Writing Reports and Proposals
Chapter 14
Composing reports and proposals
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Introduction
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Body
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States the purpose for the report
Overviews the main idea of the report
Initiates tone for the audience, to create a relationship
Presents, informs, analyzes, and interprets information
Closing
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Emphasizes the main points
Summarizes the benefits or suggests course of action
Provides the actions that bring the report together: like who,
what, where, when, and how
Drafting the report
All the information that you provide in a report must:
• be accurate
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Double check your facts and references
Be complete
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In order to make a sound decision, the audience must be
informed of all the crucial information
Present all sides equally and fairly
Make sure the words you use are logical and clear to
understand
Make sure you document your sources properly
Elements of a report
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Authorization
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Problem / opportunity / purpose
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A list of terms that might be unfamiliar to your audience
Limitations
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Primary and secondary sources
Definitions
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Historical facts and or conditions that led to the reports findings
Sources and methods
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What the goals of the report are
Background
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Who ordered the report or wants the information
Any outside parties that the report can affect, or if you are relying on outside
parties to complete partial or all of the tasks involved in your report
Organization
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Topics you covered
Plan
Report Body
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Explanation
Facts, evidence
Results, studies or investigations
Discussion or analyses
Advantages, disadvantages, costs, benefits…etc
Procedures or steps
Methods or approaches
Criteria that was used to evaluate
Conclusion or recommendations
Supporting reasons for conclusions
Proposal Report
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Demonstrate your knowledge
Provide good information
Research competition
Prove that your proposal is workable
Adopt the “you” attitude
Make the proposal attractive – show benefits
Proposal Intro – Body and Closing
Introduction:
• Background or statement
• Solution
Body:
• Work plan
• Statement of qualifications
• Costs
Closing
• Summarizes key points
Headings
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Title
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1st level reading
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Purpose
Bold-faced
Heading is slightly smaller than the title and the lettering is smaller still
2nd level reading
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Centered at the top of the page
Bold-faced
Double-spaced, inverted like an upside down triangle
Like the fist-level reading, this section indicates the material necessary to
complete the purpose
Third-level reading
Follows the second-level reading that reflects the content of the report
All level of readings are parallel except for any fourth-level reading that
requires lists. Then that level of reading will be set apart from bullets or
smaller paragraph content
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Exercise
Complete exercsie 14.3
 Find an article in a business newspaper or journal (in
print or online) that recommends a solution to a
problem. Identify the problem, the recommended
solution(s), and the supporting evidence provided by the
author to justify his or her recommendation(s). Did the
author cite any formal or informal studies as evidence?
What facts or statistics did the author inlcude? Did the
author cite any criteria for evaluation possible options? If
so, what were they?
 In memo format, please complete this exercise and hand
in before leaving class.
Homework for 2/10/09
Complete report to turn in:
• Informational
• Analysis
• Evaluation
• Proposal
If you do not have an idea for a report:
Try the following exercises on page 447: Expand your
Knowledge or any in the back of the chapter.