Technical Report Writing

Course Code: Enla2032

 Technical Report Writing Basics

• Before we begin to practice technical writing, we must

understand several basic concepts, including the terms
communication, medium, document and generate.

• Communication is the act of transmitting an idea from one

person to another and vice versa. Communication always
requires at least two people, the sender of the message & its
receiver. The sender refers to the writer; receiver refers to the
reader or audience.
• A medium, literally “a thing in the middle,” is the means by
which the sender conveys his/her ideas to the receiver.
 Contd..
• The sender records or “encodes” his /her message in the medium &
then transmits it to the receiver. Then the receiver completes the
transmission by interacting with the medium to understand or
“decode” the message.

• Document is the generic term for a written object. Other terms, such
as essay, papers, & work, do not clearly reflect the many types of
technical writing.

• To generate means to perform all the activities that result in a final

document. These activities often include choosing or creating visual
aids & designing pages for visual effect, so ‘write’ is not always an
accurate term.
• A piece of technical writing comes into being
only if there is an occasion for it. The occasion
includes the message to be transmitted, the
receiver of the message, and the purpose of
the transmission. Technical and other
occupational writing is usually generated by a
specific piece of information that has to be
transmitted. Technical reports:
1. accurately and objectively composes and presents
information on an
object, idea, process, or event (the "communication
objective")
2. promotes or "sells" an idea, product or service through
rational/logical presentation (the "marketing objective")
3. clarifies issues that may have remained obscure before
the report was produced (the "educational objective")
4. put forward ideas in a conventional, usable or acceptable
form (the "social objective")
5. recommend a specific course of action, or non-action (the
"judicial objective)
 Similarity of technical writing with other type
of writing

Writing process: brainstorming/prewriting,

drafting, revision and edition are expected in TRW
though they may vary slightly.
 Strong language skills: grammar, punctuation,
spelling, sentence structure, and word choice are
still necessary.
 Research: if you don’t already completely
understand your audience, topic and purpose, you
must thoroughly research.
 How TRW is different

• The audience: highly specific. Usually professionals in a

field with specific role. Often only accessible to those
intended.
• Presentation: simple and clear organization. Favours
visual accessibility and clarity over flow and transitions.
Visuals: visuals, unlike many other styles or genres, are
highly encouraged in TRW. Pictures, drawings, and other
graphics can help readers get an image in their mind and
ultimately better understand the directions or concepts
being explained
 …
Information: in TW all information must be 100%
objective, factual, true, unambiguous, up-to-date, and
accurate without a shadow of doubt. Emotion or
opinion is discouraged.
Language: in TW we may use highly specialized
language (Jargon) (if audience appropriate) from the
field because Jargon keeps the language precise for
readers in that particular job or career, they hear the
words every day
Tone: formal, specific, precise, clear, straightforward.
avoid opinion and originality. No colloquialisms
(idioms) and slang
 Operational Definitions of Technical Report writing

• Technical writing is defined as the act of

practical writing that people do as part of their
jobs. It is the written communication
characteristics of business, law, IT, etc., that
emphasizes audience selection, language
(precise, economical, unemotional), certain
organizational format, & technical
vocabulary.
 Purposes of technical writing
• The first rule of technical writing is to remember never to
start writing until you have answered these questions:
What is the purpose of my report?
• Do I want to be purely informative, instructive, or
convincingly persuasive?
• The overall purpose of technical writing is to communicate
skills, information, and experience
• Technical writing has three basic purposes:
 to inform,
 to instruct or
 to persuade.
 Cont…
• To carry out their functions in the work place, people must supply or receive information
constantly. Informative writing is much common and simpler writing. To write
informatively, you need to present facts in a logical sequence.
• inform, instruct, describe, advise, define , announce, review, explain, notify,
demonstrate

