Communicado: Business Communications Blog

Writing a report – free example to download

robert@pacificblue.co.uk (Robert Good) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:30:00 GMT

In my last two posts I showed you how you can tackle the Introduction and Summary sections of a report.

Now let’s put it all together and see how writing a complete report might look. If you click through you can get a free report example.

Learn more about report writing with our mini-course delivered direct to your email in box.

Creating Audience Focused Report Writing Headings

andrew@pacificblue.co.uk (Andrew Jackson) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:33:00 GMT

My colleague Robert Good recently wrote about creating effective report introductions - a difficult task at the best of times. Another area that can fall into the difficult category is report writing headings. There are quite a few questions about this from writers. I've briefly answered the most frequently-asked below:

What about numbering?

If numbering your paragraphs and sections is a convention or requirement in your organisation, then clearly you have to go with that. If it's not, and you have some freedom, then there are some important points to consider.

Numbering and granularity

This is often hotly debated. Do you go down as far as topic and paragraph levels with a numbering system? As already stated, in some cases you have no choice. But remember how cumbersome this system can get and how distracting it can be for your readers. So if you are not required to do this, use numbering with great caution.

Numbering and text

If you are using numbers, you really should combine them with text to create a usable heading for your reader. The convention is to put number first and text second. However, considering text is the most meaningful and numbering is purely for sequencing and reference, I'd suggest turning convention on its head and working with text first, numbering second.

Text only
For most short reports text alone combined with page numbering is likely to be quite sufficient for most reference purposes and will provide more meaningful navigation. If your report is long enough that it runs to chapters and sections within chapters than adding numbers does make sense.

What kind of headings?

Of course there is never a one-size-fits-all answer to this question. So much of the answer to this question is determined by context. However, there are some important points worth making.

Your average report writer tends to go for shorter or less descriptive headings. While there are clearly situations where this is good, it's worth considering more descriptive headings.

Thinking about this from the readers perspective surely adds to the validity of this argument. Your readers deserve as much help as they can get to understand what you are communicating to them. Clear, descriptive headings are more likely to aid your reader.

How many headings?

Generally speaking, the more the better. Writers are usually good at providing headings at chapter and section level (even if they are not descriptive enough), but they rarely provide many headings at topic or paragraph level.

This is a pity because this is when your reader is getting into the detail of the content or may be scanning/skimming for specific pieces of information relevant to them. More signposting at this level of detail would make a huge difference to your readers, enabling them to skip over what they don't need to know and focus in on what they do.

Writing an effective report summary

robert@pacificblue.co.uk (Robert Good) — Fri, 28 May 2010 14:30:00 GMT

When you are writing a report summary, in effect you are creating a cheat-sheet for your reader. As such, the summary needs to be a short, complete and accurate account of what you have already written in the main body of your report.

Incidentally, if you have not yet started to write the report, writing the summary can be a great way of deciding what to include and how to structure it.

Here, I want to show you a short example of a summary - so let’s see how it might work out in practice.

Let’s imagine you have been asked to review your company’s options for courier services. Perhaps you have been having difficulty with the reliability of your existing courier or maybe costs are escalating and you are wondering if there are cheaper alternatives. This kind of information would form the 'Background' section of your report, and you would need to mention it in your summary.

So you phone round for some quotes, or perhaps you do this more formally with an invitation to tender. This is your methodology – how you came up with your quotes. You need to mention this too.

Then you have the details of the quotes – the packages they offer and the prices they charge. So finally, you have a recommendation based on your investigation. This all needs to go in to the summary as well.

This may seem like a lot – but remember, this is your reader’s crib-sheet. Because they may not read the whole report you need to be thorough, but brief. Here's how the finished piece might read:

Summary
This report was commissioned by S Jones to investigate alternative courier services following the price increase announced by our existing courier, SpeedyCo.

Five alternative couriers were shortlisted, based on recommendations by some of our trusted clients and also by initial telephone calls to major local courier services. These five couriers were then invited to provide a formal written quotation.

