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Amazon 6-Pager (narrative memo) template

For any major proposal or strategy review. Origin: Amazon S-team format since 2004; replaces slides, read silently at the start of the meeting.

Start from this templateFree, no account needed. The blank is written with guidance in each section, ready to fill in.

Sections

  1. Introduction & purpose
  2. Tenets
  3. State of the business
  4. Lessons learned
  5. Strategic priorities
  6. Plan, resources & milestones
  7. Asks
  8. Appendix / FAQ

How a tough reader scores it

When you score a draft against this format, the Critic evaluates this Amazon 6-pager. The weights add up to 100; the fixes for the weakest criteria arrive as cards in the editor.

CriterionWeight
Clarity of purpose and decision sought in first paragraph15
Tenets are specific and would settle real disagreements10
Data rigor — input metrics, baselines, YoY, sources20
Narrative logic — each section follows from the prior, no bullet-dumping15
Lessons learned are candid, including failures10
Plan is dated, owned, and resourced15
FAQ anticipates the hardest questions10
Concision — within 6 pages, no filler5

How it works in SecondPen.ai

Open the template and the editor writes the blank once, with a line of guidance under each heading that you delete as you fill it in. Write your abstract and the editor names the format it reads like. Ask for a document with a slash command and it offers to start from the matching format. When the draft is ready, the Critic scores it against the criteria above, the way this format's toughest reader would, and the three highest-leverage fixes become Editor cards.

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