Chapter 6
PREPARING EXECUTIVE SUMMARIES
Chapter overview
This chapter looks closely at the most important part of almost any report—the executive
summary.
Brief outline of the chapter
I. What is a report? Most reports have common elements in them—such as a table of
contents, an executive summary, and sections or chapters.
II. What’s the purpose of an executive summary? The important point here is that an executive
summary may be the only part of a report most readers look at. Therefore, the executive
summary must be able to stand alone—and still communicate the most important
information in the report. I admit that’s a challenge—but a crucial one the writer must
meet.
III. What are the parts of an executive summary? This part of the chapter should be quite
helpful to your students since it lists (in order) the common parts of an executive summary
—such as who asked for it and what it looks into.
IV. What are tips for preparing an executive summary? Most executive summaries I see don’t
succeed very well. These tips—such as “get to the point” and “avoid unnecessary
jargon”—can give your students a real advantage when they’re writing actual executive
summaries in their workplace.
V. Exercises.
General comments
Many students have never seen a report and have only a vague idea of what one is. So the first
task is to be sure they understand what a report is. If your students work in a company that has
reports, have them bring in some. There’s no substitute for actually seeing and looking through
several real reports.
If appropriate (I wouldn’t want to criticize too much the reports from the companies my students
work for), you might look through the reports and comment on what works and what doesn’t.
An alternative, of course, is for you to bring in several reports and go over them with the
students.
As far as the executive summary goes, the chapter is self-explanatory. Sometimes, however,
students wonder how they can get everything they want onto a single page with good layout and
effective white space. I just tell them that’s why they’re paid the big bucks! I add that with every
sentence they add to an executive summary, some readers are dropping out. Then I ask if they’ve
ever skimmed an executive summary!
Additional exercise
Divide the students into small groups and have them analyze the executive summaries for reports
or articles you give them (or they brought). Then have them present their findings to the class.
OR
Bring in several copies of the same report (minus the executive summary)—and have small
OR
Bring in an article from a journal (minus the abstract or executive summary)—and have small
Notes on the exercise
Exercise (preparing an executive summary)
Chapter 6
PREPARING EXECUTIVE SUMMARIES
Chapter overview
This chapter looks closely at the most important part of almost any report—the executive
summary.
Brief outline of the chapter
VI. What is a report? Most reports have common elements in them—such as a table of
contents, an executive summary, and sections or chapters.
VII. What’s the purpose of an executive summary? The important point here is that an executive
summary may be the only part of a report most readers look at. Therefore, the executive
summary must be able to stand alone—and still communicate the most important
information in the report. I admit that’s a challenge—but a crucial one the writer must
meet.
VIII. What are the parts of an executive summary? This part of the chapter should be quite
helpful to your students since it lists (in order) the common parts of an executive summary
—such as who asked for it and what it looks into.
IX. What are tips for preparing an executive summary? Most executive summaries I see don’t
succeed very well. These tips—such as “get to the point” and “avoid unnecessary
jargon”—can give your students a real advantage when they’re writing actual executive
summaries in their workplace.
X. Exercises.
General comments
Many students have never seen a report and have only a vague idea of what one is. So the first
task is to be sure they understand what a report is. If your students work in a company that has
reports, have them bring in some. There’s no substitute for actually seeing and looking through
several real reports.
If appropriate (I wouldn’t want to criticize too much the reports from the companies my students
work for), you might look through the reports and comment on what works and what doesn’t.
An alternative, of course, is for you to bring in several reports and go over them with the
students.
As far as the executive summary goes, the chapter is self-explanatory. Sometimes, however,
students wonder how they can get everything they want onto a single page with good layout and
effective white space. I just tell them that’s why they’re paid the big bucks! I add that with every
sentence they add to an executive summary, some readers are dropping out. Then I ask if they’ve
ever skimmed an executive summary!
Additional exercise
Divide the students into small groups and have them analyze the executive summaries for reports
or articles you give them (or they brought). Then have them present their findings to the class.
OR
Bring in several copies of the same report (minus the executive summary)—and have small
OR
Bring in an article from a journal (minus the abstract or executive summary)—and have small
Notes on the exercise
Exercise (preparing an executive summary)