Stylin' the ADPH Way: Understanding the New ADPH Written and

Stylin’ the ADPH Way:

Understanding the New

ADPH Written and Verbal

Communication Standards

Satellite Conference and Live Webcast

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

10:00 - 11:00 a.m. Central Time

Produced by the Alabama Department of Public Health

Video Communications and Distance Learning Division

Faculty

Leslie Britt

Bureau of Financial Services

Alabama Department of Public Health

Debbie Patterson

Program Analyst

Information Technology

Alabama Department of Public Health

Why Does ADPH Need a

Standard for Communication?

The Vision Statement for ADPH states

in part that our purpose is “…to

provide caring, high quality, and

professional services for the

improvement and protection of the

public’s health...”

Policy for Written and

Verbal Communication

Policy 2008-007

• Adopted by the department in

November 2008

• To be used as a reference tool for

employees

• Standardized format for all ADPH

employees

General Guidelines

• ADPH uses The Gregg Reference

Manual for general guidance on the

basic rules for written business

correspondence.

• The Tenth Edition is the current

edition being used by the

department.

General Guidelines

• Bureau, area, and county office

managers are responsible for

maintaining a current edition at the

work site.

• Correspondence must be proofread.

• Reliance on grammar and spell-

check computer functions is not

enough.

General Guidelines

• The Elements of Style is a good

reference book to ensure

correspondence is written clearly,

concisely, and without errors in

grammar and syntax.

• Bureaus, public health areas, and

county offices should develop a review

and approval process for

correspondence directed to parties

outside the department.

General Guidelines

• Several staff members may be

selected to serve as reviewers.

• Prior review and approval is required

by the Bureau Director, Area

Administrator, or designee, for all

correspondence submitted for the

State Health Officer’s signature.

Things to Consider When

Preparing Correspondence

• Be complete

• Be clear

• Be concise

• Be specific and concrete

• Be conversational, not stuffy

• Be your own best proofreader then

ask a coworker to proofread your

work

• After the content is written and

edited, review it to check the

following:

– Spelling

– Mechanics

– Punctuation

– Grammar

Things to Consider When

Preparing Correspondence

Absolute Commas

• There are times when absolute

commas should be used:

– Between the day and year in a date

expression

• Example: June 1, 2008

– Between city and state or country

• Example: Montgomery, Alabama

• Example: Beijing, China

Absolute Commas

– Before and or but when it

separates complete ideas

• Example: The meeting began

with a lot of debate, but people

left.

– Between items in a series

• Example: Refreshments were

served before, during, and after

the meeting.

Absolute Commas

– After introductory phrases of three

or more words

• Example: On June 1, 2008,

Dr. Williamson was determined

to complete the correspondence

guidelines.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Standard Letter Items

– Letterhead

– Date

– Inside Address

– Salutation

– Message (Text)

– Complimentary Closing

– Signature Block

– Reference Initials

• All correspondence related to ADPH

business should be prepared on

ADPH letterhead.

• ADPH letterhead should not be used

for correspondence that does not

relate directly to ADPH business.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Position the content of your letter so

it balances well with the ADPH

letterhead.

– Use the preview feature of the

word processing program to:

• Ensure a longer letter fits neatly

on the page.

• Position a short letter neatly on

the page.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Determine how much of a letter

should be carried over to a

second page.

• Font

– A professional business font

should be used.

– Fonts smaller than 11 point are

discouraged.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Margins

– One inch top, one inch bottom, one

inch left, and one inch right

• The top margin will need to be

adjusted for letterhead.

• Margins may be adjusted to lengthen

a short letter or to make a two-page

letter fit onto one page.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Adjusting the Length of a Letter

– To spread a short letter (under

eight lines of text) over one page,

the writer may:

• Increase the side margins.

• Increase the font size to no more

than 12 point.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Adjusting the Length of a Letter

• Insert extra space above the

inside address, the signature

line, and the reference initials;

however, do not use more than

twice the recommended space in

each case.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Adjusting the Length of a Letter

– To condense a long letter (over 23

lines of text), the writer may:

• Decrease the side margins.

• Decrease the font size to no

smaller than 11 point.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Adjusting the Length of a Letter

• Reduce the space between the

date and the inside address to

two blank lines.

