How to Improve a Memo

Keep the message simple when writing a memo.

The three defining features of memo writing are conciseness, brevity and informality. When writing a memorandum, you are not trying to impress people with your literary skills or large vocabulary; rather you are trying to effectively convey some urgent piece of information to as many busy people as possible. This means using bare-bones vocabulary to announce the news quickly and succinctly to let people know what happened, why, who it affects and how.

Instructions

1. Identify the point you want to get across in the first sentence. An example is: "Our expenses are too high" or "A new computer virus has been detected."

2. Give the who, what, where, when and why of the memo. State the relevant supporting details to the thesis of the first sentence. Think of which questions the reader might ask first and answer them straight away. For "Our expenses are too high," the next sentence might read, "At the budget meeting on July 27, Tammy Jones presented data showing with our current expenses, we will be bankrupt by September 2013. Moving to another building may cut costs by as much as 12% each year, but more may still need to be done. Further actions will be discussed at a follow-up meeting scheduled for Friday, August 12 at 2:30."

3. Stick to the facts. Discard any information not completely relevant to the topic at hand.

4. Emphasize results. Problems and processes can be discussed during meetings or individually. Give the reader only pertinent information regarding how the subject memo directly affects her. If it is something unpleasant, don't beat around the bush, say it outright. Instead of "Issues relating to size of the branch may be discussed," say "potential layoffs will be discussed."

5. Give the name, phone number and/or email address of someone who can be contacted for more information at the end of the memo should the reader have questions.

6. Edit for conciseness and clarity. Writing in an active voice is a good way to achieve this. Instead of writing "The topics that are to be discussed at the meeting next week will include x, y and z" write, "Discussion topics for next week's meeting include x, y and z."

References

• The Roberts Group: Writing Tips
• Merriam-Webster Online: Memorandum