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11: Writing and Completing Reports and Proposals
11-1
CHAPTER 11:
Writing and Completing Reports and Proposals
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Chapter 11 discusses Steps 2 and 3 of the three-step process for writing reports and proposals.
The chapter begins with Step 2, Writing Reports and Proposals. Writers are first introduced to
issues of adapting to an audience and composing reports and proposals. The chapter addresses
composition tasks, including drafting report content, drafting proposal content, providing
direction for readers (with headings, transitions, previews, and reviews), and using technology to
craft reports and proposals. The chapter also addresses the unique considerations for writing in-
depth content for websites or collaborating on a wiki. The chapter also explains how to illustrate
reports with effective visual aids and how to design effective visuals. The final section focuses
on Step 3, Completing Reports and Proposals. Writers are introduced to the various components
of reports: revising reports and proposals, producing formal reports, producing formal proposals,
proofreading reports and proposals, and distributing reports and proposals.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Writing Reports and Proposals
Adapting to Your Audience
Drafting Report Content
Make Your Reports Easier to Read
Make Your Reports Easier to Write
Drafting Proposal Content
Writing for Websites and Wikis
Drafting Website Content
Collaborating on Wikis
Illustrating Your Reports with Effective Visuals
Choosing the Right Visual for the Job
Tables
Line Charts and Surface Charts
Bar Charts and Pie Charts
Data Visualization
Flowcharts and Organization Charts
Maps, Illustrations, Diagrams, Infographics, and Photographs
Video
Designing Effective Visuals
Completing Reports and Proposals
Producing Formal Reports and Proposals
Distributing Reports and Proposals
The Future of Communication: Three-Dimensional Communication
Chapter Review and Activities
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TEACHING NOTES
Writing Reports and Proposals
This chapter builds on the writing techniques and ideas you learned in Chapter 4, addressing
issues that are particularly important when preparing longer message formats.
Adapting to your audience involves the following:
• Adopting the “you” attitude
• Striking a balance between overly informal (which can be perceived as trivializing
important issues) and overly formal (which can put too much distance between writer and
reader)
An informal tone may be used if you know your readers reasonably well and your report is likely
to meet with their approval.
To make your tone less formal, speak to readers in the first person and refer to yourself as I.
To make your tone more formal:
• Use the impersonal journalism style.
• Emphasize objectivity.
• Avoid personal opinions.
Take into account that communicating with people in other cultures often calls for more
formality in reports.
As with other forms of written business communication, reports and proposals have three main
sections:
• Introduction (or opening)
• Body
• Close
An effective introduction accomplishes four major tasks:
• Puts the report or proposal in context by tying it to a problem or assignment.
• Introduces the subject or purpose of the report or proposal and indicates why the subject
The body presents, analyzes, and interprets the information gathered during your investigation
and supports recommendations and conclusions.
An effective close has three important functions:
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To help readers find what they’re looking for and stay on track as they navigate through your
documents, follow these three steps:
• Write clear headings and subheadings.
Make the process as easy on yourself as possible by taking advantage of all available
productivity tools.
The general purpose of any proposal is to persuade readers to do something, so your writing
approach is similar to that used for persuasive messages, which may include the use of the AIDA
model to:
• Gain attention.
• Build interest.
Additional strategies to strengthen your argument should include the following:
• Demonstrate your knowledge.
• Provide concrete information and examples.
Consider using proposal-writing software if you and your company need to submit proposals as a
routine part of doing business.
Writing for Websites and Wikis
When drafting online content, keep these additional points in mind as well:
• Take special care to build trust with your intended audiences because careful readers can
be skeptical of online content. Make sure your content is accurate, current, complete, and
authoritative.
• As much as possible, adapt your content for a global audience. Translating content is
expensive, so some companies compromise by localizing the homepage while keeping
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cover the most important information briefly at first and then gradually reveal successive
layers of detail—letting readers choose to see those additional layers if they want to.
• Present your information in a concise, skimmable format. Effective websites use a variety
of means to help readers skim pages quickly, including lists, careful use of color and
Using wikis is a great way for teams and other groups to collaborate on writing projects.
