For O levels

1. Report Writing
By: Sy ed Hassan R aza
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2. Session objectives
At the end of these sessions, participants will have:
Acquired report writing skills
 Be able to differentiate between different types of
reports
 Be able to list the characteristics of a good report and
the steps to be followed to write a good report
 Appreciate the different report structures and agree
on a standard structure
 Consolidated their data interpretation skills

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3. Presentation Outline
 Introduction
 Definition
 Types
of Reports
 Steps to Follow for a Good and Effective
Report
 Structure of a Report
 Conclusion
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4. Introduction
 This
presentation is intended to equip you with
the basic skills of communicating information
to others without necessarily the need for
meetings.
 Effective
reports give a professional image and
get others to take your work seriously
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5. Definition
A report is a prepared account of what
happened, about a particular event,
presented in formal and organized format
backed with some evidence.
It may be a single report or a series of
them.
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6. Types of Reports
 Academic
Report:
Academic reports are usually detailed
and in most cases targeting
academicians. They are of high
content and the producer and the
reader are at the same level or a little
different.
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7. Types of Reports continued
Professional Report:
 Professional
reports are for informing and
persuading people as well as initiating change
 They may be detailed depending on the targeted
audience/taste of the sponsor.
 In most cases they have a mixed audience of those
who may understand the in-depth of the subject
content and non technical people like the
decision-makers.
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8. Good Report
The following comments have been made
by senior managers
about what they look for in a good report.
Assess the comments and evaluate them
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9. Good Report Continued
A
report must meet the needs of the
readers and answer the questions in their
minds
 A report must be at the right level for the
readers. Some readers have an in-depth
knowledge of the subject while others
may
be
decision-makers
without
specialized, technical knowledge
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10. Good Report Continued
A
report must have a clear, logical
structure-with clear signposting to show
where the ideas are leading
A
report must give a good
impression.
 Presentation is very important
first
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11. Good Report continued..
A
report must not make assumptions about the
readers’ understanding.
 All writers need to
apply the ‘so what’ test
 explain why something is a good idea

 Reports

must be written in good English
using short sentences with correct grammar and
spelling
 Reports
should have a time reference
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12. Steps to Follow for a Good and
Effective Report
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Define your aim
Collect your ideas
Select the material and decide how to
show the significance of your facts
Structure your ideas
Start on report writing
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13. General Structure of the Report
Title
Introduction
Main
Body
Conclusion and Recommendations
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14. Report Editing
A checklist to use while editing a report
looks at following areas.
1. The purpose
Have you clarified your purpose?
 Have you identified your readers' needs
characteristics?

and
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15. Report Editing continued
2. Information
Have
you included the main points?
Are these points supported by
evidence?
Is the information relevant to the
purpose?
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16. Report Editing continued
3. Accuracy
Are
there spelling mistakes?
Are the references correct, in the text
and at the end?
Are abbreviations consistent?
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17. Report Editing continued
4. Language
 Is it clear, direct, easy to read?
 Will the readers understand it?
 Will its tone help you achieve the purpose?
 Can unnecessary words/phrases be deleted?
 Is the grammar/punctuation correct?
 Is there any repetition?
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18. Newspaper Report
To begin with ‘Newspaper reports’
must have a Headline.
 Headlines are a kind of summary in note
form, leaving out unnecessary words.
Their aim is to attract reader interest in
the minimum amount of space and
indicate the attitude the report will adopt.
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19. Headlines tend to be:
 consist
of a maximum of six words
 contain sensational vocabulary (e.g crash,
tragic)
 use short words (usually no longer than two
syllables)
 use the shortest synonyms (e.g. weds for
marries)
 use the present tense for events in the recent
past
 leave out definite and indefinite articles (i.e.
‘the’ and ‘a’)
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20. Examination Tip: Popular newspapers like to
use the following devices in their headlines
Puns
– US Dollar for success
Assonance- Hit list twist
Alliteration – Fears of free fall
Quotations – For richer, for poorer
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21. Newspaper reports generally follow this
order.
 summary of recent event. The first few sentences
must answer the question Who? What? When?
Where? and How? About the event, followed by
Why?
 Proceeding paragraph should talk about the
background leading to the event
 The later part of the report must return to the
immediate situation
 The closing part should consist some response of
those involved in the event.
 The report concludes with looking ahead of near
future.
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22. Difference between other forms of reports with
that of newspaper report.
 They
follow no specific order, newspaper
reports follow a chronological order
given above
 Secondly newspaper reports do not
involve any emotional responses or
personal views of the reporter, or any
direct address to the reader. On the other
hand accounts may have personal
responses of the viewer.
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23.  Do
not confuse it with other reports.
 Use
passive voice and avoid the use of ‘I’
pronoun in newspaper report.
 Keep
the language simple because
remember the newspaper report is read by
everyone, it is not restricted to a specific
audience.
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