Opening SegmentThe gist of a memo should occur in the opening sentences/paragraphs. It's a good idea to include some information about the context, a task statement and perhaps a purpose statement. 1. The context is the event, circumstance, or background of the problem you are solving or the directive you are giving. You can use a paragraph to establish the background and state the problem or more commonly simply use the opening of a sentence. Include only what your reader needs and be sure it is clear. 2. In the task statement describe what you are doing to deal with a situation. If an action was requested, refer to it by a sentence opening like, "You asked that I look at...." If you want to explain your intentions, you might say, "To determine the best method of xxx, I will...." 3. Finally, the purpose statement of a memo gives your reason for writing it and forecasts what is in the rest of the memo. You want to come right out and tell your reader the kind of information that's in store. For example, you might say: "This memo presents a description of the current situation, some proposed alternatives, and my recommendations." If you choose to use headings for your memo segments, you can refer to your major headings in this forecast statement to provide a guide for your reader.
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