Report Writing Report Writing Hints and Tips Graham Horn British Council
Report Writing Presentation outline Report types and stating purpose Organisation Formality Vocabulary choice and sentence length Common language mistakes
Report Writing Five Cs of good writing Complete report types and purpose Clear organisation Courteous level formality of formality and Plain and English plain English Concise vocabulary choice and and sentence length length Correct common mistakes and proofreading
Report writing - Complete Types of reports Performance report Feasibility study Evaluative report Audit Investigative report Survey report Executive summary What is the purpose of these types of reports? What characteristics would the reader expect to find?
Report writing - Complete Purpose to explain something that has gone wrong Characteristics recommendations of preventative action Investigative report Performance report Feasibility study Evaluative report Audit Investigative report Survey report Executive summary
Report writing - Complete Purpose to overview an existing situation to provide a basis for policy Characteristics identification of trends / patterns Survey report Performance report Feasibility study Evaluative report Audit Investigative report Survey report Executive summary
Report writing - Complete Purpose to overview an existing situation to provide a basis for policy Characteristics identification of trends / patterns Survey report Performance report Feasibility study Evaluative report Audit Investigative report Survey report Executive summary
Report writing - Complete Purpose to assess a proposal or a course of action Characteristics strengths / weaknesses / risk analysis Feasibility study Performance report Feasibility study Evaluative report Audit Investigative report Survey report Executive summary
Report writing - Complete Purpose to review a system, procedure or structure (on-going) Characteristics recommendation for changes / improvements Evaluative report Performance report Feasibility study Evaluative report Audit Investigative report Survey report Executive summary
Report writing - Complete Purpose to present an appraisal of whether a person or organisation or department has met targets or expectations Characteristics recommendations for alterations in targets or structure Performance report Performance report Feasibility study Evaluative report Audit Investigative report Survey report Executive summary
Report writing - Complete Purpose to check systems are in place and procedures are being followed Characteristics Executive Summary / background / aims / objectives / etc Audit Performance report Feasibility study Evaluative report Audit Investigative report Survey report Executive summary
Report writing - Complete Purpose a brief overview so as to give a preview of contents Characteristics why the report was written, make clear conclusions and recommendations Executive summary Performance report Feasibility study Evaluative report Audit Investigative report Survey report Executive summary
Report writing - Complete Executive summary + It is a summary of all key findings in the report Most important part of the report Generally cover: - purpose of the report - analytical approach - key findings - conclusions - recommendations Leave the writing until the report is finalized
Report writing - Clear Sections of a report Most reports can be broken down into five distinct sections. Other sections may also be added, depending on the type of report to be written. Introduction Background Findings Conclusion Recommendations What does the reader expect to find in each section?
Report writing - Clear Introduction introduces subject of report states aims/objective may include short summary title page table of contents list of illustrations Background introduces facts which help readers understand findings sets the context terms of reference methodology
Report writing - Clear Findings facts discovered during the investigation states what the problem is may include other people's opinions Conclusions gives the writer's opinion based on the facts adds no new information may discuss the underlying or root cause Recommendations provides solutions discusses the next steps or actions follows logically on from the conclusion
Report writing - Courteous Courteous Write with your reader in mind. If you want to encourage people to read your report, give them a piece of writing that is lively and readable. Imagine you are presenting your report to your reader yourself. Talk directly to your readers in language they understand. You will find that using shorter sentences and active verbs will already have made a difference. Plain English Campaign http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/
Report writing - Courteous I and we Reports used to be full of passive verbs with phrases like: - It was found that - It is accepted that - It is recommended that Let the readers know there is a person behind the print with phrases like: - We found that - I accept that - We recommend that Active voice: (subject+verb+object) Personal, short, clear, simple, warm, modern, friendly
Report writing - Courteous Please be informed that the next audit will be held on 8th August 2013. The next audit is on 8 August 2013. Enclosed herewith in Appendix B is a table of the raw data collected. In Appendix B you will find a table of the raw data collected. The matter will be investigated in due course. We will certainly investigate this drop in sales over the next quarter.
Report writing - Courteous Please review the attached proposal and let us know your decision by 30 June 2010 Please find attached the proposal for your kind perusal and necessary action. Trusting this recommendation meets with the board s approval I hope the board accept this recommendation. We are disappointed with the level of service our customers receive. Any inconvenience caused to our customers is regretted.
Report writing - Concise Concise There is a tendency to write more than is required. The written English we want is clean, clear prose. I chose my words carefully - not elegant, not stylish, just clean, clear prose. It means simplifying, polishing, tightening. Lee Kuan Yew Former Prime Minister of Singapore
Report writing - Concise Shorter words help keep your sentences concise. commencement regarding purchase subsequently additional start about buy later, after, then more, extra
Report writing - Concise amend beneficial pertaining to in excess of in the event of correct, change useful, helpful about more than if
Report writing - Concise Verbs instead of nouns Nouns tend to be more formal and longer and make sentences more complicated. To make your writing easier to understand, it is better to use verbs. There was a failure in the system. The system failed. Nouns arrangement failure completion Verbs arrange fail complete Nouns provision utilisation investigation Verbs provide utilise investigate
Report writing - Concise Keep sentences short The Institute of Industrial Psychologists in the UK researched the link between readability and sentence length. They asked 100 people to read three sentences once only and then checked the comprehension levels of each person. Guess the results: Sentence length 7 words 17 words 27 words Understanding after one reading 98% 80% 4%
Report writing - Concise Maximum sentence length is 20 words so aim for an average of 12-17. By all means put in the occasional short sentence but an average sentence length of 7 words would not make a text flow.
Report writing - Correct Correct Know your common mistakes Proofread Get someone to read your report
Report writing - Correct Common Hong Kong errors The following areas account for two-thirds of all errors. Verb related 22% Word meaning 21% Noun / adjective / verb confusion 9% Singular / plural problems 5% Countable / uncountable nouns 4% Articles 4% Prepositions 3.5%
Report writing - Correct Verb related We stopped to sell the product in April. We stopped selling the product in April. They have started the new production in April. They started the new production in in April. The production manager have resigned. The production manager has resigned. Staff needs to complete the training by April. Staff need to complete the training by April.
Report writing - Correct Word meaning All staff will undergo an IT course in April All staff will take an IT course in April. The printer is spoilt. The printer is broken. The sales rise in the last quarter was impactful. The sales rise in the last quarter was impressive.
Report writing - Correct Singular / plural problem Each sales managers need replacing. Each printer sales manager needs replacing. needs replacing. A new version that have more feature. A new version that has more features. Countable / uncountable Refer to a good English English dictionary when you are not sure.
Report writing - Correct Articles and prepositions These are difficult because we do not register them when we read or listen. Therefore, spend time actively noticing them when you read. Refer to a good English-English dictionary for the correct dependent preposition.
Report writing - Correct Proofreading tips Wait 24 hours allows time to lose familiarity with the writing Read it out loud allows you to sense grammatical errors better Read it backwards allows you to focus more on specifics as the individual sentences do not flow together Proofread all the time trains you to become a natural editor
Report Writing Remember the five Cs of good writing Complete What type of report am I writing? What is the purpose? Clear How am I going to organise my report? Courteous Who am I writing for? Does my report contain too much passive voice? Concise Have I used simpler vocabulary? Are my sentences a good length? Correct What are my common mistakes? Have I proof-read yet?
Report Writing Q and A