Business Writing, Business Report writing, E-mails

[Paul Brown (MA CELTA)]

 Hey guys, 

 Welcome to the new 'Working English' Board. If you are a recent graduate or a professional working in the field of Business English, please post your questions here!!! 

 The team of 5steps teachers have all got a lot of expertise in the areas of Report Writing, Business Writing, and E-mails. Therefore, if you are working for an NGO or a professional company you can find the help you need here for free. 5steps intend to offer all learners of English help on the internet for free.

 All the qualified teaching professionals at 5steps are very pleased to offer this new board as a free service for you guys who have to deal with English everyday at work. More free resources are also coming soon, so keep loggin in and checking the forum for the new exciting developments coming later this year.

 So, if you have any questions or problem relating to your English at work, please post it here and we will try our best to make your English more effective for work! 

 Have fun at work guys! 

 Paul

[Mony Neath Chhay]

Dear Pul
I would like to ask you. What should i do if i want to writ the good report?
Do you have any classes learning English throw internet?
Sorry i am very poor of writting and grammer.
Thanks

[Kony]

Dear All,

Could you tell me how to write a report? I am waiting to seeing your reply. I really want to know about that.
Could anyone share some experiences?

Regards,

Kony

[Paul Brown (MA CELTA)]

 Hey Kony and Mony Neath Chhay,

 Here are the basic steps for a good report...we will have a lot more examples and help on this forum coming very soon....

REPORT WRITING ( A basic overview )

The structure of a report will normally consist of the following items as a minimum:

•   title
tells the reader directly and at first glance what it is that you are discussing.

•   authors

•   abstract
•   summary
•   table of contents
give the reader an overview of the report and a list of section headings

•   body of report
consists of the introduction and component sections.

INTRODUCTION
should state the main purpose of the report and show that you are aware of its terms of reference. It shoudl mentioin what the subject is, and what is its purpose and also show how the report is structured. It is important to say why you are writing the report.

Main BODY
Sections of the report should be organised under headings. This forces you to classify information and helps you to remain relevant

•   conclusion/recommendations
refers back to the overall purpose of the report, restates the main points made in the Body, forms conclusions, and possibly makes recommendations.

•   references
list the material referred to in your work.

Layout and presentation
Have clear title and section headings
Have accurate spelling and punctuation.
Editing and checking your text is very important.

Try to use Signpost words
• The report could start with "The aim of this report..." or "The aim of this project..."
•  In the first section, the stages could be introduced with "The first stage is...",
   "The second stage...", "This section deals with...".
• Clearly show that you are making a conclusion
• Introduce 'opinions' appropriately

Style
• Avoid repetition ( repeating yourself is boring for the reader and is bad style )
• Avoid a narrative style ( do not tell a story but report the facts and opinions objectively)
• Avoid vague language. ( try to be specific avoid using general terms if possible )

 5steps will have a lot more help for you guys with your Business English Writing. We will have more on Report writing guides and some very practical examples to help you write reports more effectively in English! Keep logging in to the site to keep informed,

 Hope that helps,

 Have fun, 

 Paul

[Daniel Davis (BS CELTA)]

Dear All,

Could you tell me how to write a report? I am waiting to seeing your reply. I really want to know about that.
Could anyone share some experiences?

Regards,

Kony

Hi Kony and Mony Neath Chhay,

In general, I agree with what Paul Brown posted. However, I need more specific information about what kind of report and the purpose of the report.

When I worked for Dupont and IBM, each company had very specific rules about the language and grammatical structures of language of intra (within) company reports, especially when the reports were technical.

Most large, multi-national corporations have what is called a "bible" which explains very clearly how to write a report.  While I cannot post the "bibles" for IBM or Dupont, I do have a "bible" for NASA, the National Aeronautic and Atmospheric Administration. This is the US governmental organization which is responsible for the US space program.  I can post parts of this "bible" if anyone is interested in an example of what this kind of "bible" looks like.

Please note, when I use the word bible, I don't mean the Christian Bible. Bible literally means any authoritative (rule)  book.  The "Holy Bible" is the rule book for Christians.

I'm using the word "bible" above to mean a book of rules.  This is how a rule book is often referred to in business.

Please post some more information and I'll be happy to give you a more complete answer.

Daniel

[Kony]

Dear All,

I see what you have posted. It is very interesting and greatful. I also understand what Mr. Paul posted, but I am not clear in some parts because I haven't seen the example of the report.

Mr. Daniel, according to your writing I found that you have experiences in writing a good report. I don't have any idea of writing this becaue I have never learnt about this and I just want to know and learn some from you and others who can share the experiences. It would be greatful and useful, if you could post parts of the bible.
For example, if I were a consultant of one project and at the end of the month, I need to write a report what I had done to my adviser or boss. How should I write? How many kinds of report do English have?

Thank you for once again Mr. Paul and Mr. Daniel that you shared your ideas and experiences for us.

Regards,

Kony

[Tdol]

If they don't give you a specific style guide, the bible Daniel referred to, then Paul's standard model should be fine.

[Daniel Davis (BS CELTA)]

Dear All,


...if I were a consultant of one project and at the end of the month, I need to write a report what I had done to my adviser or boss. How should I write?

Thank you for posting again.

Here is what I would do.

1) Ask your boss if the organization as a "bible" (style guide).

2) If #1 answer is no, look at a report written at the organization for a similar reason and follow the layout of that report.

3) Ask someone who has written reports for the organization if he/she has a Microsoft Word template (a template is document which has already been formatted, but with no information) to use for your report.

4) If you cannot do #2 and #3, open Microsoft Word, go to the Task Pane (CTRL+F1) and on the pull-down menu of the task pane, select "New Document". Then select under the "Templates" header, "On my computer". A smaller window will open. Look for the "Report" tab on the right hand side. There are three standard report templates. Choose the one you believe would be most appropriate for your report.  Follow the instructions on the template.

5) Having said all of this, using Paul Brown's layout would be fine, especially if you work for a small organization.

Good luck, and please post again.

Daniel

[Daniel Davis (BS CELTA)]

Books are written describing effective writing strategies for reports. When I was in school, my teacher gave me very good advice for writing any professional document. These suggestions are from a famous writer named George Orwell (I have paraphrased number 6 to make it more easily understood).


They are called "The Six Elementary Rules of Writing".


1) Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

2) Never use a long word where a short one will do.

3) If it is possible to cut out a word, always cut it out.

4) Never use the passive where you can use the active.

5) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

6) Only ignore the above rules if you have a very good reason for doing so.

(George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language", 1946)

I hope these suggestions help you in the future.

Daniel

[Kony]

Dear All,

Thank you very much for your help. I will keep this for reference.
I maybe have more questions to ask you about this topic because I am really interesting in this and want to learn it.
I will try to find more hand out and share with all of you. I am appreciated with what you have advised.

Regards,

Kony