Technical Writing - the memorandum

1. Technical Writing - the memorandum • Memoranda must have four components • The Overview • The Discussion • The Conclusion • Documentation

2. Technical Writing - the memorandum • The Overview • Primarily addresses readers who want the most important action-oriented information. You present your conclusions and recommendations here rather than the technical details that support your recommendations. The overview is itself divided into 3 parts: • The heading • The purpose statement • The summary.

3. Technical Writing - the memorandum • The Overview - The heading • Establishes the lines of communication and states the type and significance of the report. The heading contains a subject line that states the topic and the purpose of the report in 10 words or fewer, is specific, and avoids general terms such as “report on.” A good example would be “Request for Funds to Replace Native Plants in McDowell Mountain Park.” It identifies the audience by role and department. It identifies the source, which is the writer and the writer’s position in the organization. It gives the date and may identify references such as previous reports and communications to which this is a response.

4. Technical Writing - the memorandum • The Overview - The purpose statement • Establishes the purpose of the report and provides organizational context for the report. It is the first paragraph of your report and identifies the organizational problem, the investigation or analysis you did to resolve the issue, or the communication purpose of the report. That is, it states your reason for writing and how you want others to respond.

5. Technical Writing - the memorandum • The Overview - The summary • Provides information necessary for action or response to the report. It consists of selected generalizations so that a manager could read only this and know what action to take. In your summary, you describe your recommendations, conclusions, and implications for the organization (if any).

6. Technical Writing - the memorandum • The Discussion • Addresses the professional and technical readers who need to analyze the support or technical details you have for your recommendations. Here you prove or support the conclusions and recommendations; you present your reasoning, your analysis. You move from general (conclusion or thesis) to particular (support). You use charts, graphs, equations, and other visualization approaches.

7. Technical Writing - the memorandum • The Conclusion • The conclusion presents the most important information in the report. It may also present a framework (a skeleton) of the whole report that guides those readers who read the whole report: it allows them to understand what has been discussed. • The conclusion allows primary readers to have enough information to make a decision or act. The conclusion also allows some secondary readers (those loosely connected to the project, for example) to keep abreast of what actions or decisions will occur and they in turn can determine how their departments will be affected. Therefore, the conclusion contains selected generalizations.

8. Technical Writing - the memorandum • The Conclusion - Format • Recommendation (if you have one, put this first) • Decisions (and the reasons that support your recommendation or decisions you have reached) • Implications for the organization (if any)

9. Technical Writing - the memorandum • Documentation • Presents selected data and other information that support your discussion but which would clog up your discussion or is extremely technical or specialized. • And, of course, the bibliography or references are included here.