I was looking for a good reference for writing reports and essays and I found Jason Pang's Report Writing document to be a great resource: http://www.jasonpang.net/reference/word_report.pdf I've adapted Section 2 of his report into this PowerPoint (and added APA Paper Formatting guidelines at the end) to teach my Korean students how to "Write Beautiful Reports." Forgot to reference the final image in this PPT: http://www.pasadena.edu/hstutoringlab/apa/paperformat.cfm

1. REPORT
WRITING
TIPS
FROM JASON PANG
http://www.jasonpang.net/reference/word_report.pdf

2. SECTION 1

3. STRUCTURE IT
1. Make an Outline Then, fill in your
2. Introduction report according to
the outline.
3. Body
1. Body Point One
1. Chart One
2. Graph One
2. Body Point Two
1. Graph Two
3. Body Point Three
1. Chart Two
4. Conclusion

4. Remember
speil cheek
to and
pfofread
NOTHER MAKES YOU LOOK STUPDIR THAN

5. CONSIDER THIS
(GRAMMAR & SPELL CHECKER)
(Bad) (Better)
Ann, while Bob had Ann, while Bob
had “had,” had had answered “had,” had
“had had”. “Had had” answered “had had.”
had had a better The teacher liked
effect on the teacher. “had had” better as
an answer.
Their are two many
“had” words There are many
they’re, but no spelling mistakes
grammar mistakes. there!

6. Ask your
friend to to
proofread it
for you to.
YOU’LL BE SURPRISED WHAT YOU MISSED!

7. MONTHS
Like this: Not this:
8 October 2013 8/10/13
2013-1-13 13/1/13
AND KEEP YOUR FORMATTING CONSISTENT.

8. SAVE,
SAVE,
SAVE!

9. Print it and look over the print form – print is much different from digital.

10. SECTION 2

11. STYLE
Make top-headings large (28pt here)
2nd-level headings = at least 3pt smaller (24)
Body font reads better in a serif font while headings read
better in a sans-serif font. The contrast between headings in
sans-serif and body in serif makes the report look well
designed.

12. Image source: http://www.laurenelisecrafted.com/blog/2011/1/28/font-fridays-vol-iii.html

13. CONSISTENT FONTS
Sans-serif: Serif:
This is the Arial font Times New Roman
This is Helvetica Georgia
This is Tahoma Cambria
(I can see the difference. Can you? So, don’t copy-paste.)

14. Comic Sans Is
EVIL!
Never, ever, EVER use comic sans for a report.
(In fact, it should be un-invented altogether)

15. LINE-SPACING
Line-spacing at 1.5 is generally a good amount of spacing to
make a report very readable. You can see here that 1.5 is quite
comfortable to read.
In some cases, you could probably get away with a 1.3 line-
spacing setting. It’s still readable, though not as comfortable.
But many teachers prefer line-spacing of 2.0. Be sure to follow
the guidelines set forth by your teacher.

16. MARGINS
1 inch margins
please (2.54 cm)

17. PARAGRAPHS
You have the option to either indent your paragraphs
(typically 5 spaces) using the TAB key, or you need to include
one line of space between non-indented paragraphs.
See how awkward this is with no space here?
See how much better this is?
If you don’t indent, be sure to leave a line of space so we know
where each new paragraph starts.

18. CONSISTENT STYLE
Lists: Tables:
• This has a period. Also. Should.
• This doesn’t Stick with. One style.
• Choose one
• And stick with it
Stick to one convention, and don’t deviate.

19. DON’T TITLE THESE SECTIONS
“REPORT BODY”
“TABLE OF CONTENTS”

20. SECTION 2

21. APA PAPER FORMATTING
Font: Times New Roman
Size: 12pt
Line-spacing: Double
Margins: 1 inch (2.54 cm)
Indent: With TAB (5 spaces)
Right-Justify: OFF
Header: Top-right corner w/ page #
Title: Centered