Business Communication Report Writing

Agenda What is Communication? Defining Technical Writing Types of Reports How to Write Reports Computer Reports Anatomy of a Report Sales Proposals Future of Reports

What is communication? In simple words we can say that ““just to convey the message” If we go in more detail we can say that “ communication is the process of transmitting & Receiving Messages.

Components of Communication Context Internal Means External Means Sender (Encoder) Message Medium Receiver (Decoder) Feed Back

Communication Process

How We Communicate CVs, Resumes Email, Web site, FAQs Letters, Newsletters, Brochures, Articles, Catalogs Advertisements, Notice Board, Pamphlets, Signs, Press Release Presentations, multimedia, talks Reports, Manuals, Proposals, Books

Defining Technical Writing Technical writing is communication written for and about the business and industry. Technical writing focuses on products and services and how to manufacture them, market them, manage them, deliver them and use them.

Types of Correspondence Memos and electronic mails Letters Reports Proposals Brochures Newsletters Websites Online help

Technical Writing Reports Proposals User Manuals Technical Manuals White Papers

Classification of Reports Formal Reports and Informal Reports Information Reports Analytical Reports Recommendation Reports

5 Steps to Report Writing1 Define the problem Gather the necessary information Analyze the information Organize the information Write the report

Organizing Reports Comparison/contrast Problem-solution Elimination of alternatives General to particular Geographic or spatial Functional Chronological

REPORT PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION PROCESS

Characteristics Of Technical Writing Specific audience Objective and plain language Clear organization Brief writing style Visual aids

Most research reports include the following elements: I. Title page II. Letter of transmittal III. Table of contents IV. List of tables V. List of graphs VI. List of appendices VII. List of exhibits VIII. Executive summary a. Major findings b. Conclusions c. Recommendations IX. Introduction a. Background to the problem b. Statement of the problem X. Approach to the problem XI. Research design a. Type of research design b. Information needs c. Data collection from secondary sources d. Data collection from primary sources e. Scaling techniques f. Questionnaire development and pretesting g. Sampling techniques h. Field work XII. Data analysis a. Methodology b. Plan of data analysis XIII. Results XIV. Limitations and caveats XV. Conclusions and recommendations XVI. Appendix a. Questionnaires and forms b. Statistical output c. Lists

Report Body Introduction Background/History of the Problem Body Purpose and Scope;Limitations, Assumptions, and Methods Background/History of the Problem Body Presents and interprets data Conclusions and Recommendations References or Works Cited Appendixes Interview transcripts, questionnaires, question tallies, printouts, and previous reports

Letter of Transmittal Background Summarize conclusions and recommendations Minor problems. Thank those who helped. Additional research necessary Thank the reader. Offer to answer questions.

Sales Proposal Budget Objectives Strategy and Tactics Schedule Results Closing

Document Design Use no more than 5 fonts. Use no more than 5 colors. Use glossy paper. Use white space. Use templates. Use parallelism. Avoid double emphasis.

Future Reports Proposals 50-page reports 25-minute oral presentation 1-page summary Reports Multi-media Web