Unit 3: Creating a Block Style Business Memo
Businesses use a variety of templates and styles for their business memos. In this unit we will look at the basic block style business memo.
You will use font "styles" such as bold, italicize, and underline to emphasize text. This unit will also highlight the use of borders as a visual break between sections of a memo.
Often, for business memos, you will use a "CC" line. CC means "carbon copy" and refers to an old practice in which a piece of carbon paper is put between two pieces of paper while a document is written to create a copy of the document. Nowadays, to CC someone means to send a copy of the original document to that person. Today, a CC is most commonly used with email.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 1 hour.
3.1: The Block Style Business Memo
Examine this example of a block style memo which also defines the parts of a memo. Again, the non-printing characters are shown in the example to help explain the formatting in the document. These characters will not actually print out on your finished documents.
You may also access this material as a Microsoft Word document here.
Read this material to learn about how memos are used and guidelines for creating a memo. As you read, think about a memo that you have sent or received. Did it follow these guidelines?
3.2: How to Create a Block Style Business Memo
This lecture shows how to format a business memo. After watching this video, you will know how to create and align memo headings, format fonts, and add borders to separate the heading from the body of the memo. You will also learn when and how to bold, italicize, and underline fonts. In the next subunit, you will get a chance to create your own!
3.3: Create Your Own Block Style Business Memo
Download this Microsoft Word document. Use the checklist below to help you create a block style business memo. Most of the memo has been typed for you, but the formatting needs to be corrected. Save and print the document when you are finished and compare it to the answer key provided below. Try not to look at the answer key until after you have attempted this activity on your own first.
Please review the following checklist when creating a business memo:
- Is the word MEMO centered on the top with a space underneath?
- Are the heading words to, from, date, and subject capitalized and bolded, but not the information following the heading words?
- Was the Tab key used to line up all information after the heading words?
- Is the spacing correct?
- Is there a line separating the top heading information from the body of the text?
- Are the typist's initials present?
- Is the word MEMO centered on the top with a space underneath?
You have just finished reformatting a draft memo to create a block style business memo. Review this answer key and compare it to your memo. Yours should look nearly identical to what is presented here.
You may also access this material as a Microsoft Word document here.
3.4: Going Beyond the Basics: Page Numbers, Headers, and Footers
Now that you have learned how to use Microsoft Word for basic word processing, you are ready to learn some more advanced word processing skills! Read this lesson to learn how to add page numbers, and create headers and footers. Once you are finished, practice what you have learned by creating your own business letter or memo from scratch. Can you add a header and page numbers?