Report Writing for Business

A One-Day Training Course

What you will learn:

• How to write reports that will be read without unnecessary delay, understood without undue effort; accepted and, where appropriate, acted upon.
• How to structure a report in a logical and understandable way
• How to collect, analyse and present information
• The art of producing a concise summary
• Producing a report with the correct technology
• To present your report in a professional and winning way
• How to design effective sales proposals

Course Content

• Planning: what is a report and how does it differ from a proposal? Preparation: to fail to prepare is to prepare to fail. What do you want to achieve, what resources do you have, what do you want/need to say?
• Identifying the readership: who are they? What will they want/need to know? Setting the right objective and making it specific
• Collecting the information: Research - what information do you need and where will you obtain it? How will you organise it?
• Structuring a proposal: Position - where are we now? Problem - why can't we stay here? Possibilities - where can we go instead? Proposal - what is the best option?
• Structuring a research report: Aim - what do I want to discover? Method - how will I attempt to find the answer? Results - what happened? Conclusion - what does this mean and what should we do about it?
• Structuring a formal report: The Beginning - tell them what you are going to do, give the terms of reference, background and methodology. The Middle - tell them the body of the report and your findings. The End - summarise what you have told them and state your conclusions and recommendations.
• Using plain English: Style - matching the use of language to your reader, using everyday English, being politically correct, explaining new ideas, being accurate, brief and clear. Mechanics - vocabulary, spelling, abbreviations, punctuation and grammar.
• Making your report look professional and inviting to read: Presentation and layout, using computer packages and numbering.
• Using charts and graphs.

Target Audience:

This course will benefit any employees committed to the success of their business and their personal contribution within it.

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