Transcript Group 4 – A style guide to good report writing

ROYAL UNIVERSITY OF PHNOM PENH
INSTITUTE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
English Department
Report Writing 401
A STYLE GUIDE TO
GOOD REPORT WRITING
CLASS E 4.9
LECTURER: OR VITOU
GROUP MEMBERS 4: CHAN RACHNA, ING RAMY, MEAS SA IM, CHEA VISITHYRO,
HENG SOPHEAKTRA, LEAK LYDO, YANN VANDA
Contents
 Introduction
 Body Report
• Report Style
• Achieving a Good Style
• Choosing Your Words Carefully
• Principles for Effective Report Writing
 Summary
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Introduction
 Highly subjective
 Mentally demanding process of effective
written communication
 Considers that elusive concept known as
Style
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Introduction
 Style is :
• Most confuse area of report writing
• Very easy to Criticize a writer’s style as
“poor” or “inappropriate”
• How is not so easy to specify the stylistic
improvements
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Introduction
 A Style Guide to good report writing :
• Report Style
• Achieving a good style
• Choosing your words carefully
• Principles for effectives report writing
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Report Style
To be completely successful, Report which make
recommendations must ensure that the reader will be :
• Read it without unnecessary delay
• Understand everything in it without undue effort
• Accept the facts, findings, conclusions and recommendations
• Decide to take the action recommended
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Report Style
 To get achieving that relevant facts accurately and do
the communicating in a way to the reader can be :
• Acceptable
• Intelligible
How this can be achieved :
For example on appendix 1 Sample reports on page 181
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Report Style
* Good style of the report : the best way to get your
• Message across each time you write
• Message is conveyed accurately and quickly
• Message is easy to read and understand
 It is the good manners.
- The writing should be easy to read.
- The word should be appropriate.
- The sentence and paragraph should be
constructed.
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Report Style
The most important good styles
•

•

A good literary style
The literary style
A good academic writing style
The style using by the students for their
degree
• A good style in business writing
Report Style
* Good Style
• Your constant aim, should be to make the
readers’ task easier.
- The message should be conveyed
accurately and quickly to the reader.
- What the readers understand when they
read the report is what the writer
intended them to understand.
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Report Style
* Good Style in business communication:
• Clarity
• Conciseness
• Directness
• The factors that most affect readability are:
-
an attractive appearance
non-technical subject matter
a clear and direct style
short sentences short and familiar word
• A bad style may make the reader get the wrong
meaning, or perhaps no meaning at all.
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Achieving a Good Style
• Selectivity
• Accuracy
• Objectivity
• Conciseness
• Clarity and consistency
• Simplicity
• Keeping technical writing simple
• Benefits of simplicity
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Choosing Your Words
Carefully
• Prefer plain words
 The ready availability of computer-based tutorials
associated with applications software has become prevalent
since the development of Microsoft Windows.
 Computer-based tutorials associated with applications
software have become readily available since the development
of Microsoft Windows.
• Avoid pointless words
Basically, actually, undoubtedly, each and every one, during the
course of our investigation
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Choosing Your Words
Carefully
• Avoid overwriting and padding
 Accounts Receivable is not concerned with the follow-up of
any of the items with exception of delinquent accounts.
 Accounts Receivable follows up delinquent accounts only.
• Avoid redundant words
 Past history suggests that our futures prospects are bright
 History suggests that our prospects are bright
• Prefer the positive
 We do not believe the backup files are adequate.
 We believe the backup files are inadequate.
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Choosing Your Words
Carefully
• Avoid the careless positioning or words
 The head teacher was urged to take a strong line on
absenteeism by the board of governors.
 The board of governors urged the head teacher to take a
strong line on absenteeism.
• Try to avoid qualifying introductions
 While repayment of these amounts is provided for, the ten
percent interest is not included.
 Repayment of these amounts is provided for, but the ten per
cent interest is not included.
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Choosing Your Words
Carefully
• Place emphasis at the end of the sentence
 With a little clarification, the subcontractor would have
solved the difficulties occasioned by the specification changes
more readily.
 With a little clarification, the subcontractor would more
readily have solved the difficulties occasioned by the
specification changes.
• Prefer English to foreign words and phrases
Avoid foreign-language term like inter alia, per se, sine die
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Choosing Your Words
Carefully
• Avoid sexist language
 Policeman, fireman, businessman
 Police officer, fire fighter, businessperson
• Use warm words
 Quick, time-saving and efficient
 Aroma, fresh and tasty
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Principles for Effective Report
Writing
• The importance of reports
• Drafting the report
 Keep working on draft
 Well prepared for writing time
 Know what you intend to achieve
 Be flexible
 Do not sit still at your desk
 Keep continuing
 Read a passage aloud to yourself
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Principles for Effective Report
Writing
• The need for explanation
 Keep saying what you have been asked to do, who asked you
and when, how where and when you did it, with whose help.
 Consolidate highly factual reference into related point.
 Always make it clear what you have accepted.
 Explain the present with the past
 Be specific
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Principles for Effective Report
Writing
• Differentiate between important facts and details
• Avoiding too many figures
 Restrict figures to those which are meaningful.
 Make sure they are consistently produced and interpreted
• Layout – be consistent
 Do not change name or descriptions
 Write dates the same way throughout
 Larger numbers look better in figures, one to ten look better
in words
 Layout of headings, pages and paragraphs should not changes
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Summary
 Aim should be to write reports which are:
• Read without unnecessary delay
• Understood with undue effort
• Accepted and, where appropriate, acted upon
 The Factors that most affect readability are :
• An attractive appearance
• Non-technical subject matter
• A clear and direct style
• Short sentences
• Short and familiar word
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Summary
Achieving a Good Style:
Selective, accurate, objective, concise, clear, consistent and
simple
A report is an important document
• Draft it in short, concentrated bursts.
• Pay particular attention to the need for explanation
• Differentiate between important facts and details
• Avoid too many figures
• Be consistent throughout
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Thank you very much for your
attention
Qs & As
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