

The overall content of your memo should be strategically aimed at achieving the following goal: convincing your target audience about the accuracy of your analysis and, by extension, that your policy recommendations are valid. In this sense, most policy memos possess a component of advocacy and advice intended to promote evidence-based dialog about an issue.Įssential Elements of an Effective Policy Memo It is focused on providing to a predetermined group of readers the rationale for choosing a particular policy alternative and/or specific courses of action leading to positive social and political change within society. Yes, there are certain commonalities in how the content is presented, but the overarching objective of a policy memo is not to discover or create new knowledge. Enables students to create original work that synthesizes policy-making research into a clearly written document advocating change and specific courses of action.ĭo not approach writing a policy memo in the same way as you would an academic research paper.Encourages reflective thinking about the cause and consequential effect of a particular recommendation and to anticipate what questions stakeholder groups may have and,.Teaches students to be client-oriented and to better anticipate the assumptions and concerns of their targeted readership.Promotes researching, organizing, and writing a persuasive paper that emphasizes presenting evidence-based recommendations rather than simply reporting a study's findings.Prepares students to write an effective position paper in non-academic settings.
#Memo example how to



A policy memo is a practical, professionally written document that can vary in length from one page to over twenty-five pages.
