HSN 001: First Year

Communication Skills
Aruni Mahapatra, Ph.D
Assistant Professor
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
Introduction to Technical Styles and Reports
• What is a Technical Style?
• What is a Report?
• How to practice excellent versions of both (or, good enough to
survive)?
Activity 1
• Did you ever have to write an assignment/project/essay/homework
that you felt did not improve you in any way?
• Why was that?
• Was the problem in the kind of work that was assigned to you?
• Or in the manner you executed the work?
Activity 2
• Describe an assignment/essay/homework that was challenging in the
beginning but once you completed it, you felt that you had unlocked a
new level of proficiency and skill.
• Why do you think that happened?
What is a
report?
 Academic Reports

Types of All the rest

Reports
Assignments/Essays/Practical
Accounts
Why are they assigned?
• Main purpose: to assess
• Retention
• Learning
• Understand
• Also, to ensure:
• Engagement
• Honest, sincere activity
• Archive/register of work done for a goal, or work done under a justification.
What is a successful report?
• Content
• Presentation
Qualities you should aim to reflect in your
reports/writings
• Authority
• Familiarity
• Expertise
• Honesty
• Sincerity
• Professionalism
How you can do that?
• Thoroughness: know your stuff!
• Articulation: Present what you know in a way that is
• Conventionally acceptable in your discipline
• Pleasing and elegant
• Documentation:
• Honesty
• Professionalism
• Citations
• Data
Two approaches
• Slides and Powerpoints: study them well, for exams and assignments
• Lectures: listen and participate, for more holistic learning, including
but not limited to exam preparation.
• Both are important, each serves a different purpose.
Writing and Academics
• Audience
• Genre
• Style and Substance
• Dancer from the Dance/Machine and Soul
Alexander Pope, “Essay on Criticism”
“True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, 
As those move easiest who have learned to dance. 
'Tis not enough no harshness gives offense, 
The sound must seem an echo to the sense:”
Additional Sources
• Tutorial Groups
• Kate L Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses and
Dissertations, 9th Ed. (Just Google “Turabian manual for writers pdf
and you will get the whole book”)
• Strunk and White, The Elements of Style (also same means of access:
just goodle “strunk and white pdf”)
• Joseph Bizup and Joseph Williams (Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace)
5-minute activity
• Open google.com
• Type the search prompts provided in the previous slide
• Access the pdfs of the books
• Save them for future reference
• Begin reading them, and scan the Table of Contents
• Bookmark them and use them while composing and submitting
assignments
• If you face any problems, or have any questions, write them down
and ask your professor (in the lectures) or TAs (in the tutorials)
Mechanics
• Clarity, Clarity, Clarity
• Sentence Diagrams
• Subject Verb Object
• Exercises: See slides on “Technical Writing”
General Structure of Reports
• Reports are written with much analysis. The purpose
of report writing is essential to inform the reader
about a topic, minus one’s opinion on the topic.
• It’s simply a portrayal of facts, as it is. Even if one
gives inferences, solid analysis, charts, tables and data
is provided.
• Mostly it is specified by the person who’s asked for
the report whether they’d like your take or not if that
is the case.
• In many cases, what’s required is your
suggestions for a specific case after a
factual report.
• That depends on why are you writing
the report and who you are writing it
for in the first place.
• Knowing your audience’s motive for
asking for that report is very
important as it sets the course of the
facts focused in your report.
• The structure of a report is very important
to lead the reader through your thinking to
a course of action and/or decision.
Step 1: Know your brief

• You will usually receive a clear brief for a report,

including what you are studying and for whom
the report should be prepared.
• First of all, consider your brief very carefully and make
sure that you are clear who the report is for (if you're a
student then not just your tutor, but who it is supposed
to be written for), and why you are writing it, as well as
what you want the reader to do at the end of reading:
make a decision or agree a recommendation, perhaps.
Step 2: Keep your brief in mind at all times

• During your planning and writing, make sure that

you keep your brief in mind: who are you writing
for, and why are you writing?
• As you read and research, try to organize your
work into sections by theme, a bit like writing a
Literature Review.
• Make sure that you keep track of
your references, especially for
academic work.
The Structure of a Report

• Like the precise content, requirements for structure vary, so do check

what’s set out in any guidance.
Essential Parts of a Report
• However, as a rough guide, you should plan to include at the very
least an executive summary, introduction, the main body of your
report, and a section containing your conclusions and any
recommendations.
Executive Summary

• The executive summary or abstract, for a scientific report, is a brief

summary of the contents. It’s worth writing this last, when you know
the key points to draw out. It should be no more than half a page to a
page in length.

