Introduction

Report writing is a time consuming business so it is a great shame if, having devoted all that time to writing your report, the quality is such that hardly anyone can be bothered to read it. Quite frankly, most report readers do not actually read all the report; they are too short of time. You might as well know it and accept it — that is normal. They only read the parts that interest them. Frequently these are the summary, the conclusions and recommendations.

Of course, some readers do need all the details you so carefully included, they are specialists, but most do not. Most readers just need two things: that the information they want is where they expect it to be so they can find it, and that it is written clearly so that they can understand it.

It is similar to reading a newspaper. You expect the news headlines to be on the front page; the sports coverage to be at the back; the TV listings on page whatever and the editorial comment in the middle. If what you want is not in its usual place then you have to hunt for it and you may get irritated. So it is with a report.

There is a convention as to what goes where. Stick with the convention and please your readers. Break the convention and people may get slightly irritated – and bin your report.

So what is that convention, the standard format?

Standard Sections

Title Section. In a short report this may simply be the front cover. In a long one it could also include Terms of Reference, Table of Contents and so on.

Summary. Give a clear and very concise account of the main points, main conclusions and main recommendations. Keep it very short, a few percent of the total length. Some people, especially senior managers, may not read anything else so write as if it were a stand-alone document. It isn’t but for some people it might as well be. Keep it brief and free from jargon so that anyone can understand it and get the main points. Write it last, but do not copy and paste from the report itself; that rarely works well.

Introduction. This is the first part of the report proper. Use it to paint the background to ‘the problem’ and to show the reader why the report is important to them. Give your terms of reference (if not in the Title Section) and explain how the details that follow are arranged. Write it in plain English.

Main Body. This is the heart of your report, the facts. It will probably have several sections or sub-sections each with its own subtitle. It is unique to your report and will describe what you discovered about ‘the problem’.

These sections are most likely to be read by experts so you can use some appropriate jargon but explain it as you introduce it. Arrange the information logically, normally putting things in order of priority — most important first. In fact, follow that advice in every section of your report.

You may choose to include a Discussion in which you explain the significance of your findings.

Conclusions. Present the logical conclusions of your investigation of ‘the problem’. Bring it all together and maybe offer options for the way forward. Many people will read this section. Write it in plain English. If you have included a discussion then this section may be quite short.

Recommendations. What do you suggest should be done? Don’t be shy; you did the work so state your recommendations in order of priority, and in plain English.

Appendices. Put the heavy details here, the information that only specialists are likely to want to see. As a guide, if some detail is essential to your argument then include it in the main body, if it merely supports the argument then it could go in an appendix.

Conclusions and Recommendations

In conclusion, remember that readers expect certain information to be in certain places. They do not expect to hunt for what they want and the harder you make it for them the more likely they are to toss you report to one side and ignore it. So what should you do?

1. Follow the generally accepted format for a report: Summary, Introduction, Main Body, Conclusions, Recommendations and Appendices.

2. Organise your information in each section in a logical fashion with the reader in mind, usually putting things in order of priority – most important first.

Good luck with your report writing!

Author: Tony Atherton

? Tony Atherton 2005)

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Are you looking for some great small business ideas? You have probably come at a crossroad in your life wherein you believe you are now capable of running your own business. However, the big question remains. What kind of business should you get into? If you are just one person with very limited budget, this article will present to you some of the small businesses that you may want to consider.

But before we proceed any further, keep in mind that having your own business is never an easy thing. Surely you can get the permits, the licenses, the office (or home) space, and all the pieces of equipment that you may need to operate, but making good money out of it is another matter. I have seen countless number of first-time business owners close shop within just a few months since they opened simply because they did not plan well. Do a market research. Create a marketing or business plan. In short, be overly prepared before you even make the first great move to owning a business.

Here are some small business ideas that you may want to include in your list of prospects:

Start an online business. Getting a domain name, a web hosting account, and creating a website has gotten so much easier as compared to maybe almost a decade ago. Now, thanks to various services and tools, even complete Internet newbies can create their own sites within less than a day. It is now a matter of point and click system, wherein if you can point and click using your mouse, then you can now put up a website.

