Unit 4
Reports, Proposals, and Presentations
1
Chapter 11
Reporting in the Digital Age Workplace
Instructor PowerPoint Library, 9e
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be
scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
2
Learning Outcome 1
Explain informational and analytical report functions, organizational
strategies, and writing styles as well as typical report formats.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
3
The Critical Role of Efficient Reporting
• Routine reports keep managers
informed about completed tasks,
projects, and work in progress.
• Focused, in-depth reports help
executives understand the
challenges they encounter in
business.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
4
The Main Purposes of Business Reports
Convey
information
Answer
questions
Solve
problems
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be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
5
Basic Report Functions (1 of 3)
Informational
reports
Analytical
reports
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be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
6
Basic Report Functions (2 of 3)
Informational Reports
• Present data without analysis or
recommendations
• Are routine and often periodic
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
7
Basic Report Functions (3 of 3)
Analytical Reports
• Provide data or findings, analyses, and
conclusions
• May also supply recommendations
• Intend to persuade readers
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be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
8
Organizational Strategies
Direct
strategy
Indirect
strategy
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be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
9
Audience Analysis and Report Organization
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
10
Report Writing Styles
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
11
Typical Report Formats
Digital (PDF files; Web-based
multimedia reports)
Infographics
Digital slide decks
E-Mail (sometimes
with memo or letter
report attached)
Forms and templates
Manuscript
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
12
Informal Reports–E-Mail and Digital Formats
• PDF documents are a popular
delivery format.
• Some reports are animated and
may be hyperlinked to other
content.
• Slide presentations can be
converted to video.
• Slide decks are a condensed
image-rich format not intended for
verbal delivery.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
13
Informal Reports–Letter Formats (1 of 3)
Tips for Letter Reports:
• Use letter format for short,
informal reports sent to outsiders.
• Organize the facts section into
logical divisions identified by
consistent headings.
• May be delivered as a PDF file
attachment or simply within the
body of an e-mail.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
14
Informal Reports–Letter Formats (2 of 3)
Tips for Letter Reports:
• Single-space the body.
• Double-space between paragraphs.
• Leave two blank lines above each
side heading.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
15
Informal Reports–Letter Formats (3 of 3)
Tips for Letter Reports:
• Create side margins of 1 to 1¼
inches.
• Add a second-page heading, if
necessary, consisting of the
addressee’s name, the date, and the
page number.
• Follow your organization’s preferred
practices and formats.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
16
Analytical Reports–Memo Formats
Tips for Memo Reports:
• Use memo format for short (ten or
fewer pages) informal reports within
an organization.
• Leave side margins of 1 to 1¼
inches.
• Sign your initials on the From line on
hard copies.
• Attach memo to a cover e-mail
(some short reports are delivered as
plain e-mails).
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
17
Informal Reports–E-Mail and Memo Formats
Tips for E-Mail and Memo Reports:
• Use an informal, conversational
style.
• Put recommendations first for direct
analytical reports and last for indirect
analytical reports.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
18
Learning Outcome 2
Apply the 3-x-3 writing process to contemporary business reports to
create well-organized documents that show a firm grasp of audience and
purpose.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
19
Applying the 3-x-3 Writing Process to Reports (1 of 2)
1. Analyze the problem and purpose.
2. Anticipate the audience and issues.
3. Prepare a work plan.
4. Conduct research.
3-x-3
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
20
Applying the 3-x-3 Writing Process to Reports (2 of 2)
5. Organize, analyze, interpret, and
illustrate the data.
6. Compose the first draft.
7. Edit, proofread, and evaluate.
3-x-3
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
21
Elements of a Work Plan for a Formal Report
Problem statement
Statement of the purpose, including
scope, limitations, and significance
Research strategy, including a
description of potential sources and
methods of collecting data
Tentative outline that factors the
problem into manageable chunks
Work schedule
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
22
Learning Outcome 3
Locate and evaluate secondary sources such as databases and Internet
resources, and understand how to conduct credible primary research.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
23
Gathering Information From Secondary Sources (1 of 2)
Research Databases:
ABI/INFORM (ProQuest)
JSTOR Business
Factiva (Dow Jones)
Business Source Premier (EBSCO)
LexisNexis Academic
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
24
Gathering Information From Secondary Sources (2 of 2)
Print Resources:
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
25
Tips for Searching the Web (1 of 2)
1. Use two or three search tools.
2. Know your search tool.
3. Use nouns as search items and up
to eight words in a query.