To be a valuable wiki contributor keep these points in mind:
• Let go of traditional expectations of authorship (including individual recognition and
control).
• Encourage all team members to improve each other’s work.
Before you add new pages to a wiki, figure out how the material fits with the existing content.
Illustrating Your Reports with Effective Visuals
Well-designed visuals:
• Enhance the communication power of textual messages.
• Can replace text in some cases.
Given the importance of visuals in today’s business environment, visual literacy—the ability (as
a sender) to create effective images and (as a receiver) to correctly interpret visual messages—
has become a key business skill.
Even without any formal training in design, being aware of the following six principles will help
you be a more effective visual communicator:
• Consistency
• Contrast
• Balance
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Deciding which type of visual to use is most often determined by the type of information you
wish to present. For example, a table is the most obvious choice for presenting a large set of
numerical values or detailed textual information.
Tables:
When preparing a table, be careful to:
• Use common, understandable units and clearly identify them.
• Express all items in a column in the same unit and round off for simplicity.
Line charts illustrate trends over time or plot the relationship of two variables. They depict trends
by arranging the vertical (y) axis to show the amount and the horizontal (x) axis to show the time
or the quantity being measured.
Pie charts show how parts of a whole are distributed.
Conventional charts and graphs are limited in two ways:
• They can represent only numeric data.
• Most types show only a limited number of data points before the display becomes too
cluttered to interpret.
• They often can’t show complex relationships among data points.
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illustrating:
• Processes
• Procedures
• Sequential relationships
Organization charts illustrate the positions, units, or functions in an organization and the ways
they interrelate.
Maps are useful for showing location, distance, points of interest, and geographic distribution of
data. When combined with databases and aerial or satellite photographic in geographic
information systems (GIS), maps become extremely powerful visual reporting tools.
Photographs offer both functional and decorative value, and nothing can top a photograph when
you need to show exact appearances.
From tutorials and product demonstrations to seminars and speeches, online video is now an
essential business communication medium. For videos that require the highest production
Computers make it easy to create visuals, but they also make it easy to create visuals that are
ineffective. To integrate visuals with your text:
• Position your visuals so that your audience won’t have to flip back and forth (in printed
documents) or scroll (on-screen) between the visuals and the text.
Titles provide a short description that identifies the content and purpose of the visual.
Captions usually offer additional discussion of the visual’s content and can be several sentences
long.
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even more acute with visuals than they are with text. Preparing visual content for mobile users
takes careful planning and the use of display tools designed for mobile devices. With screen
space at a premium, think carefully about audience members’ needs, including the circumstances
in which they’ll be using their devices, so you can prioritize and sequence the delivery of
information.
When checking completed visuals, proofread them carefully and ask these questions:
• Are there any typographical errors?
• Is the color treatment consistent?
• Are there any confusing or undocumented symbols?
• Are there any misaligned elements?
• Are the visuals honest and ethical?
Completing Reports and Proposals
As with shorter messages, be sure to perform four tasks to complete your document:
• Revise
• Produce
• Proofread
• Distribute
When revising your message, evaluate the:
Report components fall into three categories:
• Prefatory parts
Most prefatory parts (such as the table of contents) should be placed on their own pages.
Various parts in the report text often run together and seldom stand alone.
The prefatory parts of a formal report are front-end materials that provide key preliminary
information so that readers can decide whether and how to read the report.
Prefatory parts of a formal report may include some but usually not all of the following:
• Cover
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• Letter of authorization
• Letter of transmittal
When putting a title on the cover, remember to:
• Give readers all the information they need to grasp the purpose of the scope of the report.
• Use high-quality cover stock for a formal report.
The title fly is a plain sheet of paper with only the title of the report on it.
The title page includes four blocks of information:
• The title of the report.
• Name of the person, group, or organization that authorized the report.
The letter of authorization is a document requesting that you prepare a report.
The letter or memo of transmittal:
• Introduces your report on your behalf.
• Begins by discussing the scope, methods, and limitations of the project.
The table of contents lists report parts and text headings to indicate the location and hierarchy of
the information in the report.
The list of illustrations is not included in all reports, but considers including one if the
illustrations are particularly important.
