Basic 2: Letter, Memo and Email Formats

Three basic message formats in business are the letter, the memo and of course, email.  The article will elaborate when to use which of these.

Letter:  Letter Template

1.  Most often written in block style.
2. Includes your contact information, your receiver’s contact information and a signature block
3.  Most often it’s written to external audiences
4. Most often written with a more formal (over conversational or casual) tone
5. Often has the company logo and contact information on the page

Memo:  Memo Example

1. Most often written in block style
2. The ‘header’ block includes:  to, from, date, subject, and sometimes includes CC
3. Most often it’s written to internal audiences
4. Most often written in a conversational tone and style
5. Does not have author contact information or signature.  Author may choose to write his/her initials at the bottom of the document or may choose to sign one’s initals on top of one’s name

Email:  Email Example

1. Most often a shorter document
2. Be sure to write one topic per email.
3. Often includes a greeting to the receiver and a signature block of the author
4. Written in a more conversational to casual tone – depending on the audience