Use Examples to Illustrate Linguistic Features of Memos

張靖琳

Memo is short for “memorandum”， which means a short official notethat is sent by one person to another within the same company ororganization. Memos， including memos sent through email， are simplemeans of communication within an organization. Compared with businessletters， they are simple because they usually omit the formality of theexpensive letterhead， inside address， salutation， complimentary close， andsignature block， which are commonly used in business letter. They areefficient because their simple and direct composition conveys quickly whatthe write wants to say to the reader.

Memos can be typed according to their circulation way. Generallyspeaking， there are four types of memos： （1） sent to upper management：acting as a report and goes to upper management. （2） sent to divisionsaffiliated： carrying instructions from upper management. （3） sent to all ofthe staff： working as a notice or bulletin. （4） sent to colleagues in oroutside one's own department： exchanging information.

Memos are an efficient and effective way to communication within anorganization. It is most commonly used for internal communicationbetween coworkers or members of a department. If you may need to use amemo as an external method of communication， for example， you need tocommunicate with other business associates. You should make sure thatyour memo is professional， clear， and aligns with your profession'sstandards.