Business communication
Chapter 4
Report writing
Contents
Basic of report writing
Report structure:The short forms
Long ,Formal reports
Graphics
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
A.Basic of report writing
A Business Report is an orderly and
objective communication of factual
information that serves a business purpose.
• Orderly —being prepared carefully
• Objective —trying to seek truth and to avoid
human biases
• Communication —covering all ways of
transmitting meaning
• Factual information —basing on events,
records, data, and the like which are the
basic ingredients of reports
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
Types of Reports?
Sales Reports
Inspection（检查）Reports
Annual Reports
Audit Reports
Feasibility（可行性） Reports
Progress Reports
White Papers
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
5 Steps to Report Writing
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Define the problem
Gather the necessary information
Analyze the information
Organize the information
Write the report
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
1.Define the problem
three forms of problem statement:
 Infinitive phrase(不定式短语)
To avoid burning another bag of popcorn….
 Question
What are the reasons of…?
 Declarative statement (宣告性叙述)
The sales income is decreasing,and management
wants to know why
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
2.Gather the necessary information
ways to gather information
Field investigation(调查)
Experiments or surveys
Consultancy(顾问)
Literature research
Internet sourcing
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
Survey
A survey is a method of gathering
information from a number of
individuals, known as a sample, in
order to learn something about the
larger population from which the
sample is drawn.
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
Steps:
Establish the goals of the project
Determine your sample
Choose interviewing method
Create your questionnaire
Pre-test the questionnaire, if practical
Conduct interviews and enter data
Analyze the data
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
a.Establishing Goals
The first step in any survey is
deciding what you want to learn. The
goals of the project determine whom
you will survey and what you will ask
them.
If your goals are unclear, the results
will probably be unclear.
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
Some goals:
The potential market for a new
product or service
Ratings of current products or
services
Employee attitudes
Customer satisfaction levels
Reader/viewer/listener opinions
Association member opinions
Opinions about political candidates or
issues
Corporate images
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
b. Selecting Your Sample
 First : deciding what kind of people to
interview.
 Researchers often call this group the target
population. If you conduct an employee
attitude survey or an association
membership survey, the population is
obvious. If you are trying to determine the
likely success of a product, the target
population may be less obvious.
 Correctly determining the target population
is critical. If you do not interview the right
kinds of people, you will not successfully
meet your goals.
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
 Second: to decide is how many people you
need to interview.
 The larger the sample, the more precisely it
reflects the target group. However, the rate of
improvement in the precision decreases as
your sample size increases.
 You must make a decision about your sample
size based on factors such as: time available,
budget and necessary degree of precision.
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
c.Interviewing Methods
Once you have decided on your
sample you must decide on your
method of data collection.
Personal Interviews
Telephone Surveys
Mail Surveys
Computer Direct Interviews
Email Surveys
Internet/Intranet (Web Page)
Surveys
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
 The choice of survey method will depend on
several factors:
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
d.Create your questionnaire
 Naming your survey
Memo From the Chief! Your Opinion About
Financial Services! Free T-shirt! Win a Trip
to Paris ! Please Respond By Friday!
 Cover memo or introduction
it should include the purpose of the survey ,
Why it is important to hear from the
correspondent , What may be done with the
results and what possible impacts may
occur with the results, Person to contact for
questions about the survey.

Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
 Write a short questionnaire.
When drafting your questionnaire, make a
mental distinction between what is essential
to know, what would be useful to know and
what would be unnecessary.
 Use simple words.
"What is the frequency of your automotive
travel to your parents' residents in the last
30 days?"
"About how many times in the last 30 days
have you driven to your parent's home?"
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
 There are 3 basic types of questions:
multiple choice, numeric(数字的) open end
and text open end.
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
 Don't make the list of choices too long
 Allow a “Don't Know” or “Not Applicable”
response to all questions, except to those in
which you are certain that all respondents
will have a clear answer.
 Include “Other” or “None” whenever either
of these is a logically possible answer.
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
 Do not put two questions into one.
Avoid questions such as "Do you buy frozen
meat and frozen fish?" "Have you ever
bought Product X and, if so, did you like it?“
 Make sure your questions accept all the
possible answers.
A question like "Do you use regular or
premium gas in your car?" does not cover all
possible answers. The owner may alternate
between both types.
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
 Consider the order of the question.
Ideally, the early questions in a survey
should be easy and pleasant to answer.
These kinds of questions encourage people
to continue the survey.
