A memo is an official form of communication within an organization. While it is an official form of communication there are persuasive elements mixed in that lead to a call to action. Compared to the other genres we looked at this semester, the memo is the shortest. The Memo that we worked on consisted of 7 parts (excluding Necessary Attachments):

1. The Heading contains the sending information and as the memos are written and sent within an organization, job titles are an important factor to keep in mind.
2. The Opening usually contains the purpose of the memo and whatever else is needed to understand the call to action, should also contain persuasive elements.
3. The Context is information on what led to the memo and what caused the sender to think of this specific call to action
4. The Task is the purpose and is the call to action stated as bluntly as possible and making it as easy as possible to understand by keep personal bias out of it and only including as much information is necessary
5. The Summary isn’t necessary for shorter memos, but if the memo is longer than a page the summary should explain the key points of the memo.
6. The Discussion is the longest portion of the memo, it the reasoning for everything that you have brought up in this memo, this is the best place place for persuasive elements
7. The Closing is the final message and defines the tone of the memo, which should usually be amicable, and will include how the recipient and sender can discuss this topic further either through the phone, email or in-person.

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