Professional Documents
Culture Documents
S. E-MAILS REMEMBER: CHOICE of appropriate form and style of writing Use of STANDARD PROCESSES of writing that go with the forms and purposes EFFECTIVE use of LANGUAGE : clear direct simple
MEMOS
CHARACTERISTICS
brief-generally 1 page in length internal / inter- / intra- office communication tone often conversational, even informal-NOT too formal-influenced by status of sender and receiver + topic therefore, formal elements minimized: NO salutation / complimentary close. Perhaps a greeting- Hi Sonam
Signature compulsory sent by e-mail or inter-office mail less private than letters Memo-letter / -report is internal equivalent of formal external letters & proposals
Format
Usually formal; recent trend toward more personal style. Two sections: the heading and the body. Vertical format:
Date: June 6, 2003 To: David DSouza From: Shawn Joseph Subject: Language Requirement
To: Name of receiver of memo For a formal memo, use addressee's full name with courtesy title (Mrs., Ms, Mr.) or professional title (Dr., Dean, etc.) title. (May be omitted if company policy /relationship between addressee and writer allow it) Always include title while writing to persons of higher rank than yourself
For an informal memo, use first name if relationship permits Courtesy title / professional title is never used with a persons first name. If addressee's name alone is not sufficient to identify the person, add job or department title, after name (e.g., To: Jatin Hazare, Accounts Office).
If group is too large, write identifying classification, e.g., "Faculty and Staff" or "Process Engineers"
Date:
Written in full. (Full name of month or its standard abbreviation but not numerals)
Subject:
Should be concise and accurate Often determines where the memo will be filed
Points and sub-headings where required can be numbered (if too many), or lettered or bulleted
List items should be parallel in structure: Eg.You can improve your business writing by: adopting a friendly writing style reading your message out aloud to check the tone keeping to the point organising your points using the 4-point plan using simple language that the reader will understand