The synopsis:
The executive summary:
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• May be used instead of a synopsis.
• Is a fully developed “mini” version of the report.
Supplementary parts follow the text of a report and provide information for readers who seek
more detailed discussion. Supplements are more common in long reports than in short ones.
They typically include the following:
An appendix contains additional information for readers who want it; this information is related
to the report but not included in the text because it:
• Is too lengthy or bulky.
• Lacks direct relevance.
The bibliography is a list of secondary sources consulted when preparing the report.
The index is an alphabetical list of names, places, and subjects mentioned in the report, along
with the pages on which they appear.
Formal proposals contain many of the same components as other formal reports, but the special
nature of proposals does require some unique elements.
Some prefatory parts for proposals differ from prefatory parts for other reports, including:
The RFP is a letter or memo soliciting proposals or bids on a particular project: the RFP would
replace the letter of authorization that appears in other reports.
A synopsis or an executive summary is often less useful in proposals than in other reports:
The letter of transmittal included in proposals is handled differently, depending on whether the
proposal is solicited or unsolicited:
As with other types of reports, the text of a proposal consists of the introduction, body, and close.
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• The introduction presents and summarizes the problem you intend to solve and your
solution. It highlights the benefits the reader will receive from the solution.
• The body explains the complete details of the solution: how the job will be done, how it
will be broken into tasks, what method will be used to do it (including the required
Your choice of distribution method depends partly on the type of report or proposal:
• For physical distribution to a large group, consider a professional courier or package
delivery service to help your document stand apart from the crowd.
• For physical distribution to a single person or small group, consider delivering it in
The Future of Communication: Three-Dimensional Communication
When it comes to descriptive writing, one of the toughest challenges is describing three-
dimensional objects or physical spaces. What if you could send your readers a computer file that
they can “fly around” in 3D? They could zoom in and out to see the big picture and small details
OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES STUDENTS OFTEN FACE
Some students will have difficulty comprehending when and how to structure analytical reports.
During class discussion, provide examples of analytical reports that use the three common
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graph or chart them.
Because students don’t use the graphing capabilities of a spreadsheet on a daily basis, they may
have forgotten what they learned in any software courses they may have taken. Demonstrate how
Students will need assistance determining what to write about the graphics they design. Two
common errors are: (1) to write nothing (for example, simply including a graph or chart for the
reader to review); or (2) to write a lengthy paragraph (for example, detailing every number or
percentage from every portion of the graphic). Provide some samples of graphics and give
students practice in writing effective text to introduce and interpret them.
For reports that require secondary research, the format of references is always an issue. Once you
have selected the style manual that students should follow for their reports, discuss the correct
form of textual citations and reference-page entries for books, periodicals, websites, and so forth.
Be sure to provide numerous examples.
Students will need guidance in writing an effective synopsis. Discuss what the synopsis should
include and the order in which the information can be presented. To strengthen student
understanding, provide some examples for them to review.
SUGGESTED CLASSROOM EXERCISES
1. Choosing and preparing effective visual aids. Select several groups of data that a report
writer would logically choose to graph or chart in some manner. Let students work in teams
2. Providing text support for visuals. Provide some sample visual aids that could be included in
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visual and provides necessary interpretation for readers. Critique student paragraphs in class.
3. Preparing effective headings, transitions, previews, and reviews. Provide an example report
4. Preparing an effective report introduction. Provide students with a report-writing scenario
5. Distinguishing among facts, conclusions, and recommendations. Ask students to assume they
have been assigned the task of investigating the security and control provisions in the
6. Preparing a report. Select an end-of-chapter case (or assign another of your choosing). Let
students work in teams of two or three to plan the report. Critique student plans and identify
missing tasks and weaknesses. If computers are available in the classroom, allow some class
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
11-1. You can make the tone of a report more formal by using the impersonal journalism style:
emphasizing objectivity; avoiding personal pronouns; generally restricting your argument
11-2. To help readers navigate a long report: (1) the opening introduces the subject and indicates
its importance; (2) headings and lists highlight important ideas and provide clues; (3)
11-3. The inverted pyramid style enables you to cover the most important information briefly at
