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?

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