write a note on writing skills of report structure?
What is writing skills
"Writing"
is the process of using symbols (letters of the alphabet, punctuation and
spaces) to communicate thoughts and ideas in a readable form
There are three main elements to written communication
- structure (the way the content is laid out)
- style (the way it is written)
- content (what you are writing about)
Structuring
Structure
and layout can be relatively quickly learnt but learning how to write good
quality content takes much longer
Structuring
A good
structure will help you to express yourself more clearly, whether in a
dissertation, an essay, a job application letter or a CV. The following tactics
may help you to structure your writing:
- Clarify your thoughts
and the purpose of your communication before you start
writing. In business communications, clarity is more important than style.
- Identify the key
points, facts and themes
- Decide on a logical
order for what you have to
say
- Compose a strong
introduction and ending. The
first will make an immediate and positive impression on the reader; the
second will remain in their mind after they have finished reading
- Use short paragraphs
and sentences rather than long,
rambling ones. Keep to one idea per paragraph and put your point in the first
line, then add the supporting information.
- Help key points to
stand out by the use of
headings, sub-headings and bullet points. This will allow your reader to
quickly scan your message for the main points.
Writing in a style appropriate to
the audience
All good
communicators should think about their readers:
- For example:How much information
and detail will
they need?
- Should you use
specialist terms or
should you “translate” these to make yourself understood by a generalist
reader?
- How formal or
informal should
your writing be?
- A
scientific paper aimed at an audience of non-scientists would have to be
written in simpler and less technical language.
- A
report in the Financial Times would be written in a very different style
from one covering the same issue in the Sun
- A
lawyer giving advice to a client would not go into the same amount of
details as to legal precedents and arguments as a law student would when
writing an academic essay.
- Emails
sent with job applications should be treated more formally than emails to
friends and family!
Improving
Your Writing Skills.
The good news is that writing is a skill which can be
learned like any other. One trick for checking and improving your work is to
read it aloud. Reading text forces you to slow down and you may pick up
problems with the flow that your eye would otherwise skip over...
writing in the Workplace.
Being able to write well is a skill which
will get you a long way in the workplace, partly because it is fairly rare in
many places.One skill that many people lack, especially in management and other
professional environments is the ability to write in plain English. That is
avoiding unnecessary jargon, industry specific buzzwords and clichés and
keeping sentences short and concise. Taking the time
to polish your writing skills is likely to pay off in the longer term, and
learning how to write specific types of documents will also be useful.
Writing at Home.
Many people would say that the art of letter-writing
is dying out. However,
there are still many times when you need to put pen (or word processor) to
paper. See our page on How to Write a Letter for
more.
Writing Job Applications.
At one time or another, most of
us need to write a job application.
Nowadays, job applications
usually require a CV or résumé, together with a
really strong covering letter. A good Linked In profile will
also help your application to stand out
from the rest, as will managing your online presence effectively.
What is a Report?
In academia there is some overlap between
reports and essays, and the two words are sometimes used interchangeably, but
reports are more likely to be needed for business, scientific and technical
subjects, and in the workplace.Whereas an essay presents arguments and
reasoning, a report concentrates on facts.Essentially, a report is a short,
sharp, concise document which is written for a particular purpose and audience. It generally sets outs and analyses a situation or problem,
often making recommendations for future action. It is a factual paper, and
needs to be clear and well-structured.Requirements for the precise form and
content of a report will vary between organisation and departments and in study
between courses, from tutor to tutor, as well as between subjects, so it’s
worth finding out if there are any specific guidelines before you start.
Report Main Body
The main body of the report should be carefully structured in a way that leads the
reader through the issue.You should split it into sections using
numbered sub-headings relating to themes or areas for consideration. For each
theme, you should aim to set out clearly and concisely the main issue under
discussion and any areas of difficulty or disagreement. It may also include
Reports may
contain some or all of the following elements:
·
A description of a
sequence of events or a situation;
·
Some interpretation of
the significance of these events or situation, whether solely your own analysis
or informed by the views of others, always carefully referenced of course (see
our page on Academic
Referencing for
more information);
·
An evaluation of the
facts or the results of your research;
·
Discussion of the
likely outcomes of future courses of action;
·
Your recommendations
as to a course of action; and
·
Conclusions.
Not all of these elements will
be essential in every report.
If you’re writing a report in
the workplace, check whether there are any standard guidelines or structure
that you need to use.
For example, in the UK many
government departments have outline structures for reports to ministers that
must be followed exactly
Step 1: Know your brief
You will
usually receive a clear brief for a report, including what you are studying and
for whom the report should be prepared.
First of all, consider your
brief very carefully and make sure that you are clear who the report is for (if
you're a student then not just your tutor, but who it is supposed to be written
for), and why you are writing it, as well as what you want the reader to do at
the end of reading: make a decision or agree a recommendation, perhaps.
Step 2: Keep
your brief in mind at all times
During your
planning and writing, make sure that you keep your brief in mind: who are you
writing for, and why are you writing?
All your thinking needs to be
focused on that, which may require you to be ruthless in your reading and
thinking. Anything irrelevant should be discarded.
As you read and research, try to
organise your work into sections by theme, a bit like writing a Literature Review.
Make sure that you keep track of
your references, especially for academic work. Although referencing is perhaps
less important in the workplace, it’s also important that you can substantiate
any assertions that you make so it’s helpful to keep track of your sources of
information.
The
Structure of a Report
Like the precise
content, requirements for structure vary, so do check what’s set out in any
guidance.However, as a rough guide, you should plan to include at the very
least an executive summary, introduction, the main body of your report, and a
section containing your conclusions and any recommendations.
Executive
Summary
The executive summary or abstract,
for a scientific report, is a brief summary of the contents. It’s worth writing
this last, when you know the key points to draw out. It should be no more than
half a page to a page in length.Remember the executive summary is designed to
give busy 'executives' a quick summary of the contents of the
report.experimental results. All the information that you present should be
related back to the brief and the precise subject under discussion
