Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT t/a Communication for Business by Access Series Slides prepared by TAFE NSW—Access Division 10–1 This is the prescribed textbook for your course. Available NOW at your campus bookstore!

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT t/a Communication for Business by Access Series Slides prepared by TAFE NSW—Access Division 10–2 Writing Reports  Topics Discussed:Chapter 10 What is a report? Planning Organising information Writing Quotations, references and acknowledgments Editing Appendixes Presenting the report Other technical writing

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT t/a Communication for Business by Access Series Slides prepared by TAFE NSW—Access Division 10–3 What is a report?  The range of reports relevant to business services include: Informative or descriptive reports Progress reports Feasibility reports Proposals or tender documents Accident/critical incident reports Project management reports Occupational health and safety policies Productivity report Evaluations, for example of training or implementation of procedures

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT t/a Communication for Business by Access Series Slides prepared by TAFE NSW—Access Division 10–4 Planning the Report  Make sure you are clear about: Purpose Audience Scope Actions

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT t/a Communication for Business by Access Series Slides prepared by TAFE NSW—Access Division 10–5 Planning the Report  Purpose: General purpose –Overall outcome—what you hope to achieve Specific purpose –Short-list of outcomes or aims that help sharpen the focus

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT t/a Communication for Business by Access Series Slides prepared by TAFE NSW—Access Division 10–6 Planning the Report  Audience: Who is going to read the report? Is there only one reader? How much do they already know about the subject? What will their attitude be—towards the topic and towards you?

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT t/a Communication for Business by Access Series Slides prepared by TAFE NSW—Access Division 10–7 Planning the Report  Scope: Which factors will limit how much you can achieve? Consider: –time frames –cost –availability of primary and secondary sources of information –your degree of expertise –how much effort the reader will put into reading the report –resources –parameters

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT t/a Communication for Business by Access Series Slides prepared by TAFE NSW—Access Division 10–8 Planning the Report  Actions: Create a schedule for the actions that will be involved in producing the report For example: –When should you stop collecting information and start analysing it? –How much time should you spend writing?

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT t/a Communication for Business by Access Series Slides prepared by TAFE NSW—Access Division 10–9 Writing the Report  Gather the data  Produce an outline  Organise the information  Write a draft: Introduction Findings Analysis or discussion Conclusions Recommendations

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT t/a Communication for Business by Access Series Slides prepared by TAFE NSW—Access Division 10–10 Gathering Data  Primary sources: Direct observation Interviews Surveys and questionnaires  Secondary sources: Past reports and projects Networks and organisations Library resources The Internet

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT t/a Communication for Business by Access Series Slides prepared by TAFE NSW—Access Division 10–11 Producing an Outline  Introduction  Findings or results  Analysis/Discussion  Conclusion/s  Recommendation/s

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT t/a Communication for Business by Access Series Slides prepared by TAFE NSW—Access Division 10–12 Producing an Outline  Points to remember: Subdivide into sections Create a logical sequence Keep facts and opinions apart Organise the information

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT t/a Communication for Business by Access Series Slides prepared by TAFE NSW—Access Division 10–13 Organising Information  Order of time  Order of location  Order of importance or rank  Order of familiarity  Contrasting pairs  Parallel order

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT t/a Communication for Business by Access Series Slides prepared by TAFE NSW—Access Division 10–14 Quotations, references and acknowledgements  Referencing information  Quotes and acknowledgements Footnote references The author–date system Full reference in body text  The bibliography  Other acknowledgements

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT t/a Communication for Business by Access Series Slides prepared by TAFE NSW—Access Division 10–15 Editing the Report  Look for: Cohesion and unity Readability Credibility Errors (proofreading)

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT t/a Communication for Business by Access Series Slides prepared by TAFE NSW—Access Division 10–16 Appendixes  Typical items in an appendix include: Long or bulky items Supplementary material Original or unedited material Supporting statistics Photographs, calculations Background information

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT t/a Communication for Business by Access Series Slides prepared by TAFE NSW—Access Division 10–17 Presenting the report  Packaging the report Cover page and title Table of contents Signature and position  Presenting to an audience A formal speech to a large audience A one-to-one presentation An informal, discussion, group situation

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT t/a Communication for Business by Access Series Slides prepared by TAFE NSW—Access Division 10–18 Submissions, Proposals and Feasibility Studies  Features: There may be a number of submissions for one project but only one report There is usually a clearly defined target reader Language and tone need to be persuasive Must contain a strong central argument and close with a specific proposal