• The other purpose of technical writing is also to instruct. Writers give readers directions
for using equipment and for performing duties. Someone must tell consumers how to use
their new purchase, whether it is a TV set or a computer.
•
• Finally, technical writing persuades. Writers present readers with a cogent reason to
follow a particular course of action. On the job, people must persuade others to do certain
things. One writer, for example, persuades readers to purchase Lap top, not Desk top.
• persuade , advocate, convince, urge, influence, defend, recommend, justify, change,
support
• Although any technical writing sometimes has only one of these purposes, it often serves
two or even all the three at the same time.
 Audience
• Audiences can be experts, technicians, managers, or general
readers. Each audience will have different needs and expectations.
• Different audiences have different defining characteristics that you
need to identify:
• Education
• Professional experience
• Job responsibilities
• Relationship to your project
• Attitudes toward you and your subject
• Their personal characteristics, such as age, gender, nationality,
culture, values and beliefs
 Cont..
• Audience and purpose determine the content, form,
tone and style of every technical document; therefore it
is important to understand them first. You will have
different audiences
• Primary audiences
• Need your information
• Make decisions based on your information
• Secondary audiences
• Have less direct connection to your document
• Examples include sales, marketing, legal audiences
 Features of Technical writing
• Technical writing has the following general
features. It engages a
specific audience,
uses plain & objective language,
 stresses presentation, and
 employs visual aids.
 Cont…
Presentational Organizations
• Technical writing is presentational. Presentational
writing employs devices that enable readers to
assimilate information at a glance.
• Good technical writers make the structure of the
document obvious and make the format of the
document easy to scan.
• To make the structure of the document obvious,
technical writers follow the old rule, “Tell them what
you’re going to say; then say it.”
 Contd..
• At the beginning of the document, writers often do the following:
• Name the topic and list its subdivisions
• Use obvious repetitions(repeat key words) – to make the
document easy to scan
• Emphasize transitions-to clearly indicate the start of a new
sections
• Chunk information by presenting it short, visual distinct
units
• Use number
• red vertical lists
• Use marginal indentations
 Contd..
Visual Aids
• Technical writers use visual aids such as graphs,
tables, and drawings for the following four major
purposes:
• To summarize data
• To give readers an opportunity to explore
• To provide a different entry point to the discussion
• To engage reader expectations-to cause readers to
develop questions about the topic
Characteristics of Technical Writing
• Technical writing has got six specific characteristics Technical
writing which a writer may use as criteria to check the
effectiveness of the report. These are:
• 1. clarity: In technical writing clarity subsumes three things: (a)
choosing the right word; (b) preferring simple words or
combinations to complex ones; and (c) avoiding technical jargon,
except when essential. A method of development and an outline
that puts your thoughts into a logical, meaningful sequence brings
coherence as well as unity to your writing. Who is the audience?
What do you plan to do? When should the job be completed?
• Where will the work take place? Why is the task being undertaken
(rationale, motivation, goal)?
 Cont..
• 2. Comprehensiveness: a technical report must be self
explanatory. All the necessary information should be
incorporated to help the audience understand the
purpose.
• 3. Accuracy: information in a technical report must be
exact and up-to-date. In technical writing, errors posit
the company and the employee as bad. What is more is,
errors can lead to damages, injuries, lawsuits, or just
embarrassment and misunderstandings.
• 4. Conciseness: A report must be just to the point;
without extra parts.
 Cont..
• 5. Accessibility: It means the ease with which readers can locate
the information they seek.
• To increase accessibility, include headings and lists in the report.
A table of contents, list of illustrations glossary and index are
preferred to maintain accessibility of technical documents.
• 6. Correctness: a report must be free from grammatical errors,
punctuation mistakes, and it should have appropriate standard
format. If a report contains grammatical errors, the reader will
doubt the accuracy of the information in the report. Technical
writing is meant to convey information and to persuade the
audience. To accomplish these goals it must be clear accurate,
easy to access and must be economical and correct.
 Unit 2: Steps in Writing Technical Reports
• The writing process
• The goal of the writing process is to generate a clear, effective
document for an audience. Writers can achieve this goal by performing
•
three types of activities.
 Prewriting: planning
 Writing: drafting
 Post writing: finishing
• Planning is discovering and collecting all the relevant information
about the communication situation and deciding what steps to follow
in creating the document.
• Drafting is selecting and arranging all the elements in the document.
• Finally, finishing is editing the document into final form.
 Cont…
• Although they may be described differently,
there are five steps in technical report writing.
These are:
 Preparation
 Research
 Organization
 Writing
 Revision
 Cont..
• Preparation: In preparation for writing, your goal is to
accomplish the following four major tasks:
1. establishing your primary purpose: what is the major
purpose for writing a given report?
2. assessing your audience (readers) and the context; Do you
have multiple readers? Who needs to see or to use the
document? What are your readers’ needs in relation to your
subject? What are their attitudes about the subject?
(Skeptical? Supportive? Anxious? Bored?) What do your
readers already know about the subject? Should you define
basic terminology, or will such definitions merely bore, or
even impede, your readers?
 Cont..
• 3. Determining the scope of your coverage:
Determining your purpose and assessing your
readers and context will help you decide what
to include and what not to include in your
writing.
• 4. Selecting the appropriate medium. The
most important considerations in selecting the
appropriate medium are the audience and the
purpose of the communication.
 Research
• Researching a topic in order to generate a document is an
essential part of a professional life.
• The purpose of research is to find out about a particular
subject that has significance for a given writing purpose.
• Conducting Primary Research
• Primary research has various forms.
• Typical sources of factual information for reports include:
– interviews
– observation
– experimentation
– surveys, questionnaires, and inventories
 Cont..
• Conducting Secondary Research
• As with all writing projects, you must plan carefully. In order to do so, you must develop a
search strategy, review reference material, and record your findings.

