or two of blank space at the end and then put cc: and the person's name.  Occasionally you need to do hidden copies, where copies are given to others, but without the knowledge of the main recipient.  Some people use hc: for hidden copy, others lc: for lower copy, or bc for blind copy (not seen so often these days).  In both cases do not include the hc/lc/bc on the letter being sent out.
• Always read through the letter  before getting it signed. Once signed take a copy for filing and send the letter off as directed.

That's it!  If anyone has any favourite letter design tips let me know.