• Reduce the space for the

signature from three blank lines

to two blank lines.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Date

– The date is centered, at least one-

half inch below the letterhead.

– The correct date format throughout

the letter is June 1, 2008.

– Do not use abbreviations in the

date.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Date

– Avoid slash and hyphen dates.

• Example: 4/10/08 or 4-10-08

– Military/genealogy style (1 June

2008) should not be used for

“civilian” business.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Inside Address

– The inside address begins at the

left margin, on the fourth line

below the date.

– Avoid abbreviations other than

those printed on the letterhead or

envelope of your addressee.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Inside Address

– Use the standard U.S. Postal

Service abbreviations for states –

two letters, all caps.

– Whenever possible, use the four-

digit zip code extension.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Inside Address

– Make a point of spelling proper

names accurately.

• Call to verify if unsure of the

correct spelling.

• Do not rely on spell-check.

• Call to verify if unsure whether

the recipient is male or female.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Inside Address

– As a general rule, use a title before

the name of the person.

– Use Mr., Ms., Mrs., or Miss if the

person does not have a specific

title such as Dr., The Honorable,

etc.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Inside Address

– It is the State Health Officer’s

preference to use credentials after

the name, with no title before the

name.

• Example:

Donald E. Williamson, M.D.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Inside Address

– Addressing a letter to

Dr. Donald E. Williamson, M.D.,

would be incorrect.

– Call to verify the addressee’s

proper title, if you are unsure.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Salutation

– The salutation begins on the

second line below the inside

address, at the left margin, and is

followed by a colon.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Subject Line

– If used, the subject line begins on

the second line below the

salutation, at the left margin, and is

followed by a colon.

– “RE” or “Subject” may be used.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Message (Text)

– The message or text of the letter

begins on the second line below

the subject line.

– If no subject line is used, begin on

the second line below the

salutation.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Message (Text)

– Paragraphs in business

correspondence should begin at

the left margin (or the first line of

each paragraph may be indented

one-half inch).

– Paragraphs are single spaced with

a double space between each

paragraph.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Message (Text)

– Avoid right justification of

paragraphs so they do not look like

form letters.

– A business letter should be limited

to one page, if at all possible.

– A good average length of a

business letter paragraph is three

to five sentences.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Message (Text)

– The first or last paragraph of a

business letter (a courtesy

comment) often has only one or

two sentences.

• If you have any questions,

please call me at (334) 206-5200.

• It is our pleasure to serve you

and your employees.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Continuation Page

– If the letter must be carried over to

the second page, carry over MORE

than one or two lines of message

plus the closing.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Continuation Page

– Identify the second page with three

lines as follows:

Mr. and Mrs. John Public

Page 2

June 1, 2008

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Continuation Page

– The continuation header begins at

the left margin, one inch below the

top of the page.

– Use plain bond paper for

continuation pages.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Continuation Page

– Continue the message of the letter

on the third line below the

continuation header.

• Complimentary Closing

– The complimentary closing begins

on the second line below the last

line of the message.

• Complimentary Closing

– Begin the complimentary closing

at the center point of the letter.

– Capitalize only the first word of the

closing, and follow the closing with

a comma.

• Example: Yours truly,

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Complimentary Closing

– The preferred professional closing

for ADPH business

correspondence is

Sincerely,

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Signature Block

– The signature block begins on the

fourth line below the

complimentary closing to allow

room for the handwritten

signature.

– Type the full name on the first line.

– Type the business title, if used, on

the next line.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Signature Block

– Short titles may immediately follow the

name on the first line.

• Example: Rick Harris, Director

Bureau of Health Provider

Standards

– The State Health Officer prefers his

signature block to be as follows:

• Donald E. Williamson, M.D.

State Health Officer

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Signature Block

– For all ADPH correspondence, begin

the signature block at the center

point of the page.

– When using letterhead, it is not

necessary to include the name of the

organization in the signature block.

– It is acceptable to include the

organization name in the typed

contact information of an e-mail.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Reference Initials

– The reference initials begin on the

second line below the signature

block, at the left margin.

– Use reference initials to indicate

who composed the letter and/or

who produced the printed letter.