Offer your skills or talents. Are you good in writing sales letters or articles? There is a hot demand right now for really good copywriters and article writers. You can get writing projects from online business owners to the regular shop owner down the street. Because for as long as business need to market their business, there will always be a need for people who can write great marketing copy.

Put up your dream shop. Have you always wanted to own a selling miniature die cast cars? Now you can, and with the right promotion and marketing, you can earn a good income from it. It is called selling within a niche and in this case, you will be selling to people who loves collecting small metal cars. There are a lot of niches out there, and chances are you can set up a store based on it.

Go into a food business. Start a small restaurant, a convenience store or a bakery. The premise is that people will always need food and so it means you will always have a business because of that. Of course that logic is far from being perfect but the idea that you are selling a commodity based on real human wants, then having a food business makes complete sense.

Go into a consultancy business. Depending on your profession, you may want to start consulting with other businesses. If you are in construction then you can become a general contractor, if you into marketing then you can assist other small business owners with their marketing campaigns. This is one of the small business ideas that have always been quite popular.

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More and more of the people in the work force are expatriates. An expatriate is someone who resides in one country and works in another. For those who already speak the English language going to another country won’t be much of a problem in terms of communications. But for those whose first language is not English it could pose a problem.

It is important to learn business English if you are going to be successful in another country where English is the primary language, such as Australia, United Kingdom and the United States fro starters. If you already have a basic understanding of the language by learning to speak it then you are on the right track. It would also be a great idea to practice writing in business English as well. If your local University offers a course in Business English, it would be a good idea to invest in the class. Reading, writing and speaking English is a great way to start a career.

Business English is a bit different than asking where to find the nearest hotel. There are classes you can take to help you along but there are things that you can learn on your own. Here are some key language skills that you must learn to master Business English. Vocabulary and Grammar are a good place to start, you need to understand what words mean and that is very important. This is one of the most common mistakes made in learning English.

Learn how to pronounce the words and then look up what they mean in the dictionary. Try using them in a sentence; ask someone who is more fluent in English to help you, so you know if you are grasping the concept of the language. Once you have an understanding of English, you have to apply it to Business English.

In business you will have to learn such things as taking messages, answering the phones with proper etiquette and communicating with your fellow co-workers. You may have to learn how to set appointments and possible make travel arrangements. Business English is very different than speaking regular English, the structure is the same but you have to learn things like properly expressing yourself in a professional manner or maybe making a presentation in your office.

If you are working in the customer service sector, you really have to bone up on the Business English. Dealing with the public is sometimes more important than asking your boss for a raise. Most businesses offer training sessions and companies that employ foreigners they offer classes on how to perform the job with the proper business English.

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Promotional pens can help to bring new traffic into video rental stores. As colorful advertising pens are given away to various members of the public, the messages about renting videos that are printed onto the barrels of these colorful writing instruments can entice a family into video rentals that they otherwise may not have thought of. Ad pens are often left sitting on tables around the home where all members of the household can read the ad information.

It is very inexpensive for a video rental store to have their name and contact information printed onto a brightly colored pen or promotional mouse pad. As family members from ages 10-years through 100-years see these tiny ads, they start thinking about watching videos or movies. Some of these family members will then end up following the ad directions and go to procure their favorite movies from the hosting video rental store.

Small household items like promotional pens or mouse pads can really work well for industries that cater to inexpensive family entertainments. Whenever the activity can appeal to all ages of consumers, businesses find it beneficial to advertise on items that multiple age groups may use. Promo pens for video rental stores are often chosen for their interesting shapes or bright fun colors to encourage the younger consumers to read the ads or logos that are imprinted onto these enticing pens.

Small businesses can purchase their printed promotional pens online from the larger advertising stores that also sell ad items to huge corporations and big non-profit organizations. Popular choices in advertising pens include the smooth writing ballpoint styles and also the pens that are very unique to look at. These promo stores have thousands of high-quality writing instruments to choose from, along with oodles of other items that companies, businesses, and stores buy to use in their giveaway campaigns.

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