To follow search guidelines that will help you to find relevant information quickly:

• Consider the date of publication of the information. For instance, if your topic demands
information less than a year old, consult periodicals, government documents, annual reviews,
and full-text data bases.
• If your topic requires established standard information, consult bibliography, annual reviews,
yearbooks, etc….
• Consider the technical level of the information, i.e. if you need information at a high technical
level, etc
• Watch for key documents which you find repeatedly cited in articles, books, or technical
reports.
• Find key terms. Key terms are the specific words or phrases that all writers in a particular field
use to discuss a topic.
 Organization
• Organization is the method by which you arrange the information
in your document. You have many options for how you organize
your information. The following are some of the more popular
organizational structures:
• Determining methods of development
• Problem-solution allows you to explain a problem and then provide
potential solutions. This type of organization would be great in a
document presenting ideas of how to improve an area of a
company.
• Chronological organization allows you to write down steps to be
taken based on what should occur first, second, third, and so on. If
you are developing a user manual for a cell phone, chronological
order may be your best organizational option.
 Cont..
• Comparison and contrast lets you explain how two items are
similar and then how they are different. This organizational
structure is perfect for explaining how an updated product has
changed from the original.
• Top-down: Finally, a common type of organization structure for
technical documents is the top-down approach. In this
structure, you provide an overview of what you will say at the
beginning of your document, then give the detailed information
in paragraphs and bullet points. The top-down approach would
be great for providing research on a new type of medicine.
• The type of organization you choose for your communication
will vary based on your purpose and audience.
 Outlining
• An outline is a plan for or a summary of a writing project or speech.
Outlines are usually in the form of a list divided into headings and
subheadings that distinguish main points from supporting points.
• An outline is a map of a document’s main ideas and supporting
points. It’s not, however, a prose piece a full sentences. It is a full of
concise phrases, organized in the same sequence as the document.

• In technical writing, outlines can serve many purposes. To help the

writer organize ideas and evidence, and the other to communicate a
plan of development clearly to the person who has the authority to
move your project forward. Therefore, the various parts of an
outline should make sense to writer and communicate the writer’s
ideas clearly to the audience.
 Cont…
• Writers use outlines in two ways.
• As reading aids
• As prewriting devices
•
Types of Outlines
• There are two types of outlines.
• Traditional
• Nucleus
• In traditional outlines, each phrase is on a line of its own. Numbers and letters show the sequence in which
the ideas unfold &, along with indentations, show which ideas are equal & which are subordinate to others.
• I.
• A.
• 1.
• 2.
• a.
• b.
• The nucleus outline uses clusters to group similar ideas. You can use this type of outline, which you can draw
with or without circles, as a reading aid, clustering on your paper ideas that are separated in the original
pages. You can also use it as a prewriting device to group related thoughts
 Cont..
Planning and Writing an Outline
• To plan and outline you must draft, just as you do for any document. The
basic method is to:
• brainstorm,
• cluster, and
• evaluate.
• To brainstorm a topic is simply to jot down everything you know about it.
The list will not be in any special order or contain logically grouped
sequences, but that doesn’t matter. The key is to get your ideas on paper.
After you brainstorm, you cluster your ideas.
• To cluster means indicate which ideas go together. After you cluster, you
make a new draft that juxtaposes all the similar items. Then you evaluate
your draft to decide whether you have enough useful ideas or need to
provide more
 Writing
• When you have established your purpose,
your readers’ needs, and your scope and have
completed your research and your outline,
you will be well prepared to write a first draft.
Expand your outline into paragraphs, without
worrying about grammar, refinements of
language usage, or punctuation. Writing and
revising are different activities; refinements
come with revision.
 Revision
• The clearer finished writing seems to the reader, the
more effort the writer has likely put into its revision.
If you have followed the steps of the writing process
to this point, you will have a rough draft that needs
to be revised. Revising, however, requires a different
frame of mind than does writing the draft. During
revision, be eager to find and correct faults and be
honest. Be hard on yourself for the benefit of your
readers. Read and evaluate the draft as if you were
a reader seeing it for the first time.
 Unit three: Common Types of Technical
Reports
• Memorandum
• Memos are used within organizations to communicate everything from routine details to
complete proposals and reports. Memos are often only a few short paragraphs, but they
can be much longer, depending on their purpose. Here are some typical uses of memos:
• to inform others about new or changed policy, procedures, organizational details
• to announce meetings, events, changes
• To report problems;
• to present decisions, directives, proposals, briefings
• to transmit documents (internal)

• Memo Format
• Memo format consists of specific lines placed at the top of a page.

