Consulting Journal: Writing - Address blocks for letters

Writing: Address blocks for letters

by David Blakey

Keep address block simple, uncluttered and correct.

[Monday 3 March 2008]

The address block on a letter always looks better if the sender has made sure that the details are correct and that the layout is neat.

John Smith
123 Lower South Street
Somerville

There are many ways to get an address block wrong. Let us now look at several of them.

J. Smith, Esq.
123, Lwr. Sth. St.
Summerville

Names

I shall start at the top. J. Smith, Esq. is a very old-fashioned format. It is reminiscent of letters sent out by bureaucrats many decades ago. If you do not know the full name of J Smith, address him or her as J Smith. If you know that his first name is John, write John Smith.

Incidentally, Mr John Smith is largely thought of as old-fashioned. Do not use Mr, Mrs, Ms or Miss. The easiest way to solve the problem of whether you should address a woman as Mrs or Ms is to use neither.

Do, however, always use preceding titles, as in Dr John Smith or Sir John Smith, instead of John Smith, PhD or John Smith, Bt.

Abbreviations

Next, 123 Lwr. Sth. St. Do not use abbreviations in addresses. Write them as you say them. 123 Lower South Street. Make sure that the person who enters data into your contact management system follows this rule. There are reasons for not abbreviating. First, it looks ugly, especially if unnecessary periods are added. Second, you will not have to remember all the recognized abbreviations for addresses used by the postal service. It strikes me as easier to write a word in full rather than spend time to check its accepted abbreviation.

You should abbreviate the names of US states, using USPS abbreviations.

Punctuation

Avoid commas and periods in addresses. Even 123 Lwr Sth St looks better than 123, Lwr. Sth. St. The ideal is 123 Lower South Street.

Do not accept the punctuation given in old-fashioned etiquette guides. Names should not be followed by a string of abbreviations, separated by commas. Rather than use a name such as John Smith, PC, MP or Rt Hon John Smith, write their title, The Home Secretary or The Secretary of State. This article is about business letters, so you do not need to know the etiquette for writing to the monarch or the president. You will be writing directly to the person who will deal with your letter.

Accuracy

Finally, Somerville or Summerville? Which is the correct spelling? You should always check the spelling of place names, even if you certain that you know the correct spelling.

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