The results of the investigation showed a clear preference for FastCo, who were not only highly recommended by two of our trusted clients but who were also 10% cheaper than the nearest competitor.

This report, therefore, provides a clear recommendation that we switch to FastCo with effect from next month.

To conclude, notice that you are not including all the details: that is what the body of the report is for. If your reader wants the details, s/he knows where to find them. But all the essentials of your report have been included, in a short easily-digestible summary. Job done!

Speed reading tips part 4: measuring your reading speed

andrew@pacificblue.co.uk (Andrew Jackson) — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:45:00 GMT

In the last of his introductory blog posts giving speed reading tips, Alex our Speed Reading Coach, explains how to measure your reading speed and what the results mean. Over to you, Alex...

Time to read this email:
Slow reader:.........5 minutes 8 seconds
Average reader:..2 minutes 34 seconds
Fast reader:.........1 minute 36 seconds
Speed reader:.....................48 seconds

Today I am going to show you something very interesting. I will teach you how to measure your reading speed so you can see the amazing improvement every time you learn a new speed reading tip! You will understand where you are now and can take this opportunity to start learning how to speed read today!

So to get started you will need to get a book to read and a timer to time yourself for exactly one minute (most mobile phones have one). Making a note of where you start, read for one minute. If you prefer, ask a friend to measure the time for you.

At the end of the minute, note where you finish - you can always mark the text with a pencil. Now count the words you've just read. The number of words you read translates into words per minute (WPM) so for example if you read 240 words your reading speed is actually 240 words per minute or 240 WPM.

Below is a guide to show you where you are now.

If your reading speed is

below 150 WPM you're a slow reader
between 150 to 250 WPM you're an average reader
between 250 to 400 WPM you're a fast reader.

Reading between 400 to 1000 WPM or above and you are a speed reader.

It's important to keep records of your development, so jot down your reading speed and also rate your comprehension level from 1 to 10.

If your comprehension was

poor: give yourself a 3 or 4
good: give yourself a 5 or 6
excellent: give yourself a 7 or 8
outstanding: give yourself 9 or 10

Did you know that by reading slowly your mind can get bored? It can drift away from the text and you forget what you've just been reading. You have to skip back and read it again to have good comprehension.

Lets say you're reading a book that mentions the word "travelling". If you read slowly your mind can stop concentrating on the text and you start thinking about travelling - maybe your last holiday or perhaps you'll imagine a place that you want to go....the sunshine, sandy beaches, the parties, the people you will meet...it goes on and on and on.

The mind works with associations. The actual words in the text trigger you to think about other things. So if the mind processes information very fast and you don't give it something interesting to pay attention to it will drift away and think about something else.

The brain loves speed. As you learn to go faster you'll start using your mind's eye to create the images described in the text. Your imagination will be activated, you'll become more motivated and it is then that memory is created. It's not the words in the text but the ideas that you create in your mind that you will remember.

Now tell me, are you more focused when you drive a car at 10 miles an hour or at 100 miles an hour? Of course, it's at 100 miles an hour. You can see the landscape but you are very focused on the road.

Another example of the brain working at speed would be playing a video game. The game has many levels and the higher you get, the faster your brain has to think and the more exciting it gets.

Practical tips for writing a report introduction

robert@pacificblue.co.uk (Robert Good) — Sat, 08 May 2010 02:30:00 GMT

Writing a report introduction can be a surprisingly tricky affair – deciding what to include and what to leave out inevitably means editing down your perfectly-formed report: a report that you would ideally like the reader to sit down and take the time to read carefully and thoroughly!

So here are some practical tips to get you on the right track and help focus your reader on the important stuff from the outset.

When you are writing a report introduction, make it directly relevant to your reader. For example, imagine there is a small change in regulations that affect your organisation. Often in this situation, a report will be circulated to everybody for information. A typical introduction to such a report might start like this:

“This report sets out the changes to the XYZ regulations (sections 3 and 5). The regulations come into effect on June 1st. A copy of the changes will be filed in our procedures manual.”