4. Combine keywords into phrases.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
26
Tips for Searching the Web (2 of 2)
5. Omit articles and prepositions.
6. Use wild cards.
7. Learn basic Boolean search
strategies.
8. Bookmark the best Internet sites.
9. Repeat your search a week later.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
27
Evaluating Web Sources (1 of 4)
Currency
What is the date of the Web article?
When was the website last updated?
Is anything out of date?
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
28
Evaluating Web Sources (2 of 4)
Authority
Who publishes or sponsors the page?
What makes the author an authority?
Is contact information available?
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
29
Evaluating Web Sources (3 of 4)
Content
Is the purpose of the
site to entertain, inform,
persuade, or sell?
Who is the intended
audience?
How does the content
compare with content
elsewhere?
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
30
Evaluating Web Sources (4 of 4)
Accuracy
Do the facts seem reliable?
Do you find errors in spelling,
grammar, and usage?
Can you detect bias?
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
31
Conducting Primary Research
Surveys (e.g.,
Survey-Monkey)
Interviews
Observation and
experimentation
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
32
Learning Outcome 4
Identify the purposes and techniques of citation and documentation in
business reports, and avoid plagiarism.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
33
Documenting Information (1 of 3)
Giving credit is ethical and offers
these benefits:
• Strengthens your argument
• Protects you from charges of
plagiarism
• Instructs readers
• Saves time
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
34
Documenting Information (2 of 3)
To avoid plagiarism, you must give
credit whenever you use the following:
• Another person’s ideas, opinions,
examples, or theory
• Any facts, statistics, charts, and
drawings that are not common
knowledge
• Another person’s exact spoken or
written words
• Paraphrases of another person’s
spoken or written words.
• Visuals, images, and any kind of
electronic media you didn’t create.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
35
Documenting Information (3 of 3)
Practice the fine art of paraphrasing:
1. Read the original material intently to
comprehend its full meaning.
2. Write your own version without looking
at the original.
3. Avoid repeating the grammatical
structure of the original and merely
replacing words with synonyms.
4. Reread the original to be sure you
covered the main points but did not
borrow specific language.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
36
Two Documentation Formats
Modern Language Association
• Author’s name and page (Smith 100)
placed in text
• Complete list of sources in Works Cited
American Psychological Association
• Author’s name, date of publication, and
page number placed near the text
reference (Jones, 2015, p. 99)
• Complete list of sources in References
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
37
When and How to Quote
Beware of overusing quotations. Use direct quotations for three
purposes only:
1. To provide objective background data and establish the severity of a
problem as seen by experts
2. To repeat identical phrasing because of its precision, clarity, or aptness
3. To duplicate exact wording before discussing or criticizing
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
38
Copyright Information (1 of 2)
Four factors for testing fair use rule:
1. Purpose and character of the use,
particularly whether for profit
2. Nature of the copyrighted work
3. Amount and substantiality of portion
used
4. Effect of the use on the potential
market
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
39
Copyright Information (2 of 2)
How to avoid copyright infringement:
1. Assume that all intellectual property is
copyrighted.
2. Realize that Internet items and
resources are NOT in the public
domain.
3. Observe fair-use restrictions.
4. Ask for permission.
5. Don’t assume that a footnote is all that
is needed.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
40
Learning Outcome 5
Generate, use, and convert numerical data to visual aids, and create
meaningful and attractive graphics.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
41
Creating Effective Visual Aids (1 of 5)
Graphics fulfill the following functions:
1. Clarify data
2. Create visual interest
3. Condense and simplify data
4. Make numerical data meaningful
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
42
Creating Effective Visual Aids (2 of 5)
Match the graphic to the objective:
Table
To show exact figures
and values
Bar chart
To compare related
items
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
43
Creating Effective Visual Aids (3 of 5)
Match the graphic to the objective:
Line chart
To demonstrate
changes in quantitative
data over time
Pie chart
To visualize a whole
unit and the proportion
of its components.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
44
Creating Effective Visual Aids (4 of 5)
Match the graphic to the objective:
Flow chart
To display a process or
procedure
Organization chart
To define a hierarchy of
elements
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
45
Creating Effective Visual Aids (5 of 5)
Match the graphic to the objective:
Photograph, map,
illustration
To create authenticity,
to spotlight a location,
and to show an item in
use
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
46
End
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process and Product, 9th Edition. © 2018 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not
be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
47