• Remember the executive summary is designed to give busy

'executives' a quick summary of the contents of the report.
Introduction

• The introduction sets out what you plan to say and provides a brief
summary of the problem under discussion. It should also touch briefly
on your conclusions.
Main Body

• The main body of the report should be carefully structured in a

way that leads the reader through the issue.
• You should split it into sections using numbered sub-headings
relating to themes or areas for consideration.
• For each theme, you should aim to set out clearly and concisely
the main issue under discussion and any areas of difficulty or
disagreement.
Conclusions and Recommendations

• The conclusion sets out what inferences you draw from the
information, including any experimental results. It may include
recommendations, or these may be included in a separate section.
• Recommendations suggest how you think the situation could be
improved, and should be specific, achievable and measurable. If your
recommendations have financial implications, you should set these
out clearly, with estimated costs if possible.
A Word on Writing Style

• When writing a report, your aim

should be to make your writing
simple and unambiguous.
• Above all, it should be easy to read
and understand, even to someone
with little knowledge of the subject
area.
• You should therefore aim for crisp, precise text, using
plain English, and shorter words rather than longer,
with short sentences.

• You should also avoid jargon. If you have to use

specialist language, you should explain each word as
you use it. If you find that you’ve had to explain more
than about five words, you’re probably using too
much jargon, and need to replace some of it with
simpler words.
• Consider your audience. If the report is designed to be
written for a particular person, check whether you
should be writing it to ‘you’ or perhaps in the third
person to a job role: ‘The Chief Executive may like to
consider…’, or ‘The Director is recommended to
agree…’, for example.
A Final Warning

• As with any academic assignment or formal piece of

writing, your work will benefit from being read over
again and edited ruthlessly for sense and style.
• Pay particular attention to whether all the
information that you have included is relevant.
• Also remember to check tenses, which person you
have written in, grammar and spelling.
• It’s also worth one last check against any
requirements on structure.
• For an academic assignment, make sure that you have referenced
fully and correctly. As always, check that you have not inadvertently
or deliberately plagiarized or copied anything without acknowledging
it.
Example of a Report for Business Students
• XYZ Case study
• Short Business Report: Guidelines

• This document provides an outline for our annual business.

Contents
• The report should begin with a table of contents. This
explains the audience, author, and basic purpose of the
attached report. It should be short and to the point.

