Harty, p 167 -207 Reports and Other Long Documents

1. report writing is a dynamic situation, and the reader often is not the anticipated audience; therefore reports must be explained well and easy to understand for people from all knowledge bases

2. though writers tend to focus mostly on the body, the abstract is the most important part of the report

3. you have to take the reader's time constraints into account and realize that they might not fully read your report and scrutinize it

Formal reports – longer, more detailed, may require a cover letter
Informal reports- shorter, less complex format

Possible audiences for reports:
the layperson
the executive
the expert
the technician
the operator

Mathes and Stevenson- “Audience Analysis: The Problem and a Solution”

Writers are often preoccupied with their own problems and ignore their audience

Writers often make false assumptions about their situation, usually with regard to the audience’s level of knowledge of the subject and the report’s importance

Efficiency is almost more important than being completely thorough, the report must be able to be read quickly

Three types of audiences: horizontal, vertical, and external

Horizontal audiences are often assumed to pose few challenges, but they often share only educational level and rank within the company- their backgrounds and needs may be very different

External audiences can judge the entire organization by a report, and concerns for tact and business relationships can complicate things

Egocentric organization charts identify potential readers as individual people, not company positions and classify them as ‘near’ or ‘far’ from the reader in proximity rather than using the hierarchical relationship

Systematic characterization of people in EOC

Operational characteristics- what is the person’s role and what are his/her needs?
Objective characteristics- specific, relevant background data about the person
Personal characteristics- information unique to the person that may be important

Classify audience based on how they will use the report

Primary audience acts on basis of information in the report
Secondary audience is affected by these decisions and actions
Immediate audiences transmit the information the report contains

Richard Dodge- “What To Report”

Report summary should include what the report is about, the implications of the work, and the action called for by the report

The summary, introduction and conclusion are often read more closely than the body itself

Write a report at a technical level suitable for readers without your level of background knowledge

Managers should meet with report writers at four stages of the project:
At the beginning of the project
At the completion of the investigation
After the report is outlined
After the report is written

Christian Arnold- “The Writing of Abstracts”

The abstract forms the first impression and is read most often by all readers

Abstract helps technician decide whether he could read the report with profit (descriptive) and provides administrator with most of the relevant information he needs (informative)

Abstracts should be short, self-contained and easy to read

Vincent Vinci- “Ten Report Writing Pitfalls: How To Avoid Them”

Keep the audience in mind
Writing to impress can hinder communication
Clearly define the purpose of your report
Be consistent with mechanics
Eliminate excessive modifiers
Define the terms you use
Introduce the subject, purpose, scope, and plan of your report
Remove excessive information
Highlight important information
Revise your finished report