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How to Write a Report? Report writing is often confused with essay writing, whereas there are considerable differences between these two. The confusion primarily arises from the lack of knowledge. This is why one must study the different stages of report writing. Reports can be of diverse genres. They can range from academic, business-oriented, technical, or even feature-based. The type of the report will govern the style as well. Obviously, every report will be filled with various facts on different situations, projects, and proceeds. The report will help you to analyze the facts at hand. Lastly, they also help you relay observations on a specific group of audience in a clear and concise manner. Hence, you can very well understand why the proper structure of a report should be followed. Otherwise, all these objectives cannot be achieved and there could be unavoidable problems. But before we look at the report format, let’s familiarize ourselves with the different types of reports. So without any further ado, let’s get started and see how to write a report. Different Types of Reports Writing The basics of different kinds of reports may be absolutely the same; however, there can be some differences between the different types. So, let’s familiarize ourselves with the different types. Academic Writing When it comes to academic report writing, you must keep in mind that the tone needs to be absolutely formal. It’s always advisable to make it free from any contractions, and you must never use profanity. Also, you might try and write in the third person, thus eliminating the pronouns like "I" and "we." Business Writing For business writing as well, you should focus on using nothing but a formal tone. But here, you can relax a bit. You need to understand the goal of the report here. The main goal here is to present some new ideas which will help you get things done efficiently. You can go for contradictions here, but you should also add sufficient imagery and data. Technical Writing Just like the name suggests, a technical report will help with ample data so that you can focus on how to carry out something. When you are dealing with an academic or business report, you are actually trying to prove something, but when it comes to a technical report, the description part will be longer compared to the other two. Now, a technical report can be different between students or professionals. The number of facts and statistics may differ sometimes. But at the end of the day, the technical report will have a step-by-step approach. Making the Outline of the Report To write a successful report, you must have a clear outline before you. This will help you execute it better. So what is the first thing you need to do? For whom are you writing the report? This is the first question you should ask. Once you identify the audience, you can easily structure the report accordingly. Make sure you write the report based on the likes and dislikes of your audience. You can also ask yourself a number of questions to understand the actual goal of the report. This will bring much more clarity to your work. Some of the most essential questions that must be included in the report are: Who are the actual readers?What is the exact purpose of the report?Why does the report need to be written?What are the most important pieces of information added in the report? These are nothing but the basics of your report writing, but they are very important. You can start this process by collecting all the valuable information and other supporting arguments about the topic and make sure to evaluate the information as well. Then once the information is gathered and verified, you can go for the outline. When you have a proper outline, it makes it easier to execute that. What Are the Elements of Report Writing? Once you have the basic idea in place about report writing, it’s time for you to go for report writing. In that case, the first step is to understand the different elements of writing a report. Please be informed that for every report you write, you must begin with a title page and a table of contents, after which you can include the main sections. These are executive summary, introduction, discussion, and conclusion, respectively. Executive Summary This is quite similar to the summary writing exercise you have done in your school days. The concept is exactly the same. If you can remember, the teacher used to ask you to read a story or passage, and after that, you needed to write the summary based on the important points. You need to do exactly the same with the executive summary part. This is the section that briefly presents the report’s whole content. All the key points of the report will be there. But why is it so important to include this? This summary makes everyone understands the key points, evidence, and purpose of the report. Also, if someone is in a hurry, they can read all the crucial points. Some of the points that you must include in the summary are: Never forget to write the purpose of the report and emphasize the conclusion as well.Always remember to only include nothing but the most valuable points in the summary. This will support the theory and conclusion.Make sure the sequence of the information is exactly the same.The summary should not be more than 10-15% of the whole report.It is advisable not to use any new point in the summary that is not covered in the report.The summary must carry out the message clearly. Introduction This part should include: Here, you should briefly discuss the background and the context of your research.You can also describe the change, the issues, and the problems relevant to the topic.Make sure to include all the relevant objectives of the topic.You can also add some hints about the answers and the conclusions.Comment or discussion the limitations of the topic, if there are any. Discussion It has a two-fold purpose: First, it can justify the recommendations.Secondly, it can explain the conclusion as well. But when you are writing these, make sure to include: A logical analysis.You can also divide the information and come up with better heading to improve the readability.Here you will explain your points and all the claims you have made backed by evidence.Try to connect the hypothesis with real-life scenarios. Conclusion This is the last part of the report where you will present the conclusion: Write the primary conclusion first.Explain the major problems first and mention all the points related to your case.Mention all the objectives you have mentioned in the introduction and try to relate to them.Try to write it briefly and keep it specific. What’s the Importance of Report Writing? Just learning how to write a report is not enough. You need to know why it is so important. Here are a few reasons for you to consider: Reports can be used as a decision-making tool. The kind of data and information you will have on particular topics, scenarios, and situations can often be used to make decisions. They can be the source to reach the solution.The amount of evaluation information you will get with the report can benefit you a lot.A huge company or organization may have a number of departments and several workers. Now, it is impossible to monitor all of them and see what is what. But this is where reports can come to your aid. If every department can write and maintain periodic reports, one can easily keep a tab on all the ongoing activities.In case of professional improvements also, reports can help you. At the time of appraisal, you can write a report and explain your level of work and performance to your manager. This way, you can present all the facts in front of your manager and claim what is rightfully yours.Reports can serve as a quick source of problem-solving. Your manager might often demand reports to take quick decisions on various topics. This is where your reports can save the day for you over and over again. Now, what can be a better way to leave an impression! Summary So, there you have it, all the important aspects of report writing and how to go about it. I believe after reading out all the importance of report writing, you can now decide to invest an adequate amount of time in mastering this new skill. You just have to work on many assignments, improve your skills, and become a pro at report writing. The best part, the more you will write, the better you will become at it, and it will serve as a very important skill in your professional life. You can check our few interesting essays for further study, Essay on global warmingEssay on educationEssay on friendshipEssay on leadership