Report writing tips

These tips come from the specialists who run our Report Writing workshop.

Order information based on the reader's questions

Forget about how you learned to order information in academic reports. Imagine the question the reader will most want the report to answer, and put that information first. Then think about the next likely question the reader will have. Put that second. You will probably find you put your recommendations right near the front of your report.

Include information the reader wants to know

Include only the information you think the reader will find interesting. All the history that led up to the report may be fascinating to you, but old news to the reader. So you might decide to put the Background section in the appendix, or delete it altogether.

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Use statement headings

The best headings for reports are informative, descriptive headings. We recommend you use statement headings (like a newspaper headline, or a sentence without a full stop). Statement headings are more helpful to the reader than label headings, such as ‘Introduction’ or ‘Background’.

Write executive summaries from scratch

Never make an executive summary by cutting and pasting from your report. Repeated sentences make an author look careless. Reword your main points, creating an executive summary that does not contain phrases from the body of the report.

Use ‘I’ or ‘we’ in your report

Many of us learned not to use ‘I’ or ‘we’ when writing reports. However, not using ‘I’ or ‘we’ creates a distancing tone and seems old fashioned. Filling your reports with ‘I’ or ‘we’ creates a more dynamic, open tone.

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