Whenever possible leave difficult or
sensitive questions until near the end of
your survey.
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
 Be aware of cultural factors.
 Leave your demographic questions (age,
income, education, etc.) until the end of the
questionnaire. By then the interviewer
should have built a rapport(友善） with the
interviewee that will allow honest responses
to such personal questions.
 Do not ask a respondent's gender.
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
d.Pre-test the Questionnaire
 The next step is to test a questionnaire with
a small number of interviews before
conducting your main interviews. Ideally,
you should test the survey on the same
kinds of people you will include in the main
study.
 If you change any questions after a pre-test,
you should not combine the results from the
pre-test with the results of post-test
interviews.
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
3.Analyze the information
 Advice for avoiding human error
 Appropriate(适当的)attitudes and practices
 Statistical tools in interpretation
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
4. Organize the information
Present the information in the order
that communicates best to your
readers.
 The construction of outline
2 ways to show different levels of headings:
conventional(传统的) system & decimal(小数的)
decimal symbol system
Whatever system we use, we should show
differences in the levels of headings by
placement and form.
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
The nature and extent of outlining
Introductory and concluding parts
Organization by division
Division by conventional relationships
Combination and multiple division
possibilities
 Wording of the outline





Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
B.Long ,Formal reports
Organization and Content of Longer
Reports:
The reader’s needs determine the
structure of long, formal reports
• Formal reports are normally
organized by three parts
- Prefatory （前言）Parts
- Report Proper
- Appended Parts
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
1. The Prefatory Parts
a. Title Fly
contains only the report title
Title:
- should tell at a glance what the report
covers.
- should be carefully worded.
- should be built around five “Ws”:
who, what, where, when, why, ( how )
- can be helped by subtitle.
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
b.Title Page:
It displays essential identification
information: report title, identification of
the writer and reader, and the date
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
c. Authorization(授权) Message:
These are normally only required for a
Very formal report being presented to or
Written within a public body
It might include: a clear description of
the problem, time and money
limitations, special instructions, and
the due date.
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
d. Transmittal Message
- It is a personal message from the
writer to the reader ( usually in
personal style ) and its main goal is to
transmit the report.
- can include anything that helps the
reader understand and value the
report.
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
e.Table of Contents
It lists the headings from the body of
the report and the page numbers on
which they occur.
It is not required to list all headings.
This TOC could have excluded
excluded all third-level headings.
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
f. Executive Summary (abstract)
- serves as a preview to the report and is
written primarily for busy executives.
- should include all the major items,
analyses, and conclusions and
recommendations.
- is less than 1/8 of the report in general.
- is written in direct order more than indirect
order in recent years.
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
2. The Report Proper
• Introduction
• The report body
- presents and analyzes the information
gathered
- uses good presentation form, with
figures, tables, and caption display
Sources used must be appropriately
noted and documented
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
The Ending
of the
Report
Ending
summary
Conclusion
Recommen
-dations
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
3. Appended Parts
- It is for supplementary information that
supports the body of the report but has no
logical place within the body
- Should includes: questionnaires, working
papers, summary tables, additional
references, and other reports)
- Should not include: charts, graphs, and
tables that directly support the report.
 Bibliography is a list of publications used
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
C.Report structure:The short forms
Title Fly
Title Page
Authorization Message
Transmittal Message +Executive
Summary
Table of Contents
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
Characteristics of Shorter Reports:
• Little need for introductory
information
• Writen in the direct order
• More personal writing style
• Less need for a structured coherence
（一致）plan
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
Forms Of Shorter Reports:
• The short report
• Letter reports
• Email reports
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
Special Report Forms:
•
•
•
•
•
Staff report
Meeting minutes
Progress report
Audit report
Proposal
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
D.Graphics
the primary purpose of using graphics is
to communicate
Functions of graphics
ˉ to clarify complex or difficult information
ˉ to emphasize facts
ˉ to add coherence
ˉ to summarize data
ˉ to provide interest
ˉ to help filter the vast amount of data
ˉ to enhance the appearance of a report
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
8.4 Graphics
Placing The Graphics In The Report
- Place the graphics near the first place in
the text in which you refer to them
- Graphics not discussed in the report belong
in the appendix
- At the right place, incidentally invite the
readers to look at the graphics
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao
Reference
商务英语应用文模板大全 程斌 山东科学技术出
版社
实用商务英语写作教程 徐仁凤 东南大学出版社
Business communication. Swust. Shirley Miao