TM 12 :Writing and Completing Reports and

Proposals
 Writing Reports and Proposals
• Adapting to Your Audience
The “you” attitude is especially important with long or complex
reports because they demand a lot from readers.
You can adjust the formality of your writing through your word
choices and writing style.
• Drafting Report Content
The introduction needs to put the report in context for the reader,
introduce the subject, preview main ideas, and establish the tone of
the document.
The body of your report presents, analyzes, and interprets the infor-
mation you gathered during your investigation.
Your close is often the last opportunity to get your message across,
so make it clear and compelling.
Help your readers find what they want and stay on track with
headings or links, transitions, previews,
and reviews
Look for ways to use technology to reduce the mechanical work
involved in writing long reports.
• Drafting Proposal Content
In an unsolicited proposal, your introduction needs
to convince read-ers that a problem or an
opportunity exists.
Readers understand that a proposal is a persuasive
message, so they’re willing to accommodate a
degree of promotional emphasis in your writ- ing—as
long as it is professional and focused on their needs.
Writing for Websites and Wikis
• Drafting Website Content
Readers don’t approach websites and online reports
in the same way they approach printed documents,
so your approach as a writer needs to change as well.
• Collaborating on Wikis
Effective collaboration on wikis requires a unique
approach to writing
Before you add new pages to a wikis, figure out how
the material fits with the existing content.
Illustrating Your Reports with
Effective Visuals
• visual literacy—the ability (as a sender) to create
effective images and (as a receiver) to correctly
interpret visual messages—has become a key business
skill. Even without any formal training in design, being
aware of the following six principles will help you be a
more effective visual communicator: Consistency,
Contrast, balance, emphasis, convention, simplicity
• Choosing the Right Visual for the Job, You have many
types of visuals to choose from, and each is best suited
to particular communication tasks
(see next)
Data Visualization
• Data visualization tools can over- come the
limitations of conventional charts and other display
types.
• Unlike conventional charts, data visualization tools
are more about uncovering broad meaning and
finding hidden connections.
Flowcharts and Organization Charts

• A flowchart (see Figure 11.10) illustrates a sequence

of events from start to finish; it is indispensable when
illustrating processes, procedures, and sequential
relationships.
• An organization chart illustrates the positions, units,
or functions in an organization and the ways they
interrelate (see Figure 11.11). Organization charts can
be used to portray almost any hierarchy, in fact,
including the topics, subtopics, and sup- porting
points you need to organize for a report.
INFOGRAPHICS
• Infographics have become extremely popular on
websites and blogs, partly because their eye-
catching appeal attracts visitors, click throughs, and
social sharing. The best use of an infographic is to
help readers make connections between
fragmented pieces of information (see Figure
11.12), rather than simply dressing up basic data
charts with design elements that might be
attractive but add little to understanding.
Completing Reports and Proposals
• Four tasks to complete your document: revise,
produce, proofread, and distribute
• The revision process for long reports can take
considerable time, so be sure to plan ahead.
• Tight, efficient writing is especially important with
online content.

• Producing Formal Reports and Proposals

The number and variety of parts you include in a report
depend on the type of report, audience requirements,
organizational expectations, and report length
A synopsis is a brief overview of a report’s key points; an
executive summary is a fully developed “mini” version of
the report.
Distributing Reports and Proposals

• For physical distribution of important printed reports or

proposals, consider spending the extra money for a
professional courier or package delivery service
• For electronic distribution, unless your audience
specifically requests a word processor file, provide
documents as portable document format (PDF) files
• If your company or client expects you to distribute your
reports via a web-based content management system,
a shared workspace, or some other online location,
double-check that you’ve uploaded the correct file(s) to
the correct location. Verify the on-screen display of
your reports after you’ve posted them, making sure
graphics, charts, links, and other ele- ments are in place
and operational.
end of presentation