Unless your reader has plenty of time to spare, this might end up unread. Instead, you need to get their attention:

“We will be directly impacted by small but important changes to the XYZ regulations that come into effect on June 1st.”

Notice that the detail – that is, sections 3 and 5 – were omitted: keep focussed on the main message. You can then tell your reader what the report contains:

“Page 1 describes the changes in detail and includes a quick summary; Page 2 sets out the new end-of-day procedure that will be implemented to ensure that we remain compliant.”

Finally, a call to action rounds off the introduction nicely. Tell your reader what they now need to do:

“Please ensure that you are familiar with these changes and have them implemented by close of business on May 31st.”

Of course, life is not always this straightforward, and sometimes reports can be extremely, even excessively complicated. But the key point is always, surely, to clarify, to simplify and – above all – to make it as easy as possible for your reader to want to read on.

For more tips and guidance, take our free business writing mini-course. Learn more...

Speed reading tips part 3: left brain, right brain

andrew@pacificblue.co.uk (Andrew Jackson) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:45:00 GMT

In the second of his posts introducing speed reading tips, Alex Garcez our Speed Reading Coach explains the differences between using the left side of the brain and the right side when you are reading. Alex, over to you...

Time to read this post:

Slow reader:.........3 minutes 12 seconds
Average reader:.....1 minute 36 seconds
Fast reader:..........................59 seconds
Speed reader:.......................29 seconds

Today I want to explain to you how speed reading works. We use the left side of the brain to read. While reading silently to ourselves, we hear our own voice repeating the words inside our head. If you pay attention to this as you read this email, you will hear your own voice inside your head saying the words back to yourself.

So what you are doing is looking at the words, pretending to say them and pretending to hear them just to understand the text. A lot of time pretending to do something that is not necessary. No wonder it's easy for you to end up distracted and have your mind drift away!

We talk at a speed of around 100 to 250 words per minute. When I say that you can read faster, you might be concerned this just means the little voice inside your head will be saying the words faster, like an excited football commentator.

Well, don't worry, that's not the case. Let me tell you that, in fact, you'll learn how to use the right side of your brain to read faster and silence the voice inside your head.

You'll learn to look at the words and understand them straight away without pretending to say them to yourself in your mind. So, by learning to speed read you'll start to enjoy reading much more and will save time reading your documents, books - emails, too.

You now know why it is easier to speed read rather than read in the traditional way? Because you won't waste time talking to yourself so you'll get more focused. As a result, your comprehension will be enhanced automatically.

You may think that you already read quickly but how do you know? Who would you compare yourself with? There are no set standards. You probably learnt to read as a child in the traditional way and sometimes you get bored and distracted, read a few paragraphs and then skip back to re-read a paragraph that you can't remember or didn't understand. Does that sound familiar?

In my next post I will show you how to measure your reading speed. I will guide you through the process so that you can see the difference before and after applying my methods.

Writing Business Reports: Let’s Play Numberwang

robert@pacificblue.co.uk (Robert Good) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:45:00 GMT

One of my favourite comedy sketches is “Numberwang” from “That Mitchell and Webb Look”. Numberwang (in case you didn’t know…) is a spoof gameshow in which contestants call out numbers – seemingly at random – until the host declares “That’s Numberwang!”. OK, I know I may not have quite sold it to you, but somehow Mitchell and Webb manage to make this slight joke into something very funny – have a look on YouTube and see what you think.

Anyway, the reason I mention Numberwang is that I was reminded of it the other day when looking through some documents that I needed to review. I was bombarded by more numbers than a Numberwang show, and it got me thinking about the use and abuse of numbers in the context of writing business reports.

Numbers, like all other information, have to earn their place on the page. Let’s take a few examples. ‘Page 1 of 1’ at the bottom of a document is occasionally useful for audit purposes, but for many short and informal documents, page numbering is just clutter. Likewise, version numbers. ‘Draft 1.0’ can so often be either meaningless or misleading. (The whole convention of numbering drafts is a topic in itself. I prefer a first draft to be 0.1 rather than 1.0, but that’s another story…). And try not to number your lists if bullets will do instead: numbering implies a sequence, and nine times out of ten there may actually not be one.

