對商務寫作中的 organising 感到頭痛嗎？下面就教你organising 的 SOFAR 五步法。

Organising: SOFAR Strategy

So far, so good?

Actually, if you remember that expression - SOFAR -- it'll help you remember how to organise external correspondence.

SALUTATION

The Salutation begins with 'Dear'.

The Salutation should include the reader's name (eg, Dear Mr Chan, Dear Ms Lewis). You can use the reader's first name (eg, Dear John) if you know them well.

If you do not know the reader's name, use "Dear Sir" or "Dear Madam".

If you do not know if the reader is a man or a woman, use "Dear Sir or Madam".

OPENING (BACKGROUND)

The Opening includes two parts (and usually two paragraphs):
the background (referring to previous contact with the reader or introducing a situation)
the writer's purpose

These provide a logical introduction to your correspondence and help the reader focus on the subject.

The background "sets the scene" by referring to a previous contact (memo, letter, phone call etc). If you've had no previous contact with the reader, you should briefly describe the situation that you are writing about.

EXAMPLES:
Previous contact: Thank you for your call this morning.
A situation: Our annual staff party is coming soon!
An attention-grabbing statement or question: Have you heard
about...? Our Department Open Day is coming soon!

Some opening sentences are better than others.

Read through the sentences in the table below. Decide which sentence of each pair (in Column A and Column B) is better.

If you chose the sentences in Column B, you've chosen the better ones.

Why?

Sentences that begin with prepositions (eg, with, in, further, for, following, regarding) are difficult to write correctly. They are also quite long and therefore more difficult for your reader to understand.

So, keep your writing simple by writing shorter, more direct sentences.

OPENING (WRITER'S PURPOSE)

In the second part of the opening you state the writer's purpose.

You've already learned (in Chapter 1) that there can be many purposes for writing.

Two of the most common reasons are:
to inform someone about something
to request someone to do something.

Look at the memo from the General Manager again. Which sentence states the manager's purpose for writing?

Answer: I would like to inform you of the changes.

To practise writing openings, do the exercise below.

Read the two situations below and write an appropriate opening for each of them.

Situation 1: You are replying to a customer who called this morning asking for details about opening a new account.

Situation 2: You are replying to a customer's letter that you received yesterday. He would like to know why delivery of his order is late.

FACTS

In the Opening, you provide your reader with background information and state your purpose.

In the next part of the letter - Facts - you provide all the information your reader needs so that they can
understand your purpose completely
respond appropriately.

Remember, though - only one main idea per paragraph! If you have a lot of information for the reader, write several paragraphs in this section.

ACTION

After reading the information you have provided in the Facts section, your reader should be able to respond.

In the next section -- Action -- you should tell your reader
how to respond (what they need to do)
when to respond (by what date/time).

For example, if you are writing to invite someone to lunch, what do you want your reader to do? Come to lunch, right? It may seem obvious to you, but you need to make it obvious to your reader, too. That will get the result you want.

Example:

What you want your reader to do often depends on why you are writing.

Writer's purpose	Reader's response
Invite	Please let me know if you will be able to join us.
Confirm	If we need to make any changes to the schedule, please let me know before Friday.
Inform	Please adopt the new dress code from 1 September.
Request	Please send your bid to us by 15 March.
Complain	Please deliver the delayed shipment within three days.

  

REMARKS

When writing to customers, you want to end politely and positively. You often can do this with just one sentence.

But be careful! Try to make your writing sound natural - as if you were speaking to the reader face-to-face.

Have you ever written sentences like these? Would you actually say them to someone in person?

Think about a more natural way to close a letter, memo, fax or e-mail.

Examples:

I look forward to hearing from you.
I look forward to receiving your order.
I hope this information is useful.
Please call me if you need any further information.
Please call me if you have any questions.

（來源：中國物流論壇 實習生江巍 英語點津 Annabel 編輯）

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