• To, From, Subject, and Date lines. Usually such a report is brief—from one or two
sentences to one or two pages.
 Cont…
• Memo Format
• Company and/or department name (without address)
Heading
• To (who gets it)
• From (who sent it)
• Subject (what it’s about)
• Date (when it was sent)
Body (conveys message)
• Introduction
• Main points
Close
 Cont…
• Memo Style
• Concise: Make your sentences, paragraph, and overall memo as
brief and as focused as possible.
• Clear: Get your purpose straight before you start, then plan
what you want to say and in what order. Use your memo layout
to help your reader (headings, bulleted lists, white space, as
appropriate).
• Direct: Speak directly to your reader, as you would in person or
on the phone. Do not pad your ideas with unnecessary details.
Think of what questions your reader wants answered, and then
answer them.
• Clean: Reread, revise, copyedit, and proofread.
 Types of Memos
• Memos are further sub-categorized into positive, negative,
and sales memos depending on their purposes.
1. Positive memo
• Reply to questions about product or service request
• acknowledging an order received
• responding favorably to complaint
•
• use the ABC format for positive memos.
• Abstract bridges the current memo with the previous one.
There must be clear statement of good news that you want
to report.
 Cont..
• Body
– Supporting details for the main point.
– Clarification of any question readers may have
– Qualification if any of the good news
• Conclusion
• Statement of eagerness to continue
relationship.
• Clear statement if any of what step should
come next
 Cont..
Follow these guidelines to set up a memo.

• Fill in the blanks in the preprinted form, if any.

• Place the To, From, and Subject lines at the left-hand margin.
• Place the Date either to the right, without a head, or at the top of the
list with the head.
• Follow each item with a colon and the appropriate information.
• Name the contents or main point in the subject line.
• Place the name of those people who are to receive copies below the
name of the main recipient.
• Sign to the right of your typed name.
• Choose a method of capitalization and placement of colons.
 Negative memo
• Negative memos carry messages which show some sort
of inconvenience. Situations which necessitate negative
memo include:
 Explaining delay in project or delivery of service
 Refusing invitation or request for something
 News about poor performance
 Refusing demands (credit, permission…)
• Follow the ABC format. At the beginning you should
buffer the bad news. Indicate that despite the bad
news, we should keep the readers’ goodwill.
 Cont..
• Abstract
• The abstract should be a bridge between your memo and previous
communication. This is a kind of general statement of purpose or
appreciation in effort to find common bond or area of agreement.
• Body
• In the body there should be emphasis on what can be done when
possible.
• Buffered but clear statement of what cannot be done with reasons.
• Facts that support your view must be given.
• Conclusion
• Closing remarks that express interest in the continued association.
• Statement if any of what will happen next.
 Cont..
• Negative memos should bear the following:
 Buffer (Begin with neutral or positive statements
that set a goodwill tone and serve as a buffer for the
information to come. A buffer softens the blow of
bad news.)
 Justification (explains the background or context for
the bad news before delivering the bad news itself)
 Bad news + redirection
 Positive action closing
 Formal Reports
• Formal reports often present the results of
long-term projects or those that involve
multiple participants. Such projects may be
done either for your own organization or as a
contractual requirement for another
organization. Formal reports generally follow
a precise format and include the following
elements.
 Cont..
Front Title page The title page should include the title of the
Matter report.
Elements Abstract A summary of the whole report including
important features, results and
conclusions.
Table of Contents Numbers and lists all section and
subsection headings with page numbers.

List of Figures All visuals contained in the report -

drawings, photographs, maps, charts, and
graphs are labeled as figures. When a
report contains more than five figures, list
them, along with their page numbers, in a
separate section, beginning on a new page
immediately following the table of
contents. Number figures consecutively
with Arabic numbers.