But of course, one of the main ways in which numbers infect documents is through section numbering. Ask yourself if you really do need to number your sections? Will a sharp section title do instead? Maybe a number will help if you need to refer to the document in discussions and reviews, but not all documents are used in this way. And don’t forget that numbering can seriously interrupt the way a document flows: ‘Section 4.3.2’ is a fairly forbidding start to a piece of text.

The cardinal sin (if you will excuse the pun), however, is to use numbered sections to send your reader off on a wild goose chase. ‘See Section 6.1.3 for more details’ suggests to me that there is something wrong: why aren’t the relevant details here, at this point in the text where they are needed? And flicking backwards and forwards to Diagram 3 in Appendix 5.2 (which is no doubt also full of lengthy tables and small print) isn’t much fun either. Now that’s what I’d call Numberwang.

Speed reading tips part 2: read more in less time

andrew@pacificblue.co.uk (Andrew Jackson) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:45:00 GMT

Today, we're delighted to introduce you to our guest blogger Alex Garcez, aka The Speed Reading Coach. Over to you Alex...

Time to read this blog post:

Slow reader:.........2 minutes 17 seconds
Average reader:.......1 minute 8 seconds
Fast reader:........................42 seconds
Speed reader:.....................21 seconds

So... let me introduce myself, I am Alex Garcez, The Speed Reading Coach and today I'm going to start sharing some information with you about reading and some practical speed reading tips to get you reading faster.

Everyone knows that information is power and time is money... but how much information will make you more money? Well, you could start making more money by learning to speed read. A US Department of Labor and Yahoo study shows that people who read at least 7 business books a year earn 2.3 times more than those who read just one book.

Now think about this: If you read from 30 to 50 books in a particular subject you become an international specialist in that area of knowledge.

Can you imagine yourself choosing a book and reading it like you were choosing a DVD and watching it?

I can show you how to read a book of 200 pages in about 2 hours. You'll be able to read 1 or 2 books a week by reading only 30 minutes per day, so in about 6 months you can read around 35 books in one particular subject and become a specialist in that area.

When you apply this knowledge to your profession you will be ahead of the masses that don't read and you'll have the potential to generate more business... and make more money!

Our attention span is very short and reading in the traditional way can be frustrating. People become lazy when it comes to reading just because they read slowly. The brain loves speed and you will feel the difference by learning some easy steps to improve your reading speed.

In my next post, I'll explain about the voice in your head that distracts you and slows your reading speed.

Speed reading tips - the benefits of reading faster

andrew@pacificblue.co.uk (Andrew Jackson) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 14:45:00 GMT

You know already that when I'm banging on about better business writing, I focus relentlessly on the needs of the audience. I do this because I know that clearly written, well-structured content improves comprehension and enables audiences to read content more quickly and efficiently. In my ideal world, all content would be clearly written and well-structured. In the real world, of course, it rarely is.

So one of the things frequently on my mind is what to do when you are a reader (rather than a writer) and you are faced with a mass of poorly written unstructured content (or indeed a mass of well-written but poorly structured content) and you have no choice but to wade through it.

Speed reading is a solution that's been floating around on the edge of my universe for some time, but if I'm honest I've always been a little sceptical. Could it really work? Anyway, a few months ago, I finally decided to take the plunge and give it go - and I'm now convinced it does work.

My guide on this recent journey has been Alex Garcez, also known as the Speed Reading Coach.

Here at Pacific Blue, we've decided to team up with Alex and over the next few weeks he will be a guest blogger, bringing us some background information about speed reading and providing a series of speed reading tips to introduce you to his proven techniques.

When you stop to think about it, the benefits of being able to read faster are blindingly obvious. You can look at it two ways. Either you could take the view that reading faster lets you get your reading done more efficiently and frees you up to do more of the things you want to do. Or you could take the view that reading faster enables you to absorb more knowledge and expertise than you are currently able to.

