1. Business Communication 1 Dr. Emilie W. Gould November 23, 2006 REPORTS

2. Reports Need to develop a final report for your client (supplements your presentation and identifies key findings and presents persuasive reasons for adopting them) –Dec 4 (M)

3. Reports Vary by Formality Most Formal Letter of Transmittal Cover Title Page List of Illustrations Abstract/ Executive Summary Body Notes/ References Appendices (surveys, interviews, raw data)

4. Report Formality, cont. Medium Formality Letter of Transmittal Title Page Table of Contents (optional depending on length and number of sections) Abstract/ Executive Summary Body  Introduction  Development  Conclusions  Recommendations

5. Report Formality, cont. Least Formal (just the body) Introduction Development Conclusions Recommendations

6. Letter of Transmittal Another opportunity for personal contact with the client: Establish a rhetoric frame for the readers’ interpretation of the report Remind readers of the highlights Thank people who helped Identify actions you want to result Make offer of continued contact and collaboration Report = logic; L of T = ethos and pathos

7. Abstract/ Executive Summary Critical to busy decision-makers Excellent way to frame arguments and jog memories for the rest of us Focus on trends and inferences Keep it to one page

8. Report Structure Organization of your report must support persuasion Readers want to quickly: Locate information Understand its relevance Begin to use results to influence future Writers help readers anticipate the argument by structuring information and maintaining parallelism –Important to support memory –Reduce cognitive load

9. Patterns of Organization Seven basic patterns of organization: Comparison/ Contrast Problem > Solution Elimination of Alternatives General > Particular | Particular > General Geographical or Spatial Functional Chronological

10. Comparison / Contrast Organization based on juxtaposition Divided/ alternating Pro/ con Hierarchical arrangement of parts Points of likeness, then points of difference Often the comparison is by way of analogy

11. Divided vs. Alternating Pattern In general, whatever information comes second carries more psychological weight Use the divided pattern (AAA, BBB) when: one alternative is clearly superior criteria are hard to separate reader will intuitively grasp the alternative as a whole rather than the sum of its parts

12. Divided vs. Alternating Pattern, cont. Use the alternating pattern (AB, AB, AB) when: the superiority of one alternative rests on the relative weight of the different criteria (arrange criteria in order of importance) criteria are easy to separate and contrast you want the reader to compare and contrast the options separate from the recommendation

13. Problem > Solution Organization based on solving a conflict: identify the problem discuss criteria important for a decision analyze advantages/ disadvantages of each solution conclude with a recommendation (occasionally start with it) Linkage between points is critical Pattern can be used to describe or persuade

14. Elimination of Alternatives Organization based on narrowing discuss worst solutions first conclude with the most favored solution Very persuasive if you can raise all the negatives in connection with the “other” proposals

15. General > Particular and Particular > General Organization based on deductive logic: start with general fact break it down into specific parts relevant to the immediate situation Opposite organization = inductive logic: collect facts identify trends Each pattern ~ strong cultural preference – West = deductive; Asia = more inductive

16. Geographic or Spatial Organization arranged to distribution maps or schematics focus on the physical arrangement Can nest contrast or process descriptions within a spatial organizational scheme

17. Functional Organization based on partition and how something works decompose the whole classify its parts Group the topics according to some principle or visible characteristic formal classification very effective used with an illustration

18. Chronological Organization related to passage of time history - what was done in the past process - action in the present cause and effect - why something happened May be descriptive or persuasive

19. Conclusion and Recommendations Make sure your report resolves any issues identified in the introduction Conclusion, like the Executive Summary, should be short and to the point Recommendations should be clearly listed  identify an action plan for the future Rhetorical goal is to provide overwhelming evidence to support implementation

21. Final Project: What Do You Need to Include? Presentation focused on the highlights –Problems –Possible solutions Revised prototype will let you illustrate ways you solved some of these problems Report should include: –Highlights of your analysis (with more detail than the presentation) –Illustration of your prototype –Goal = support client action

22. Structure the report to help us navigate –Advance organizer –Logical structure –Headings –Tables (e.g. Problem | Effect or Problem | Solution) Put less important information in appendices If someone put the report away for 6 months, could they find enough info to act?

23. Illustrations Consider including prototype; show changes you’ve made Use call-outs to label your design choices In the text, explain how these design choices solve problems you found in your analysis

24. Citations Very, very important to include sources you consulted Handout on citation styles  need to know 6 styles for final exam: Book Chapter in book Website Online news source Print journal article Online journal article

25. Citations Like resumes, important to be totally accurate: Order Capitalization Punctuation Spelling

26. Reference List Only list the sources that you quote | paraphrase –Alphabetical by author –Chronological within author – oldest first –If there are two entries with the same date, use alphabetical order of title –If there is no author, use the title –If there is a corporate author, use the name of the organization –If there are multiple authors, use the order given in the document (do not change author order)  put works with multiple authors after all works by a single author

27. Quotes vs. Paraphrases Quotes = exact words –Short quotes go within a sentence with quotation marks –Long quotes generally indented | centered on a page; may be in italics –Need to give in-text citation Paraphrases = summary of content –Much shorter –In your own words –Only the highlights | critical points –Still need to give in-text citation

28. For More Information http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/h ypertext/apa/index.htmlhttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/h ypertext/apa/index.html http://library.acadiau.ca/guides/citations.ht ml (includes link to APA Electronic References page)http://library.acadiau.ca/guides/citations.ht ml

29. Exercises