Writing for the Workplace: Business Communication for Professionals
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| Transmittal Whether being distributed digitally or presented in person, reports are always accompanied by an introductory message called a transmittal. The transmittal accompanies the report but is not part of the report itself. The message maybe in the form of a letter, especially for formal reports going to an outside audience, but it may also bean email or a memo. Transmittals are written using the direct strategy and discuss what the report is about and why it was written. They may introduce the main points of interest within the report. The more formal the report, the more formal the transmittal. 2 Front Matter Front matter is comprised of the first few pages of a report that come before the narrative. Front matter may include ab coverb, an attractively designed front piece for formal reports and those intended fora wide audience. The written information on a cover varies, but it will, at a minimum, contain the title of the report and the name of the person or organization submitting it. Some reports contain an abstract, a brief distillation of the report’s content. Scientific or technical reports often contain abstracts. Descriptive abstracts simply describe the information in the report without offering interpretation. Informative abstracts summarize key results and offer interpretations. REPORTS Ab title page will contain some or all of the following Report name Person or organization submitting the report Name of individual receiving the report Date the report is submitted Copyright The table of contents is an outline of the report that provides readers with the location of major categories and subcategories of information. A good table of contents should offer enough detail so the reader can immediately locate a particular section. Such detail maybe written in several formats Decimal outline format (1.0, 1.1, 1.1.2, etc Alphanumeric outline IA, a, etc Graphic markers (boldface, indentation, etc.) Obviously, a table of contents must contain accurate pagination. The list of illustrations shows all tables, figures, and maps. It appears on its own page and is not part of the table of contents. Tables are generally listed and numbered separately from other figures. All other figures charts, graphs, maps, photographs) are listed sequentially as they appear in the report. (We will discuss the types of illustrations and the rules for inserting them into reports later in this chapter.) An executive summary presents the most important elements of a report in a condensed form so a busy manager can glean the report’s most critical takeaways. Depending on the length of the report, an executive summary maybe one or 10 pages. For longer executive summaries, informational headings should be used. Executive summaries are objective and must accurately summarize information contained in the report body. A well-constructed executive summary often makes reading the entirety of the report unnecessary. Download 3.09 Mb. Share with your friends:
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