Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Chapter 11 and Memos

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. s and Memos ‣ Are perhaps the most common and widely- distributed forms of communication in workplaces today ‣ Generally transmit smaller “chunks” of information ‣ Frequently are internal documents about specific company information

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Internal Documents ‣ Often tend to be less formal than those sent to an audience outside a company ‣ Frequently relinquish formal greetings and closing statements ‣ Sometimes omit the comprehensive background details or lengthy descriptions already familiar to other employees

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. The Basic Elements of Messages freeimages.co.uk

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Subject Lines ‣ Should be both concise and specific ‣ Are often scanned by recipients to decide which should be read immediately and which can be read later or deleted ‣ Should put the most important information first ‣ Might use all caps in times of urgency

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Recipients ‣ Should be carefully considered before sending or carbon copying ‣ Might require several versions of the same ‣ May make a “Reply to All” inappropriate ‣ Should be made aware of context when replying ‣ Should be considered when forwarding a message

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Message Content and Length ‣ Should be brief and to-the-point ‣ Should provide only the information that is pertinent to the situation ‣ Should state a reason for writing within the first sentence or two ‣ Should be skimmed easily ‣ Should be read on a single screen

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Paragraphs ‣ Should not be longer than a single screen ‣ Are more concise than those in printed documents ‣ Could be as short as one sentence, if the information is important ‣ Should use block format

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Other Formatting Issues ‣ Avoid italics, underlined and bolded text, bulleted and numbered lists, tables, graphics, and visuals ‣ Use CAPITAL LETTERS to designate a heading ‣ Use a single line of white space between each phrase or word to designate a list ‣ Use *asterisks* on either side of a word to designate emphasis or italics ‣ Use underscore characters at the beginning and ending of an _underlined passage_

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Signatures ‣ Include your name at the bottom of each you send ‣ Can give contact information about the sender, such as job title, phone, fax, webpage url, and mailing information ‣ Should be conservative

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Send Attachments ‣ When the message is lengthy ‣ When formatting is important ‣ When visuals are an important part of the message ‣ When the message will be printed and used for some particular purpose

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Electronic Messaging

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. IMs ‣ Are often short and informal ‣ Allow users to communicate in real-time ‣ Allow sending Internet links and files ‣ Offer a list of contacts online

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. When IMing ‣ Keep messages short and informal ‣ Assess the rhetorical situation to determine conventions ‣ Avoid using all capital letters ‣ Give users a chance to respond before sending a new message ‣ Do not continually prompt a user, especially if her online status is away, asleep, or otherwise unavailable

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Memos freeimages.co.uk

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Memos ‣ Are secondary to for short communication ‣ Are the better choice for more detailed communication ‣ Are better for formatted documents ‣ Are better for more important or confidential correspondence ‣ Are formatted depending on the company

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Memos: Key Components ‣ The “To” line ‣ The “From” line ‣ The “Subject” line ‣ The “Date” line

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Memo Content ‣ Is often skimmed ‣ Should be easy to find, clear, and concise ‣ Should explain the reason for writing in the first paragraph ‣ Should include all of the necessary information your readers will need to make an informed decision or respond appropriately

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Length and Formatting ‣ Is often limited to one page ‣ Should have at least five lines of text on the last page ‣ May be manipulated by changing the font, spacing, or margins ‣ Should avoid “widows” and “orphans”

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Design Features ‣ Consist of visuals, graphs, and tables ‣ Can be included to highlight and organize ‣ Can help clarify and explain ‣ Become increasingly important as the length of the document grows

Situations Requiring a Memo ‣ Directive Memos provide information about policy changes or tasks readers should perform ‣ Field Reports provide details about a field visit to an outside location ‣ Lab Reports describe the results of an experiment, procedure, or study ‣ Minutes of a Meeting contain a written record of the discussions and participants of formal workplace meetings ‣ Progress or Status Memos supply information about the status of a project or assignment ‣ Response Memos give answers to previously asked questions ‣ Trip Reports include details about the events and expenditures of a business trip