List of Tables When a report contains more than five

tables, list them, along with their titles and
page numbers, in a separate section
immediately following the list of figures (if
there is one). Number tables consecutively
with Arabic numbers.
 Cont..
Main Executive summary An executive summary consolidates the
Body principal points of a report .Executive
Elements summaries differ from abstracts in that
readers scan abstracts to decide whether
to read the work in full. It should restate
the document’s purpose, scope, methods,
findings, conclusions, and
recommendations, as well as summarize
how results were obtained or the reasons
for the recommendations.
Introduction States the objectives of the report and
comments on the way the topic of the
report is to be treated. Leads straight into
the report itself. Must not be a copy of the
introduction in a lab hand-out.
Body Divided into numbered and headed
sections. These sections separate the
different main ideas in a logical order
Conclusion A short, logical summing up of the theme(s)
developed in the main text
 Cont…

Back References/ Bibliography Details of published sources of

Matter
elements material referred to or quoted in
the text (including any lecture
notes and URL addresses of any
websites used./ Other published
sources of material, including
websites, not referred to in the
text but useful for background
or further reading
Appendices (if appropriate) Any further material which is
essential for full understanding
of your report (e.g. large scale
diagrams, computer code, raw
data, specifications) but not
required by a casual reader
 Informal reports
• These are usually short, easy to read like letters
and memos.
• -They have more substance than letters and
memos.
• -They can be in house or external.
• -Their purpose can be informative (to clarify or
explain) or persuasive to convince or to
influence.
• -They are usually 2-5 pages.
 Contd…
• When to use informal reports?
• -to describe the short time progress
• -recommendation for purchasing new equipment.
• -personal problem.
• -report after training sessions (about the training)
• -need for testing new equipment.
• -training recommendation.
 Contd…
• There is no universal report classification
procedures to be adopted. However, the
following factors could be employed in the
classification of reports.
• Contents/functions of reports
• Formality of reports
• Intervals of transmission of reports
• Directions that reports travel
 Cont..
• a) Contents/functions of reports: Based on their
functions reports can be classified as informational
reports and analytical Reports
i. Informational Reports
• focuses on facts.
• the main goal is to present information clearly.
• the reader is left to draw his/her own conclusions-the
writer omits any comments or recommendation
• Examples of this kinds reports are progress reports,
annual reports, site visit reports
 Cont..
• ii. Analytical Reports
• contains facts; but it includes analysis/interpretation
of the facts
• includes the writer’s conclusions and
recommendations
• attempts to solve problems by identifying problems,
gathering data, analyzing facts and providing
recommendations
• Examples of this kinds reports are research
reports, evaluation reports & feasibility reports.
 Cont..
• b) Formality of Reports: related to the type of
relationship between the writer and the reader.
• i. Long Report (formal)
• long and traditional in style
• carefully structured and contains detailed
information
• prepared for circulation outside the organization
• Research reports, evaluation reports, & other
analytical reports are examples of this kind reports.
 Cont…
• ii. Short Report (informal)
• tends to be short.
• designed for circulation within an organization
or for a named reader includes only the
essential sections of the report
 Cont..
• c) Intervals of transmission of reports: It is concerned with
the frequency in which reports are prepared.
• i. Periodic Report
• It discusses what has taken place over a given period of
time such as daily, weekly, monthly, or annually, or upon
completion of a recurring action.
• It also summarizes the general events that took place over
a period of time. It contains:
• the period of time covered
• the subject dealt with
• the pertinent date concerning the subject.
 Cont..
• ii. Progress Reports: These types of reports give
information about the status of a project currently
underway helps to indicate the progress of a project so
that timely decisions can be made accordingly. Reports of
this types have three main parts:
• The first part which indicates previous work.
• The second part which indicates the current or in progress
work.
• The third part which shows future plans.
• Notice: You usually write a progress report when there is
something under construction, but yet completed.
 Cont…
• d) Directions that reports travel: Such reports
are based on their destinations.
• i. Internal Reports – it moves up-ward or
down-ward within a certain organization.
• ii. External Reports – it moves out of the
boundaries of a certain organizations.
 Progress Report
• A progress report provides information to decision-makers
about the status of a project —whether it is on schedule
and within budget. Progress reports are often submitted by
a contracting company to a client company.
• They are used mainly for projects that involve many steps
over a period of time and are issued at regular intervals to
describe what has been done and what remains to be
done. Progress reports help projects run smoothly by
helping managers assign work, adjust schedules, allocate
budgets, and order supplies and equipment.
 Contd..
• The introduction to the first progress report
should identify the project, methods used,
necessary materials, expenditures, and
completion date. Subsequent reports
summarize the progress achieved since the
preceding report and list the steps that remain
to be taken.
 Contd..
• The body of the progress report should
describe the project’s status, including details
such as schedules and costs, a statement of
the work completed, and an estimate of
future progress. T
• The report ends with conclusion and
recommendations about changes in the
schedule, materials, techniques, and other
information important to the project.
 Contd..
• Hobard Construction Company www.hobardcc.com
• 9032 Salem Avenue (808) 769-0832
• Lubbock, TX 79409 Fax: (808) 769-5327
•
• August 14, 2019
•
• Walter M. Wazuski
• County Administrator
• 109 Grand Avenue
• Manchester, NH 03103
•
• Dear Mr. Wazuski:
•
• Subject: Progress Report 8 for July 1–July 29, 2019
•
• The renovation of the County Courthouse is progressing on schedule and within budget. Although the cost of