Interestingly, Alex tells me that a joint study by the US Department of Labor and Yahoo has identified a link between the number of business books people read and their relative earning power. The study concluded that people who read a minimum of 7 business books a year earn around 2.3 times more than those who just read one.

Whatever your motivation for wanting to read faster, it seems to me it's a bit of a no-brainer. So watch out as Alex reveals some of his speed reading tips over the coming weeks.

And if you can't wait, we are now running speed reading courses with Alex.

Why bother? The advantages of report writing

andrew@pacificblue.co.uk (Andrew Jackson) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:30:00 GMT

A favourite sketch of mine from Bette Midler involves her complaining about the futity of housework. Her point: no sooner is a task complete than it needs repeating. The washing up gets done. Several hours later it needs doing again. The ornaments get dusted. A week later they are dusty again. The humour in the sketch comes from the question she repeats at the end of each complaint, 'Why bother?'

I noticed recently that quite a lot of people visiting our website had arrived after searching using the phrase advantages of report writing. This is interesting because inherent in this search phrase is Bette's question. When you spend many hours of your waking life thinking about how to make business writing and communications better, it is easy to lose sight of that basic Bette question, 'Why bother?'

So this post takes us back to basics to think about the advantages of report writing and answer the question, 'Why bother?' Why write a report rather than shove everything in an email?'

I'm going back several years, but I can think of an organisation we worked for who had gone the route of communicating almost entirely by email. Worse still, (because they could), employees copied each other in on almost everything. Everyone spent hours sifting through piles of unformatted, poorly written guff - just in case there was a nugget of information relevant to them. Email communication was totally out of control.

Our role was to re-introduce the skill of report writing. I like to think we did some good, but in honesty, our intervention felt hopeless - at that particular moment, it was clear we were swimming against the tide.

Not long after this, the company in question was taken over and their brand vanished for ever. I'm not suggesting their obsession with email was the cause of their demise, but I'm fairly clear it was a symptom of the organisation's wider dysfunction; and this wider dysfunction was definitely a factor in them getting swallowed up by a more successful competitor.

So my first point is this: bother with report writing because an email only culture almost always brings more problems than it solves - even though, at first, email only may seem an attractive solution.

So why else would you bother writing a report - what are some of the other advantages?

Structuring and sequencing content
If you read my recent comments on using post-it notes, you'll know I believe an audience focused structure and information hierarchy is fundamental to the success of a report or similar document. Up to a point, you can create this in email format, but because email was never really designed with this mind, you have to work twice as hard to achieve success. When most people struggle to adequately structure even short emails, I wouldn't hold out much hope for it happening with longer communications.

Formatting to reinforce the hierarchy
If you are serious about your structuring and sequencing, you will also be diligent about applying a simple but consistent set of formatting styles to help your audience identify and understand the different elements of this hierarchy and sequence. Not impossible to achieve using email; but much, much easier in a word processed format.

Referencing content
Individually, simple things like tables of contents, headers and footers, hyperlinks within documents and good old page numbering make small but important contributions to an audience being able to navigate around and make sense of what's going on. Collectively, they make a very powerful contribution to the understanding of content and an audience's sense of where they are in the bigger whole.

Distributing the end product
As the now-defunct company demonstrated, it's the easiest thing in the world to cc almost everyone into an email. When you are distributing a paper-based report or emailing it out as an attachment, you are far more likely to think about who should receive a copy.

The act of writing
There's no question that emails are perceived by both writers and recipients as a bit light weight - something that can be polished off in a few minutes. The very act of writing a report or a document immediately adds to the significance of the content. Writing a document or report means you are far more likely to:

carry out an audience analysis
give serious consideration to your content and how it should be organised
see the document's creation as an important and time-consuming task (of course, this last point can be both good and bad)

Finally, viewed from the audience's perspective, would you sign off an important business case proposed only by email? Unlikely, I think.

So next time you are faced with the task of writing a report or document and you hear Bette Midler's question echoing in your head, remember the alternative: dysfunctional, email hell.