Effective Report Writing

Part 1
BY
KRUSHANTH REDDY

Presentation Outline

Importance of report writing

Keys to effective report writing
Structure
Format & Mechanics
Style
Editing
Resources

Need for communication

Reports
Articles
Proposals

Meetings
Lectures
Conferences

specific technical audience

general technical audience
non-technical audience

How well you communicate

Will affect your career!

Why reports are so

important

Major channel for communicating information

Part of a Student work
Part of any Professional Work
Tool for Decision Making

Writing is an essential skill for a

successful Professional

What is a good report?

A good report should be one,

which effectively conveys
what the outcome of the project is or
what the writer wants to say.

Keys to effective report

writing
Understand your subject matter
Analyze constraints:
Audience
Purpose
Occasion

Know your audience

Who they are

What they know
Why they will read
How they will read

Identify the purpose

To Inform?
To Convince?

Recognize the occasion

Format
Formality
Politics and ethics
Process and deadline

Report writing process

Analyze constraints
Organize information
Write first draft
Edit and revise
Finalize

How are reports assessed by

reader?

Structure
How information is organized
Form
Format: layout, typography
Mechanics: grammar, punctuation, spelling
Style
The way you communicate

Structure
Front matter
Presents preliminary information for the
report
Main body
Explains report's content to primary audience
Discusses results and presents conclusions
Back matter
Provides secondary information to all readers
as well as primary information to secondary
readers

Front Matter

Title page
Summary
Table of contents
Preface, acknowledgements, lists of tables
and figures, notation

Pages numbered with roman numerals (except front

one)

Front matter title page

Orients reader to content of document

Title
Author
Date

Front matter summary

Entire information in its essence

Precise
Non-technical language
Most important part of the report
Reader will decide whether to read
further or not)

Front matter table of

contents
Lists various sections used in the report
with their starting page number

Main Body

Introduction
Discussion
Conclusion
Pages numbered with Arabic
numerals

Main Body introduction

Topic
Importance
Background
Scope and limitations
Leads the writer to the main body

Main Body discussion

Discusses your work in depth
Choose logical flow of information: ideas
follow each other naturally
Chronological
Spatial
Parallel parts
Flow
Section headings descriptive & parallel

Main Body conclusion

Matter-of-fact kind of a section

Do not introduce new information
Recommendations
Future work

Back Matter

References
Appendices
Continue page numbering with Arabic
numerals following conclusion

Back matter - References

Complete and accurate list of all the

literature sources you have consulted
Make sure a source listed is cited in the
text
Several standard bibliographic formats
ASCE:
http://www.pubs.asce.org/authors/index.html#re
f

Back matter - appendices

Supply additional information for

secondary audiences
Supply secondary or tangential
information to primary audience
Separate appendices for different types
of information

Structure of report

Title page
Summary
Table of contents
Introduction
Discussion
Conclusions
Recommendations
References and Appendices

Format

The way a document is arranged

No universal format
Different formats to serve particular
audiences, purposes, and occasions
Follow the format that is expected or
required for specific situation
Make the reading process efficient

Illustrations

Tables
Figures

Illustration - tables

Used to display significant data

or key findings
Each column of the data tabulated
should be described by a heading
Variables should be clearly identified
by a symbol or name
Units should always be clearly noted

Illustration - tables
Numerical data should be reported to
relevant accuracy
Tables are identified by their captions
must be referenced in the text
should appear after they have been cited

Sample of a table

Illustration - figures
Any graphs, flow diagrams, drawings, or
pictures
Graphs should be as clear as possible
Determine a suitable scale for each axis, and
label it with the quantity it represents and the
units of measurement in brackets
Use different symbols for various data sets
plotted on the same graph, include a legend
or label identifying them

Figures are identified by their captions

must be referenced in the text
should appear after they have been cited

Sample of graph

Mechanics

Avoid common errors of

Grammar
Punctuation
Usage
Spelling

Style

Short paragraphs and sentences

One idea per paragraph
Smooth and logical flow of ideas
Be precise, avoid being vague

Language

Remember that reports will be judged on:

technical content
clarity & ease of understanding of written
text
choice of wording
grammatical correctedness

Report writing process

Analyze constraints
Organize information
Write first draft
Edit and revise
Finalize

Editing

Allow time to edit and proofread before

submission
Content correct, appropriate & complete?
Delete unnecessary words
Rewrite unclear sentences
Clean up grammatical errors
Look out for misspelled words

Style

Short paragraphs and sentences

One idea per paragraph
Smooth and logical flow of ideas
Be precise, avoid being vague

Beware of Plagiarism