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Writing Memoranda

The document provides information on writing effective memoranda within organizations. It discusses that memos are commonly used for internal communication to pass information between departments and individuals. Effective memos are concise, use a standardized format including date, recipient, author, and subject lines, and focus on a single topic to facilitate filing and reference. Memoranda differ from external letters in their intended audience, level of formality, use of technical terms or abbreviations, and delivery method. The document outlines best practices for writing clear, well-formatted memos including using highlighting techniques, concise writing style, answering key questions, and defining any specialized terminology for the intended readers.

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Bianca Petalio
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598 views18 pages

Writing Memoranda

The document provides information on writing effective memoranda within organizations. It discusses that memos are commonly used for internal communication to pass information between departments and individuals. Effective memos are concise, use a standardized format including date, recipient, author, and subject lines, and focus on a single topic to facilitate filing and reference. Memoranda differ from external letters in their intended audience, level of formality, use of technical terms or abbreviations, and delivery method. The document outlines best practices for writing clear, well-formatted memos including using highlighting techniques, concise writing style, answering key questions, and defining any specialized terminology for the intended readers.

Uploaded by

Bianca Petalio
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Writing Memoranda

Memo
⮚Memo is one of the most frequently used words in the
corporate world.
⮚Sometimes it denotes something negative especially if
one learn it came from his/her superior.
Memo
⮚It is a short official note sent by one person to another
within the same company or organization to remind the
recipient.
⮚It is a clipped or shortened term for memorandum.
⮚It is one type of business correspondence, together with
business letters for the purpose of effective management.
Two Essential Facts About
Inter-office Memorandum
1. A good memo passes departments, between individuals in
different department, between management and the staff,
and others.
2. Most firms provide printed forms and restrict inter-office
correspondence to one subject only in order to encourage
conciseness and clarity, and to facilitate filing and
references.
Memorandum
versus

Letter
Characteristic
s
Memorandum Letter
Internal: correspondence written to External: correspondence written outside the
Destination colleagues within the company. business.
Identification lines include “Date”, “To/For”, Includes letterhead address, date, reader’s
Format “From”, and “Subject”. The message address, salutation, text, complimentary
follows these. close, and signature.
Generally high-tech or low-tech, mostly Generally low-tech and lay readers, such as
Audience business colleagues. vendors and clients.
Generally high-tech to low-tech;
Generally low-tech to lay; abbreviations and
Topic abbreviations and acronyms are often
acronyms are usually defined.
allowed.
More formal (audience of vendors and
Tone Informal (peer audience)
clients)
Hard-copy attachments can be stapled to Additional information can be enclosed
Attachment the memo. within the envelope.
or Enclosure Complimentary copies can be sent to other Complimentary copies can be sent to other
readers. readers.
Determined by the destination (within the
Determined by a company’s in-house mail
city, state, or country). Letters could be
Delivery Time procedure. Memos could be delivered
delivered within 3 days but may take more
within 3 days (more or less).
than a week.
Basic Elements of a Memo
1. Heading - most of the time, companies create their own
heading
2. Dateline - the actual date when the memorandum is issued
3. Number - refers to the frequency of the issued memos
4. Receiver - the person whom the memorandum be sent
5. Sender - the person who issued the memo
6. Subject - the topic or title of the memo
7. Enclosure - an optional part which includes the attachments
Memorandum Number ____
TO :
FROM :
SUBJECT: Focus+Topic
DATE :
Introduction
Discussion
Conclusion
Memoramdum FOR
versus
Memoramdum TO
In writing memorandum take
note a subtle difference:
✔Memorandum FOR is usually written by a subordinate
addressed to his superior.
✔Memorandum TO is usually written by a superior
addressed to his subordinates.
Effective Memo Checklist
(Gerson, S.J. & Gerson, S.M, 2003)

✔Have you used the correct memo format, including the


date, to, from, and the subject lines?
✔Is your subject line correct?
• Is it typed in all caps?
• Does it contain a topic and a focus?
Effective Memo Checklist
(Gerson, S.J. & Gerson, S.M, 2003)

✔Does your introduction tell why you are writing and what
you are writing about?
✔Does the body explain exactly what you want to say?
✔Does the conclusion tell what’s next, providing either a
complimentary or a directive close?
Effective Memo Checklist
(Gerson, S.J. & Gerson, S.M, 2003)
✔Is your page layout reader friendly?
• Do you use highlighting techniques for accessibility, such as bullets,
boldface, underlining, and white spaces?
✔Is your writing style concise?
• Do you limit the number of words per sentence, the number of
syllables per word, and the number of lines per paragraph?
Effective Memo Checklist
(Gerson, S.J. & Gerson, S.M, 2003)

✔Is your writing clear?


• Do you answer reporter’s question?
• Do you avoid vague words, such as some, several, many,
or few, specifying instead?
Effective Memo Checklist
(Gerson, S.J. & Gerson, S.M, 2003)

✔Have you written appropriately to your audience?


• Have you defined high-tech terms where necessary for
low-tech or lay readers?
• Have you achieved the correct tone and personalized
your memo based on your audience and purpose?
Effective Memo Checklist
(Gerson, S.J. & Gerson, S.M, 2003)

✔Are errors eliminated? Remember a memo with


grammatical or mechanical errors will destroy your
credibility. You must PROOFREAD to catch errors.
Thank you

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