Here’s the drill: a memo is not supposed to be a suspense novel. It’s not a historical novel, either.
A memo should be a short story, except you give away the ending right away. The mark of a great memo is that the punch line comes first.
The best memos let the reader know in a single sentence everything he or she needs to know.
“Pursuant to your request, enclosed herewith please find the details of the 22 February 2010 meeting....”
A memo should be a short story, except you give away the ending right away. The mark of a great memo is that the punch line comes first.
The best memos let the reader know in a single sentence everything he or she needs to know.
“Pursuant to your request, enclosed herewith please find the details of the 22 February 2010 meeting....”
That, my friends, is death by memo.
“Please attend our ceremony to honor employees celebrating 25 years of service, Friday, June 10, at 10 a.m. in the main conference room.”
Are there ways to shorten the previous sentence? Sure. Could it be constructed differently? Absolutely.
It’s a memo, friends, not the latest from John Grisham. There is no Memo Hall of Fame. But the readers will – in less than 10 seconds – know just about everything they need to. And that’s the way to score points in any setting.
Great memos connect with the reader right away. There’s no mystery here. A well-constructed memo puts what you need up front. It can stretch on with all sorts of intimate details, but because the punch line came first, the reader is pleased. If you make him fight for details, he might just stop reading. And then, your memo probably will go to the place where all bad memos go when they die.
It’s a memo, friends, not the latest from John Grisham. There is no Memo Hall of Fame. But the readers will – in less than 10 seconds – know just about everything they need to. And that’s the way to score points in any setting.
Great memos connect with the reader right away. There’s no mystery here. A well-constructed memo puts what you need up front. It can stretch on with all sorts of intimate details, but because the punch line came first, the reader is pleased. If you make him fight for details, he might just stop reading. And then, your memo probably will go to the place where all bad memos go when they die.
No comments:
Post a Comment