Friday, Mar. 7

Recap (5)

• Last Wednesday's class focused on recommendation reports more broadly, and giving feedback to peers related to their analysis of findings for the recommendation reports.

• Today's class focuses memos and executive summaries, and the upcoming assignments for the class.

  • • Activity 3.5 (due Sunday, Mar. 9) includes an executive summary

    • Activity 2.8 (due Friday, Mar. 14) includes a memo

• Additionally, I want to return to the topic of alt text, since few projects included alt text.

Timeline

• Project 2

  • • Activity 2.7 due by 11:59pm tonight

    • Activity 2.8 due by 11:59pm, Friday Mar. 14

• Project 3

  • • Activity 3.4 due by 11:59pm tonight

    • Activity 3.5 due by 11:59pm on Sunday, Mar. 9

    • Activity 3.6 due by 11:59pm on Friday, Mar. 14

    • Activity 3.7 due by 11:59pm on Sunday, Mar. 16

    • Activity 3.8 due by 11:59pm on Friday, Mar. 21

• Reading Responses

  • • RR 19 due by noon on Monday, Mar. 10

    • RR 20 due by noon on Friday, Mar. 14

MEmos and Executive Summaries

Ilyasova (5)

• Memos

  • • may accompany a report or project

    • may reference a stage of a project

    • may provide information about projects, tasks, and decisions

    • may include private or confidential information

    • are more formal

    • are usually for a narrow, specific audience

• Writing Memos

  • • consider the rhetorical context (who, what, when, where, why, uses)

    • write specific subject line

    • include date, to, from, subject information in the header

    • include the subject, purpose, and main ideas in the introduction

    • include information and explanations in the body of the memo

    • the body of the memo usually has a few topics (2+)

    • the conclusion should summarize the main points and be forward-looking

• Executive Summaries

  • • usually precede a report, but…

    • should be able to stand alone apart from a report

    • help readers decide if they need to read the rest of a report

    • help readers make decisions based on information just in the executive summary alone

    • affect reader perceptions of the writer

• Writing Executive Summaries

  • • they may be organized differently from the body of the report

    • they may use different phrasing than the report

    • include background information, the purpose, the main point, key information, and contact information

Reading Response Questions

Pippa

Why do you think executive summaries are structured differently from the full report? Would there ever be a time when it makes sense to keep the same structure? How do you decide what information is most important to include?

Migo

how do we decide how much detail to include in an executive summary when summarizing complex reports? Finding the right balance between being brief and thorough can be tough, especially when writing for an audience with different levels of familiarity with the topic. Also, how can writers ensure their summaries and memos are professional yet engaging to capture the reader’s attention while still being informative?

George

Why do readers often prefer an executive summary over a full report. What does this say about attention spans and information processing in professional environments?