Professional & Technical Communication

Workplace writing in a variety of places and ways

A Supplemental Text for English 3764 at Virginia Tech as taught by Traci Gardner <tengrrl @ vt. edu>

Annotated Website Survey Memo Template

The template below shows the layout of your memo in the left column of the table and an explanation of the format in the right column of the table. The memo layout in the table includes more vertical space between the sections to allow for the full explanation.

Check out the Website Survey Memo Template (Format Only) to see exactly what your memo should look like.

Survey of Website Writing Template with Annotations
Survey Template with Placeholder Text Explanation of Template Elements

MEMO

Document Title

  • Include “Memo” or “Memorandum” as the document title.
  • Do not include any other title.
To: Traci Gardner
From: Your Full Name
Date: January 21, 2025
Subject: Types of Writing in Electrical Engineering

Memo Headers

  • Every memo begins with a memo headers: To, From, Date, and Subject.
  • Follow each header with the pertinent information.
  • Align the memo headers align vertically.
  • Use the same size and style for all the Memo Headers.
  • Double space (leave 1 blank line) between headers.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi e vel arcu. Quisque neque diam, consequat vitae enim vel, dignis non erat eu aliquet. Aliquam fringilla nibh risus, eget molestie te vehicula et massa nec bibendum. Donec commodo ut est sed pretium. Etiam non tristique justo.

Memo Body

  • Do not indent paragraphs
  • Use hierarchical headings, in bold. Your title should be the largest and then work down from there.

Memo Introduction

This is the intro paragraph. There is no need to give an introduction a heading, as it’s obvious it’s the intro.

Approach

Nullam eleifend lorem enim, in eleifend neque suscipit sed. Maecenas sollicitudin purus id orci posuere, ac tempus leo venenatis. Nulla bibendum odio mi, non luctus ante convallis et. Donec eleifend nisl vel sapien tincidunt ultricies. Vivamus congue nunc rutrum orci malesuada ornare. Aenean venenatis vitae lect turpis.

Approach Section

  • Begin all main sections with a First-level Heading (using the same size and style).
  • Include your section content in a paragraph under the heading.

Types of Writing

From my research, I discovered that those who work in my field generally spend their time writing [identify 1], [identify 2], [identify 3], and [identify 4].

Types of Writing Section

  • Add another main section with a First-level Heading (using the same size and style).
  • Introduce the content of the following subsections with an Advance Organizer.
  • Add each type of writing, replacing “[identify1]” and so on with the types of writing in your memo.
  • Remove the square brackets from your sentence.

[Writing Type 1]

Vivamus aliquam eges magna in mattis. Quisque laoreet placerat risus. Cras tempus, orci eu gravida interdum, libero odio vestibulum orci, id tincidunt quam sem a elit. Donec rhoncus urna nec neque interdum laoreet.

Writing Type Subsection 1

  • Add a subsection with a Second-level Heading.
  • Use the same size and style for all subsections, matching across the memo.
  • Add the type of writing, replacing “[Writing Type 1]” and so on, for each subsection. Remove the square brackets from your heading.
  • Follow this pattern for all four subsections.

[Writing Type 2]

Etiam varius tortor ut vehicula tristique. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Vestibulum tempor tincidunt nunc. Duis nec tellus ac odio viverra tristique eu vel ligula. Duis pretium vehicula accumsan. Suspendisse congue, nisl ac vehicula imperdiet, lacus ante laoreet diam, non semper tellus neque in quam. Sed scelerisque blandit justo eget dictum.

Writing Type Subsection 2

Same as Subsection 1.

[Writing Type 3]

Morbi convallis efficitur diam, non lobortis leo fringilla vel. Proin molestie pellentesque enim vitae lacinia. In massa purus, ultrices faucibus accumsan nec, commodo sed felis. Maecenas at semper elit, ut porttitor odio. Donec tristique faucibus congue. Suspendisse bibendum augue et sapien fringilla feugiat. Integer faucibus augue non enim ultricies, ut aliquam sapien congue.

Writing Type Subsection 3

Same as Subsection 1.

[Writing Type 4]

Aliquam ac neque tincidunt, convallis ligula et, pellentesque augue. Cras auctor sapien sem, ac viverra massa iaculis nec. Duis neque odio, luctus quis massa et, laoreet vehicula sem. Morbi eget libero sem. Phasellus auctor, massa ut porttitor dignissim, quam metus auctor enim, ut accumsan nibh justo ut eros. Nulla facilisi. Nulla viverra pharetra neque vel convallis. Phasellus ornare nunc eget magna tempor, sed convallis lorem aliquet. Maecenas mattis orci vulputate lacus tempor, vitae lacinia quam sollicitudin.

Writing Type Subsection 4

Same as Subsection 1.

Conclusions

Vivamus aliquam tellus in eros imperdiet condimentum. Integer ac purus ultricies turpis consectetur accumsan. Fusce tempus turpis et ligula dictum vehicula. Phasellus hendrerit tempor purus, sit amet posuere orci malesuada suscipit. Vivamus condimentum enim ut felis mattis, rutrum maximus metus tristique. Nam pellentesque est sit amet metus pellentesque placerat. Maecenas dignissim fringilla bibendum.

Conclusions Section

  • Add another main section with a First-level Heading (using the same size and style).
  • Be sure to include the “s” on the end of the word Conclusions.
  • Answer the following question in this section: What did you learn about writing in your field from doing this research?

If you have any questions about my research or my conclusions, please write to me at youremail@vt.edu.

Memo Conclusion

  • Add a conclusion to end the memo.
  • Keep it simple.
  • Include your contact info so the reader can follow up if they desire.
  • Do not add your name or a signature block.