Key No. 9
Recipe for a Memorandum,
Letter, Fax and e-mail
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Ingredients
As in the case of a report it is
necessary in a memorandum or letter to capture the attention of the reader, to
highlight the important details and to provoke action. The information must be
transmitted clearly and the content made interesting and easy to absorb. A
memorandum or letter is usually the initiation or part of an on-going
communication link between author and the reader.
The contents of the writing should be based on the questioning technique
guidelines given in Key No.7 and should be capsulated and summarised as
necessary. Careful editing should then follow to ensure that the objective in
relation to the subject matter is dealt with correctly and precisely and that
the continuity is maintained between one communication and the next. Ideally a
memorandum or letter should be brief and limited to one page if possible. Take
this page as an example.
Next the layout and presentation should receive careful consideration. The
typefaces, line spaces, margins, etc. should be selected to facilitate the
reader, and monotonous blocks of text should be avoided.
The following items are generally the main ingredients of a memorandum or
letter, however, many of elements may be excluded depending on the author's
intentions.
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To: |
Addressee. Carbon copies, blind copies, file
copy, personal file copy |
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Reference: |
From: Author |
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Reference: |
Date,
Reference No. |
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Title: |
SUBJECT MATTER
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*Salutation: |
*Dear |
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Introduction: |
State the OBJECTIVE to be achieved in relation
to the subject matter. |
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Investigation: |
Define the ELEMENTS using the what? where?
when? who? and how? questions. |
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Interaction: |
Determine PURPOSE and CAUSE. Analyse the
present situation using the "why" questions. |
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Options: |
Develop OPTIONS using the "what else"
questions. |
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Decisions: |
Take DECISION using the "what should"
questions. Make RECOMMENDATIONS or issue INSTRUCTIONS. |
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Action: |
Initiate ACTION, define REQUIREMENTS, request
FEED-BACK. |
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*Salutation: |
'Yours faithfully,' with Dear Sir, or Madam,
and with Dear Mr, Mrs, Ms, Dr, etc. with surname. 'Yours sincerely' with letters to friends and acquaintances |
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Signature: |
* Formal letters |
The same format should apply to company letters and faxes but in these cases
company logos, headers, addresses, contact and telecommunications details,
references etc. are already pre-printed on the documentation. E -mail formats,
however, vary considerably.
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