Perhaps describing a lowly office memorandum as a potential masterpiece is a touch melodramatic, but

However, there is a marked exception to this rule. There are memos that weather the storm, rise to the top of the In Bin tornado, and get read. Why is that? The answer is very simple:

They Are Interesting!

Imagine that! An interesting memo? An attention-grabbing sticky note? A motivating email? It is possible, and you may have seen a few in your own workplace. But they are very rare. The reason? Most individuals who are forced to author these Mediocre Memos are doing so under pressure, or are unwilling or unable to give the appropriate time and thought to their creation. They may feel “Nobody’s going to read it anyway.” Well, with that attitude, they’re right.

However, the authors of the exceptional memos have taken a slightly different stance: They are determined to take the information they have to share, and mold it in to a format they would be excited to read themselves. They are convinced that, presented in the right way, their information will be of interest to everyone on their mailing list. On this solid positive foundation, the exceptional memo writer can then build his or her masterpiece.

Perhaps describing a lowly office memorandum as a potential masterpiece is a touch melodramatic, but

However, there is a marked exception to this rule. There are memos that weather the storm, rise to the top of the In Bin tornado, and get read. Why is that? The answer is very simple:

They Are Interesting!

Imagine that! An interesting memo? An attention-grabbing sticky note? A motivating email? It is possible, and you may have seen a few in your own workplace. But they are very rare. The reason? Most individuals who are forced to author these Mediocre Memos are doing so under pressure, or are unwilling or unable to give the appropriate time and thought to their creation. They may feel “Nobody’s going to read it anyway.” Well, with that attitude, they’re right.

However, the authors of the exceptional memos have taken a slightly different stance: They are determined to take the information they have to share, and mold it in to a format they would be excited to read themselves. They are convinced that, presented in the right way, their information will be of interest to everyone on their mailing list. On this solid positive foundation, the exceptional memo writer can then build his or her masterpiece.

Perhaps describing a lowly office memorandum as a potential masterpiece is a touch melodramatic, but

They Are Interesting!

Imagine that! An interesting memo? An attention-grabbing sticky note? A motivating email? It is possible, and you may have seen a few in your own workplace. But they are very rare. The reason? Most individuals who are forced to author these Mediocre Memos are doing so under pressure, or are unwilling or unable to give the appropriate time and thought to their creation. They may feel “Nobody’s going to read it anyway.” Well, with that attitude, they’re right.

However, the authors of the exceptional memos have taken a slightly different stance: They are determined to take the information they have to share, and mold it in to a format they would be excited to read themselves. They are convinced that, presented in the right way, their information will be of interest to everyone on their mailing list. On this solid positive foundation, the exceptional memo writer can then build his or her masterpiece.

Perhaps describing a lowly office memorandum as a potential masterpiece is a touch melodramatic, but

However, the authors of the exceptional memos have taken a slightly different stance: They are determined to take the information they have to share, and mold it in to a format they would be excited to read themselves. They are convinced that, presented in the right way, their information will be of interest to everyone on their mailing list. On this solid positive foundation, the exceptional memo writer can then build his or her masterpiece.

Perhaps describing a lowly office memorandum as a potential masterpiece is a touch melodramatic, but

Perhaps describing a lowly office memorandum as a potential masterpiece is a touch melodramatic, but consider: If the information contained in the memo were not of importance, why waste the time, effort and paper producing it? If the information is important enough to go through the authoring process, is it not important enough to make extraordinary? Of course it is, and it is the extraordinary memo that gets read.

So, what exactly goes in to the production of an extraordinary memo?

As already stated, the extraordinary memo must begin with a positive attitude about the memo’s worth and the value of making it extraordinary.

The next step involves gathering all the necessary information that may be included in the memo being written, and then eliminating at least half of it. Yes, eliminating at least half of it. Why? A memo very quickly overstays its welcome if it is too lengthy for its own good. Most vital messages can be relayed in several sentences rather than several pages. Eliminate all the “fluff” such as background data, unnecessary statistics, obvious explanations, repetitive charts and graphs, etc. If your audience truly requires all of the above information to understand and appreciate your topic, a memo is not the best format for your presentation. (You may want to consider scheduling a meeting or series of meetings wherein you are able to present the information with visual aids and data sheets included.)

Now that you are left with a list of vital informatio