MBA students in New York City are learning how to compose first-rate business letters through Olivet Business School’s Specialized Language Workshops.
The class is being led by Alexandria Hadden, who is instructing students using insights from Malcolm Forbes, an American entrepreneur most prominently known as the publisher of Forbes magazine.
Forbes says over 10,000 business letters come across his desk every year. He categorized them into three categories: “stultifying if not stupid, mundane (most of them), and first rate (rare).” Forbes identified several qualities that make a business letter stand out:
- - Know what you want: List the major points you want to get across---it will keep you on course; answer promptly if you are going to answer a business letter you receive.
- - Plunge right in. Call him by name-not “Dear Sir, Madam, or Ms.” Tell what your letter is about in the first paragraph.
- - Sum it up well to tell the readers exactly what you want him to do.
Joseph Zhang, a first year MBA student, commented, “I am confident that after taking this class, I can use English more fluently and effectively in the business surroundings.”
Hadden graduated from Monterey Institute of International Studies, which is known for its language teaching. She has 15 years of language teaching experience at different universities.