certain materials is higher than our original bid indicated, we expect to complete the project without
exceeding the estimated costs because the speed with which the project is being completed will reduce
overall labor expenses.
 Contd..
• Costs
• Materials used to date have cost $78,600, and labor costs have been $193,000 (including some subcontracted
plumbing). Our estimate for the remainder of the materials is $59,000; remaining labor costs should not exceed
$64,000.
•
•
• Work Completed
• As of July 29, we had finished the installation of the circuit-breaker panels and meters, the level-one service outlets,
and all the subfloor wiring. The upgrading of the courtroom, the upgrading of the records storage room, and the
replacement of the air-conditioning units are in the preliminary stages.
•
• Work Scheduled
• We have scheduled the upgrading of the courtroom to take place from August 31 to October 7, the upgrading of the
records-storage room from October 12 to November 18, and the replacement of the air-conditioning units from
November 23 to December 16. We see no difficulty in having the job finished by the scheduled date of December 23.
•
• Sincerely yours,
• Tran Nuguélen
•
• Tran Nuguélen
• ntran@hobardcc.com
 Problem Analysis Report
• The problem analysis report is used to analyze
such events as accidents, equipment failures,
or health emergencies. The report assesses
the causes of the problem and suggests
changes necessary to prevent its recurrence.
Because it is usually an internal document, the
problem analysis report normally follows the
memo format.
 Contd..
• In the subject line of the memo, state the
precise problem you are reporting. Then, in
the body of the report, provide a detailed,
precise description of the problem. What
happened? Where and when did the problem
occur? Was anybody hurt? Was there any
property damage? Was there a work
stoppage?
 Contd..
• Consolidated Energy, Inc.
•
• To: Marvin Lundquist, Vice President Administrative Services
• From: Kalo Katarlan, Safety Office KK
• Field Service Operations
•
• Date: August 19, 2019
•
• Subject: Field Service Employee Accident on August 5, 2019
•
• The following is an initial report of an accident that occurred on Wednesday, August 5, 2019, involving John
Markley, and that resulted in two days of lost time.
•
• Accident Summary
•
• John Markley stopped by a rewiring job on German Road. Chico Ruiz was working there, stringing new wire, and
John was checking with Chico about the materials he wanted for framing a pole. Some tree trimming had been
done in the area, and John offered to help remove some of the debris by loading it into the pickup truck he was
driving. While John was loading branches into the bed of the truck, a piece broke off in his right hand and struck
his right eye.
 Contd…
• Accident Details
•
• 1. John’s right eye was struck by a piece of tree branch. John had just undergone laser surgery on his right
eye on Monday, August 3, to reattach his retina.
• 2. John immediately covered his right eye with his hand, and Chico Ruiz gave him a paper towel with ice to
cover his eye and help ease the pain.
•
• On Thursday, August 6, John returned to his eye surgeon. Although bruised, his eye was not damaged, and
the surgically reattached retina was still in place.
•
• Recommendations
• To prevent a recurrence of such an accident, the Safety Department will require the following actions in
the future:
• • When working around and moving debris such as tree limbs or branches, all service crew employees
must wear safety eyewear with side shields.
• • All service crew employees must always consider the possibility of shock for an injured employee. If crew
members cannot leave the job site to care for the injured employee, someone on the crew must call for
assistance from the Service Center. The Service Center phone number is printed in each service crew
member’s handbook.
 Recommendation Reports
• The main purpose of recommendation reports
is to persuade audience to accept the
suggestions.
• Follow the ABC format
Recommendation reports offer analysis in
addition to data. They attempt to solve
problems by evaluating options and offering
recommendations.
 Contd..
• Recommendation reports are written to justify or
recommend issues like purchase of equipment, changing
procedures, hiring an employee, actions for improving
efficiency…
• When the writer anticipates the audience to accept the
suggestion, one would write a direct recommendation
report (problem-recommendation-fact-discussion).
• When the writer expects the audience to be more
inquisitive, one would write an indirect one (problem-
facts-discussion-recommendation).
 Feasibility Reports
• A feasibility report presents evidence about the
practicality of a proposed project based on specific
criteria. It answers such questions as the following:
Is new construction or development necessary? Is
sufficient staff available? What are the costs? Is
funding available? What are the legal
ramifications?
• Based on the findings of this analysis, the report
offers logical conclusions and recommends
whether the project should be carried out.
 Contd…
• When organizations consider a new project —
developing a new product or service,
expanding a customer base, purchasing
equipment, or moving operations first try to
determine the project’s chances for success.
• Follow the ABC format.
• Every feasibility report should contain an
introduction, a body, a conclusion, and a
recommendation.
 Field trip Reports
• Field trip reports are written whenever people leave their
normal place of work to do some thing elsewhere. These
kinds of reports can cover many kinds of events such as:
• Installation or modification of equipment;
• Assistance on a field project;
• Attendance at a conference seminar, workshop;
• Reports to a client’s equipment, or field instruments; and
• Evaluation of another firm’s building, facilities or methods.
 Contd..
The essential sections contain the following
information:
– Background Section-describes the purpose of the trip
– Job section w/c contains
• what the report writer set out to do;
• what was actually done;
• what could not be done, and why;
• what else was done.
• Outcome Section-sums up the results of the trip and
often submitted as memorandums
 Incident Reports
• Incident reports are sometimes called
occurrence reports. They tell about events
that have happened.
• explain how and why they happened.
• describe what effects the events had and what
have been done about them, and
• sometimes also suggest that corrective actions
be taken, or what should be done to prevent the
events from recurring.
 Contd..
The writing sections for incident reports are:

