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Internal memo writer

Drafts a clean, structured internal memo with a subject line, TL;DR, body organized around the key message, explicit next steps, and a tone calibrated to the audience and news type. Use when announcing a decision…

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Purpose

Produce a ready-to-send internal memo that leads with the point, respects the reader's time, and drives clear action — solving the recurring problem of announcements that bury the decision, muddle the ask, or misjudge the emotional register for the audience.

When to Use

Invoke this skill when the user asks to:

  • Announce a company or team decision, policy change, or new process
  • Communicate an organizational change (reorg, role change, leadership transition)
  • Send a project or program status update to stakeholders
  • Write a message from a leader (CEO, department head) to their org
  • Explain a difficult or sensitive decision (layoffs, budget cuts, benefit changes)
  • Turn rough talking points or a meeting outcome into a polished memo

Inputs Required

Before starting, collect:

  • Topic: What the memo is about, in one line
  • Key message: The single most important thing the reader must take away
  • Audience: Who receives this (whole company, a department, managers, executives, a specific team)
  • News type: Positive / neutral / difficult / sensitive — governs tone and framing
  • Sender: Who this is from (name and role, or "Leadership")
  • Action required: What the reader should do, if anything, and by when
  • Context/background: Any facts, reasons, or history the reader needs

If action required is missing, treat the memo as informational and state so explicitly. If news type is missing, infer it from the topic and note the assumption.

Instructions

Step 1: Determine Memo Type and Register

Classify the memo, because structure and tone follow from type:

  • Announcement: New decision, product, hire, or policy — lead with the news
  • Update: Progress on ongoing work — lead with status and what changed since last time
  • Directive: A required action or behavior change — lead with the ask and the deadline
  • Explanatory/Sensitive: A difficult decision — lead with the decision, then the reasoning, then support

Set register by news type: positive news can be warm and forward-looking; neutral news stays crisp and factual; difficult news is direct, human, and free of corporate euphemism — no "synergies," "rightsizing," or "exciting changes" masking bad news.

Step 2: Write the Subject Line and TL;DR

  • Subject line: 6–10 words, states the actual news — "New Remote Work Policy Effective March 1," not "Important Update." Readers should know the topic before opening.
  • TL;DR: 1–3 sentences at the very top capturing the key message and the action required. A reader who stops here should still know what happened and what they must do.

Step 3: Structure the Body Around the Key Message

Use the BLUF principle (Bottom Line Up Front). Order sections by reader priority, not chronology:

  1. The news / decision: State it plainly in the first sentence of the body. No warm-up.
  2. The why: 1–2 short paragraphs on the reasoning. For sensitive memos, this is where you show the decision was considered, not casual.
  3. What it means for the reader: Translate the decision into concrete impact on the audience's day-to-day. This is the section readers care about most — do not skip it.
  4. What happens next / action required: A short list of specific next steps, each with an owner and date where relevant.
  5. Where to get more: Point to a doc, meeting, office hours, or a person for questions.

Keep paragraphs to 2–4 sentences. Use bold sub-labels or short headers so the memo is scannable in under 30 seconds.

Step 4: Calibrate the Difficult-News Handling

For sensitive or negative memos:

  • Deliver the hard news in the first two sentences — delaying it reads as evasive
  • Name the impact honestly; do not soften facts into ambiguity
  • Acknowledge the human effect in one genuine sentence, without over-emoting
  • Give people a concrete next step or resource so they are not left in uncertainty
  • Avoid blame, false optimism, and passive voice that hides who decided what

Step 5: Final Pass

Read the memo as the recipient. Confirm the key message survives a 10-second skim, the ask is unmistakable, and the tone matches the news. Cut any sentence that does not inform, direct, or reassure.

Output Format

  • Structure: Subject line → TL;DR → dated header block (To / From / Date / Re) → body with labeled sections → next steps → contact for questions
  • Length: 250–500 words for standard memos; up to 700 for reorgs or sensitive decisions
  • Format: Structured document — short paragraphs, bolded section labels, a bulleted action list
  • Sections: Subject, TL;DR, header block, The News, The Why, What This Means for You, Next Steps, Questions
  • Tone: Clear, direct, and human — professional without corporate jargon; warmth or gravity dialed to match the news type

Quality Checklist

Before delivering output, verify:

  • [ ] The subject line names the actual topic — not "Important Update" or "FYI"
  • [ ] The key message appears in the TL;DR and again in the first sentence of the body
  • [ ] Action required (or "informational, no action needed") is stated explicitly with dates
  • [ ] A "What this means for you" section translates the decision into reader impact
  • [ ] No corporate euphemisms disguise difficult news
  • [ ] The full memo can be understood in a 30-second skim of subject, TL;DR, and headers

Notes

  • The single biggest failure mode in internal memos is burying the decision under context — always lead with the news, then explain
  • For company-wide sensitive announcements, recommend the sender pair the memo with a live channel (all-hands or Q&A) so people can ask questions
  • If the input suggests multiple distinct messages, advise splitting into separate memos — one memo, one primary message
  • Match the sender's voice: a CEO memo and a project-manager update should not sound identical even at equal clarity

How to use this skill

This file is a Claude Code skill in Anthropic's standard format — markdown with YAML frontmatter at the top.

Installing in Claude Code:

  • ~/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md — auto-loads in every session anywhere on your machine (recommended for skills you'll use across multiple projects)
  • <your-project>/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md — auto-loads only when working in that project (recommended for project-specific skills)

Restart Claude Code or open a new session to register.

Using in Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Gemini, or other AI tools:

  1. Drag this file into a new chat, or copy and paste its contents
  2. Send your task or request as your next message — the AI will apply the skill where it fits

For Claude Code skill details: https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/skills