Mastering the Art of Persuasion: Letter Writing Tips, Topics, and a Winning Sample for SBI PO Mains Exam Success!
With only a few days left for the SBI PO Mains exam, we hope that by now you would be done with a major portion of your learning and would have started focusing more on revising concepts and taking mock tests. Hence, we suggest that you continue to take at least one mock test daily until December 5, 2023 so that you are at the peak of your performance.
As you are already aware SBI PO Mains has a section on Descriptive Tests, which will test your writing, communication and presentation skills. In this section, an aspirant of SBI PO Mains is required to write an essay and a letter. It is important that you perform well in this section. Hence, it is now time that we share with you some tips on how you can write a good letter in a limited time.
Identify the type of letter: The first and foremost thing, before even jumping to write a letter, you should do is to understand the type of letter you are being asked to write. A letter can be formal or informal. For instance, writing a letter to the principal of your college asking for leave is a formal letter, while writing a letter to one of your favourite professors in your previous college for meeting is informal. Hence, your style and choice of word should vary depending on what kind of letter you are writing.
Opening and Closing the letter correctly: Each type of letter will have a different opening and closing. For instance, a formal letter will open with a particular structure and greeting that is formal in nature, while informal letters can be addressed in the person’s name or any informal greeting. The same needs to be kept in mind while closing the letter. The below table will give you more idea about it.
Style
Opening
Closing
Formal
Dear Sir, Dear Madam
Yours faithfully,
Dear Mr Agarwal, Dear Ms Agarwal
Yours sincerely
Informal
Dear Akhil, Dear Akriti
Best regards, Warm wishes
Intent of the letter: Identifying the purpose of writing a letter is also important as it will help you to structure your thoughts. For example, writing a letter asking for some help, inviting someone, complaining or even thanking someone.
Focus: In order to finish writing your letter within stipulated time, it is important that you stick to the point. Further, this will be possible only if you practice writing a letter daily until a day before the SBI PO Mains exam.
Language: You should keep the tone of the letter polite even if the purpose of writing the letter is to complaint about someone or something. Always remember that irrespective of the type of letter you are writing, you are expected to use polite expressions and civil language. Also, the word used should be easy and simple of understand.
Keep it short and to the point: It is a good practice to keep the letter concise, factual, and focused. In case of a formal letter, it is even more important that you follow this, as lengthy letter may simply defeat the purpose of writing the letter. However, in case of an informal letter, it may become lengthy at times depending on the message you are trying to communicate and your relation with the recipient.
Proof read and revise, if required: After you have written a letter, you should carefully review it and make any changes if needed. It is always a good idea to put yourself in the place of the recipients and then check if the intended message is being delivered correctly or not. Although, due to limited time in SBI PO Mains exam, you may not have enough time to first write a draft letter and then finalize it. Hence, in such situation, you may spend no more than 2 minutes to write down the main points on a rough paper and then start building the content of your letter on those lines.
Spelling and grammar: Make sure to check for any spelling and grammatical errors after you have written the final version of the letter. Writing a letter with obvious spelling and grammatical mistakes looks sloppy and unprofessional.
We suggest that every day you should pick a topic and write a letter on it. This will help you to improve your writing skills and get you into the habit of writing so that you are at ease when you write a letter on the actual day of exam.
It would also be a good idea to practice writing the letter on a computer or laptop as it will help you in improving your typing speed.
Make sure you structure the flow of your letter so that it is connected from top to bottom.
Always use simple and crisp language while writing a letter, because complicated and difficult words will only break the flow of your sentence.
Competitive exams like SBI PO Mains will mostly ask you to write a formal letter. Hence, you may put more focus on writing a formal letter. However, this does not mean that you do not practice informal letter writing.
Remember, a letter needs to be short, concise and to the point. Hence, without much deviation you should get on with the main purpose letter.
Finally, avoid making spelling or grammatical mistakes at all cost as this will leave a bad impression on the recipient.
Possible letter writing topic for SBI PO Mains:
Write a letter to a newspaper editor telling him about the importance of voting in General Elections.
Write a letter to your insurance company for the claim of damage to your car.
Write a letter to your insurance company showing them your unhappiness towards the hike in insurance premium
Write a letter to your friend informing him/her about the benefits of
Write a letter to the bank manager requesting him to block your credit card as you’ve lost it and ask him to issue you a new card.
Write a letter to the bank manager requesting him/her to close your savings account in his branch.
Write a letter to your Branch Manager regarding a non-credit of an amount deposited in ATM.
Write a letter of complaint to the manager of your insurance company about the delay in processing your insurance claim and the irresponsible behavior of their employees towards you.
Write a letter as a principal to the parents telling them about the importance of parents in children education.
Write a letter to the director of your college asking him for arranging a session on Stress Management/Time Management.
Write a letter to the Editor expressing your concern over the impact of irrelevant news through social media.
Write a letter to your friend/sibling congratulating him/her on their selection in SBI PO Exam.
Write a Letter to your friend encouraging and advising him to plan his own start-up
Write a letter to the newspaper editor on how to stop crime in your city.
Write a letter to your parents telling them about your success in your job and about your new life in a new city
We hope this article on letter writing for SBI PO Mains exam was helpful.
Wish you good luck for your exam!
Sample Letter:
Write a letter to your Branch Manager informing him about incorrect transaction charges debited to your account
Date: November 23, 2023
From,
Ajay Kumar
5, APHB Colony
Hyderabad – 500032
To,
The Branch Manager
XYZ Bank
Gachibowli Branch
Hyderabad – 500032
Dear Sir,
Subject: Incorrect transaction charges debited to my Saving Accounts No 1515000001
I am the holder of aforesaid saving account at your branch. On scrutiny of my passbook, I noticed that your bank has, on three occasions, debited an amount of Rs 23.60/- each as transaction charge for cash withdrawn from ATM.
As per my understanding, any customer holding savings account in your bank is entitled to five free cash withdrawals from any ATM, whereas, I have withdrawn cash from ATM only on four occasions. Hence, in such scenario, there should not have been any charges debited to my accounts for cash withdrawn from ATM. Below is the list of transaction details of the amount debited by your bank.
Date
Particulars
Transaction No
Amount (Rs)
16/03/2019
ATM/IMPS Transaction Charge
15151200
23.60
16/03/2019
ATM/IMPS Transaction Charge
15151205
23.60
16/03/2019
ATM/IMPS Transaction Charge
15151215
23.60
In this regard, I would I would request you to kindly look into the charges debited by your bank and take necessary action to get the amount reversed to my account at the earliest.