• DATE: March 24, 2022

• TO: Mr. Arun Malik
• FROM: Piyush Bansal, Marketing team, XYZ company

• As per your request, we have prepared an annual

business report for the financial year 2020-2021. Please
contact us if you need any additional information.
Executive Summary
• The second page of the document must have a report
title at the top, and provide an executive summary,
that is a paragraph or two that summarizes the
report.
• It should provide a sufficient overview of the report so
that an executive (who doesn’t have the time or
energy to fully read through the long report) can
actually grasp the main points beforehand.
• Most importantly, the summary should contain
• (a) the purpose of the report,
• (b) what you did (analysis) and what you found
(results), and
• (c) your recommendations.
• These recommendations should be short and not go
beyond a page.
Report
• Next page in the report must contain a title at the top (the same title
that you put on the top of the previous page. This is the first page that
should actually be numbered, and it should be page 2 (as the table of
contents is not technically part of the report).
• This part introduces the reader to your report, sets
the purpose in place and broadly plates out the
content of your entire document.
• Throughout your report, keep breaking points and
starting off a new logical thought with a numbered
sub-heading
• A conclusive paragraph ties up all the information
written before and leaves room for inferences if any
• The length of the body of the report will
be determined by necessity to convey the
analysis and conclusions, but should
generally not exceed 10 pages.
• Tables and figures must all be labeled.
• References could be cited in footnotes, or
in a separate “References” section, if they
are many or if you prefer that format.
• Step 1: Decide on the 'Terms of reference'
• Step 2: Decide on the procedure
• Step 3: Find the information
• Step 4: Decide on the structure
• Step 5: Draft the first part of your report
• Step 6: Analyze your findings and draw conclusions
• Step 7: Make recommendations
• Step 8: Draft the executive summary and table of contents
• Step 9: Compile a reference list
• Step 10: Revise your draft report
Decide
•
on the 'Terms of reference'
To decide on the terms of reference for your report,
read your instructions and any other information
you've been given about the report, and think about
the purpose of the report:
• What is it about?
• What exactly is needed?
• Why is it needed?
• When do I need to do it?
• Who is it for, or who is it aimed at?
• This will help you draft your Terms of reference.
Step 2: Decide on the procedure
• This means planning your investigation or research, and
how you'll write the report. Ask yourself:
• What information do I need?
• Do I need to do any background reading?
• What articles or documents do I need?
• Do I need to contact the library for assistance?
• Do I need to interview or observe people?
• Do I have to record data?
• How will I go about this?
• Answering these questions will help you draft the
procedure section of your report, which outlines the
steps you've taken to carry out the investigation.
Step 3: Find the information
• The next step is to find the information you need for your
report. To do this you may need to read written material,
observe people or activities, and/or talk to people.
• Make sure the information you find is relevant and
appropriate. Check the assessment requirements and
guidelines and the marking schedule to make sure you're on
the right track. If you're not sure how the marks will be
assigned contact your lecturer.
• What you find out will form the basis, or main body, of your
report – the findings.
• For more on finding information:
• Research and reading
• Steps for writing an assignment
Step 4: Decide on the structure
• Reports generally have a similar structure, but some
details may differ. How they differ usually depends on:
• The type of report – if it is a research report, laboratory
report, business report, investigative report, etc.
• How formal the report has to be.
• The length of the report.
• Depending on the type of report, the structure can
include:
• A title page.
• Executive summary.
Continued….
• Contents.
• An introduction.
• Terms of reference.
• Procedure.
• Findings.
• Conclusions.
• Recommendations.
• References/Bibliography.
• Appendices.
• The sections, of a report usually have headings and
subheadings, which are usually numbered
 Step 5: Draft the first part of your report
• Once you have your structure, write down the headings
and start to fill these in with the information you have
gathered so far. By now you should be able to draft the
terms of reference, procedure and findings, and start to
work out what will go in the report’s appendix.

• Findings
• The findings are result of your reading, observations,
interviews and investigation. They form the basis of your
report. Depending on the type of report you are writing,
you may also wish to include photos, tables or graphs to
make your report more readable and/or easier to follow.
Appendices
• As you are writing your draft decide what information
will go in the appendix. These are used for information
that: is too long to include in the body of the report, or
supplements or complements the information in the
report. For example, brochures, spreadsheets or large
tables.
• Formatting and presenting your assignment
Step 6: Analyze your findings and draw conclusions
• The conclusion is where you analyze your findings and interpret what you
have found. To do this, read through your findings and ask yourself:
• What have I found?
• What's significant or important about my findings?
• What do my findings suggest?
• For example, your conclusion may describe how the information you
collected explains why the situation occurred, what this means for the
organization, and what will happen if the situation continues (or doesn't
continue).
• Don’t include any new information in the conclusion.
Step 7: Make recommendations
• Recommendations are what you think the solution to the
problem is and/or what you think should happen next. To help
you decide what to recommend:
• Reread your findings and conclusions.
• Think about what you want the person who asked for the report
should to do or not do; what actions should they carry out?
• Check that your recommendations are
practical and are based logically on your
conclusions.
• Ensure you include enough detail for the
reader to know what needs to be done and
who should do it.
• Your recommendations should be written as a
numbered list, and ordered from most to least
important.
 Step 8: Draft the executive summary and table of
contents
• Some reports require an executive summary and/or list of
contents. Even though these two sections come near the
beginning of the report you won't be able to do them until
you have finished it, and have your structure and
recommendations finalized.
• An executive summary is usually about 100 words long. It
tells the readers what the report is about, and summarize
the recommendations.
Step 9: Compile a reference list

• This is a list of all the sources you've

referred to in the report and uses
APA/MLA referencing.

• APA/MLA referencing
Step 10: Revise your draft report
• It is always important to revise your work. Things you need to
check include:
• If you have done what you were asked to do. Check the
assignment question, the instructions/guidelines and the
marking schedule to make sure.
• That the required sections are included, and are in the correct
order.
• That your information is accurate, with no gaps.
• If your argument is logical. Does the information you present
support your conclusions and recommendations?
Continued….
• That all terms, symbols and abbreviations used have been explained.
• That any diagrams, tables, graphs and illustrations are numbered and labelled.
• That the formatting is correct, including your numbering, headings, are consistent
throughout the report.
• That the report reads well, and your writing is as clear and effective as possible.
• You might need to prepare several drafts before you are satisfied. If possible, get
someone else to check your report.