Business Report Writing Skills

Training Outline

Introduction to Effective Report Writing

Different Types of Technical/Business Reports

• Business Reports
• Technical Background Reports and Primary Research Reports
• Business Plan
• Technical Specifications for a BRD

Before You Start Writing

• How to Make Decisions on the Objective, the Audience and What Information to Focus On

Layout of Reports

• What Every Report Should Contain
• General Format, Structure and Layout
• Business Report Structure
• Visual Aids
• Summary and Checklist

Using Plain English: Style

• Improve Readability
• Sentence and Paragraph Length
• Bullet Points and Enumerated Lists
• 10 Rules for Writing Numbers and Numerals
• Using the Simplest Words and Expressions Possible
• Avoid Jargon
• Verbs versus Nouns
• Using Active Rather Than Passive Style
• Explain Your Ideas Clearly
• The Most Overused Business Clichés

Using Plain English: The Mechanics

• Avoiding Common Vocabulary and Spelling Errors
• 100 Most Often Misspelled Words in English
• Acronyms
• Editing
• Spell-Check Will Not Fix Everything!
• Punctuation, Capitalisation and Other Language Tips
• Commonly Confused Words

Useful Tools

• Symptoms and Cures for Writer’s Block
• The Reframing Matrix
• Concept Fan: Widening the Search for Solutions

Self-Assessment Exercises