1. Summary Section Contains brief summary

(synopsis) of the event and its outcome.
2. Background Section _Contains the circumstances
leading up to the event.
3. The Event Section_ Tells what happened.
4. Outcome Section_ Contains the result-the effect the
event had; what actions has been taken; what actions
need to be taken.
 Unit 4: Business Letters
 While memos are for readers inside an organization (internal
communication), letters are generally for readers outside an
organization (external communication).

• Although one may know a great deal about

members inside your organization, one may know very little
about readers outside your company, called an external
audience.

• A letter is an extension of an organization. The letter will

represent an organization when there is no delegate.
 Contd…
• Business letters are important, even a critical,
part of any professional’s job.
• They are written for many reasons to many
audiences.
• Letters represent the firm, and the quality of
its letters reflects the quality of the firm.
 Types of letters
• Based on their contents and purposes letters
may classified as positive, negative and sales.
• Positive letters convey good news (promotion,
salary increment, appointment…)
• Use ABC format
• Give ample clarification in the body
• Write effective closing
 Contd…
• Negative letters convey sad news or
complaints on the manner in which
proceedings were not effective.
• Use ABC format.
• Buffer the sad news
• Try to maintain goodwill (i.e despite the
current inconvenience, indicate that
relationships shall be maintained.)
 Contd…
• Sales letters are letters that show summaries
of sales for a specified period of time. They
highlight the trend of sales of over a period of
time.
• Use ABC format.
• Keep the management informed on the
current trend of sales.
 Letter formats
Two letter formats are commonly used. These are:
1. The block format: places all the letter elements flush
against the left-hand margin.
• Do not indent the first word of each paragraph.
• This format is widely used b/c letters in this format can
be typed quickly.
2. The modified block format: the dateline and closing
begin at the horizontal center of the page. Paragraphs
begin at the left margin.
 Block letter format
• Letterhead
• Dateline
• Inside address
• Salutation
• Body
• Closing
• Farewell
• Signature
 Modified block
• Letterhead
• Dateline
• Inside address
• Salutation
• Body
• Closing
• Farewell
• Signature
• Enclosure
 Punctuation styles in business letters
• Two punctuation styles can be used in business letters. These are:
open and mixed punctuations.

• In open punctuation no punctuation marks are used after the

salutation and the complimentary close (used with block letter style)
•
• In mixed punctuation the salutation and complimentary close are
followed by punctuation marks. A comma is used after the
complimentary close and a colon (for business
letters and a colon for personal letters) after the salutation.
Writing Application Letters, CV and Resume

 Application letter is job related or hunting

letter in which you need to ask for some
position.

