Report Writing Can Be Good For Your Career & Make You MoneyOur Writing Information & Help Is Here For You & Your Career ChangeReport writing is a skill that can become a significant asset in your career - when you become skillful you soon become recognised as the person to go to for writing reports - but it can also become something to make you an extra income on the side. If you enjoy assembling facts and data, or if you simply enjoy the process of explaining information in the written word then you have the makings of someone who could be an excellent report writer. Perhaps you haven't really considered this aspect of writing? If so then these tips to help you master report writing may be just the thing to get you started and further your writing career.Mastering Report WritingAs you progress up the career ladder, it is likely that producing reports will become a core part of your role. Reports cover a whole range of areas such as:
So what are the key points that you need to grasp to master report writing? 1. Set clear objectives Like any task that you undertake you need to have a clear outcome or goal. Report writing is no different. When you are starting out the process of producing a report, ask yourself what do I want for the recipient of the report? It might be:
2. Use a clear structure The recipients of reports will only have a limited amount of time that they can set aside to review the report. You therefore want to make it easy for them to read it. A simple but effective structure for doing this is to:
3. Include an executive summary A good executive summary will:
A useful tip for writing an executive summary is to leave it till last after you have done the detailed report. The reason for this is that it will be much easier to pull out the salient points. 4. Use headings and sub-headings Headings and sub-headings make it easy for the reader to skim or speed read the report. It also helps you as writer to present ideas succinctly. 5. Keep figures to a minimum It can be tempting (especially with financial reports) to include lots of figures. Avoid doing this. Include headline figures in the main body of the report and include detail as an appendix. 6. Make use of graphs and charts Graphs and charts are particularly effective when it comes to presenting information. For example, you might use:
In my experience people generally find reports with graphs and charts easy to follow, particularly non executive directors who may not know about the detailed activities of the business. 7. Summarize At the end of the report always include a few sentences that re-state the main points of the report. Remember, there will be some people who will read the introduction and conclusion and expect to get all of the key information from those sections. At the end of the day there is no magic formula for report writing. Following some simple tips is a great place to start but remember that one individual's idea of a good report will differ from another. So how do you address this? Ask for feedback and try to incorporate as many suggestions as possible. Duncan Brodie helps managers and leaders to achieve their true potential. Sign up today for his free monthly newsletter at http://www.goalsandachievements.co.uk Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Duncan_Brodie Of course report writing can be on any number of subjects and the ability to produce short reports or summaries about information that people want, saving them the time and effort to source it for themselves, can become a real income opportunity for you. I've got a short report which you can download free to tell you about how you could profit from report writing. Download it here and find out if you could be making money from writing reports. You are here: Report Writing Return to Writing As A Career Return To Your Career Change Home Page Search this site, or the whole of the web from here using SafeSearch.
   
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