Like headings, the various types of lists are an important feature of professional technical writing: they help readers understand, remember, and review key points; they help readers follow a sequence of actions or events; and they break up long stretches of straight text.

Indicate a heading's level through design. Use type size, type style, color, boldness, italicization, and alignment to make a heading's level obvious. ("Levels" of headings are like levels in an outline: Level 1 corresponds to the large, capitalized roman numerals; Level 2 to the capital letters; Level 3 to the arabic numerals; Level 4 to the lower-case roman numerals; and so on.)

Please keep in mind that if it is your job to answer questions on the topic of x, then it doesn't look good if you say "I don't know the answer to that question on the topic of x," and end the email/memo. Such a response will sour a customer on your brand very quickly.

Do you want readers to respect your writing, read it with ease, and come away with a clear sense of what you intended to communicate and a positive impression of you as a co-worker or team member? If so, knowing the memo format and a bit of the reason why memos look as they do will help you in structuring your memo/email properly. As we move through this lesson, you will learn more about what types of content go in the main types of emails/memos, and how to write clearly and effectively.