• Example: DEW/MJ

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Reference Initials

– When a letter is generated for the

State Health Officer’s signature, it

is the department’s preference to

include his initials, along with

initials of the author and typist.

• Example: DEW/SW/MZ

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Enclosure/Attachment Notation

– The enclosure/attachment

notation, if used, begins one line

below the reference initials, at the

left margin.

– Type “Attachment(s)” or

“Enclosure(s)” to indicate other

items in the envelope.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Enclosure/Attachment Notation

– If this type of notation is needed,

use the definitions below to ensure

the correct notation is inserted:

• An attachment is any document

that is attached, by paper clip or

staple, to the letter.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Enclosure/Attachment Notation

– An enclosure is any document that

is inserted in the same envelope

with the letter but is not attached.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Copy Notation

– The copy notation (cc:), if used,

begins one line below the

enclosure/attachment notation, at the

left margin, and is followed by a

colon.

– If no enclosure/attachment notation

is used, type the copy notation one

line below the reference initials.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

• Copy Notation

– Some authors use c, pc, or Copy

to.

– It is the department’s preference to

use cc to indicate one or more

persons will be sent a copy of the

letter.

Basic Business

Letter Construction

ADPH Memo Standards

While letters are used for external

correspondence, memos are used

for internal correspondence.

• The standard top margin of a memo

is two inches; however, this can be

reduced to eliminate the need for a

continuation page.

ADPH Memo Standards

• Memos should have the heading

MEMORANDUM or Memo.

• There is no preference for spacing,

underlining, or capitalization.

• The heading begins at the left

margin.

ADPH Memo Standards

• All memos should have the following

guide words:

– TO:

– THROUGH: (if applicable)

– FROM:

– DATE: (June 1, 2008, format)

– SUBJECT:

ADPH Memo Standards

• All guide words start at the left

margin and are followed by a colon.

• There are two returns between each

of the guide words.

• If a memo is through or from multiple

staff, each staff member should be

listed and should initial by their

name to indicate approval.

ADPH Memo Standards

• Message (Body)

– The message of the memo begins

on the second or third line below

the last guide word.

– Paragraphs begin at the left margin

(or the first line of each paragraph

may be indented one-half inch).

ADPH Memo Standards

• Message (Body)

– Paragraphs are single spaced with

a double space between each

paragraph.

ADPH Memo Standards

• Continuation Page

– If a memo continues to the second

page, identify the second page

with three lines as follows:

Donald E. Williamson, M.D.

Page 2

June 1, 2008

ADPH Memo Standards

• Continuation Page

– The continuation header begins at

the left margin, one inch below the

top of the page.

– Continue the message of the

memo on the third line below the

continuation header.

ADPH Memo Standards

• Reference Initials

– The reference initials begin on the

second line below the last line of

the message, at the left margin.

– Use reference initials to indicate

who composed the memo and/or

who produced the printed memo.

• Example: DEW/MJ

ADPH Memo Standards

• Reference Initials

– When a memo is generated from

the State Health Officer, it is the

department’s preference to include

his initials, along with initials of the

author and typist.

• Example: DEW/SW/MZ

ADPH Memo Standards

• Enclosure/Attachment Notation

– The enclosure/attachment

notation, if used, begins one line

below the reference initials, at the

left margin.

– Type “Attachment(s)” or

“Enclosure(s)” to indicate other

items in the envelope.

ADPH Memo Standards

• Enclosure/Attachment Notation

– If this type of notation is needed,

use the definitions below to ensure

the correct notation is inserted:

• An attachment is any document

that is attached, by paper clip or

staple, to the memo.

ADPH Memo Standards

• Enclosure/Attachment Notation

– An enclosure is any document that

is inserted in the same envelope

with the memo but is not attached.

ADPH Memo Standards

• Copy Notation

– The copy notation (cc:), if used, begins

one line below the enclosure/attachment

notation, at the left margin, and is

followed by a colon.

– If no enclosure/attachment notation is

used, type the copy notation one line

below the reference initials.

– Some authors use c, pc, or Copy to.

ADPH Memo Standards

• Copy Notation

– It is the department’s preference to

use cc to indicate one or more

persons will be sent a copy of the

memo.