 It is considered by the person in-charge

(employer) for additional manpower in a
company
 Components of application letter

A. Header: applicant’s and employer’s contact

information.
 Applicant’s contact information includes: name,
address, phone no, email and date of submission
 Employer’s contact information includes: name
and address
 Note: If the application is through email, you put
your contact information at the end of the letter.
 Contd..
B. Subject: It is about what you are applying for
C. Salutation: greeting section of application
letter
 Start your letter salutation with Dear/Mr./ Ms.
and the name of the person/last name.
 If you don’t know the employer’s name,
simply write, dear hiring manager or
dear sir/madam.
 Contd…
D. Introduction: In this section, you are supposed
to state:
 position of the job you are applying for
 where you heard that the company is in need of
additional manpower (source of information)
 how your skills and experience match the position
you are applying for
 This is in general where you, as applicant, take
the attention of your employer.
 Contd…
 E. Body
In the body of your application letter:
 state your qualification and how this
qualification meets the specific qualification
listed in the vacant post by providing specific
examples that demonstrate your abilities.
 indicate your interest in the position and why
you make an excellent candidate for the
position.
 Contd…
 F. Closing: This is where you:
 restate how your skills makes you strong fit for
the position.
 state that you are always available in case the
employer will call you for an interview. You
should not decide time for the interview.
 Contd…
G. Complimentary closing

 This is the closing of an application letter.

 For your closing, use ‘With regards’, ‘’Truly yours’’,

‘faithfully yours’’, ‘’Sincerely yours’’ and the like.

H. Signature
 End your cover letter with your signature,
handwritten, followed by your typed name.
 Curriculum vitae
Curriculum vitae is a longer detailed synopsis that
includes a summary of an educational
background, work and research experience,
publication, awards, honors, additional skills etc
A resume is a concise summary of your abilities,
education, and experience.
The difference between the two is that CV is
longer than resume (at least 2-3 pages while
resume is single page).
 Elements of CV
 Contact information:
 Name:
 Address:
 Telephone:
 Cell phone:
 Email:
 Personal information:
 date of birth:
 place of birth:
 Citizenship:
 Visa status:
 Gender:
 Contd..
 Employment history: list of work experience
including position details and dates, academic
positions, research and training (all in
chronological order)
 Educational :dates, majors and details of
degrees, training and certifications starting
from the recent
 Other skills: language skills, computer skills
and driving skills
 Contd…
 Interests/hobbies: personal interests and
hobbies related to the vacant post seeking for

 References: people you believe that they can

give true information about you. Here you
include their name, academic position and cell
phone.
 Important rules during writing CV
 Match your CV to the position.
 Highlight your education, work experience, and
skills as they relate to the particular job.
 Use a template: this is used to structure your
CV so that the employer quickly see your
qualifications and experience
 Edit, edit, edit: Edit thoroughly your CV-check
for spelling or grammatical errors.
 Use uniform format through out your CV
 Referencing, citations…
• When writing reports it is necessary to use
ideas from renowned authors in the field of
study. Referencing is a crucial part of
successful academic writing for avoiding
plagiarism and maintaining academic integrity
in your assignments and research.
• A referencing style is a set of rules on how to
acknowledge the thoughts, ideas and works
of others in a particular way.
 Plagiarism
• Oxford Dictionary defines plagiarism as
follows
• “to take and use another person’s
thoughts, writing, invention etc. as one’s
own.”
 Acknowledgement systems
• A report writer may use any of the following as
s/he incorporates ideas from a source in the
following ways:
• 1. direct quotation (taking the words of the
author as it is)
• 2. paraphrasing (restating the ideas of the
author in one’s own words)
• 3. summarization (taking the highlights from a
source briefly)
 Referencing styles
• There are three referencing styles:
• APA (American Psychological Association)
• MLA (Modern Language Association)
• Chicago
• Some subjects use numbering system, i.e.
putting the sources in the order in which they
appear in the report.
 In-text citation
• Different types of in-text citation are used in
different citation styles.
• Author-date citations include the author’s last
name, the year of publication, and a page
number when available.
• Author-page citations are the same except
that the year is not included.
 Paraphrasing
• A paraphrase matches the source in terms of meaning.
In paraphrasing you use your own words.
A paraphrase is approximately the same length as the
source document, though often shorter than the
source.
• Paraphrasing is used to show that you have
understood
the material. The exact words of the source are not
appropriate (style too dense or too simple for
example) or useful (what they emphasize is different
from what you want to emphasize).
 Summarization
• Summarization sums up the central point of
the source.
• You use your own words.
• A summary is much shorter than the source.
• Summarization is used to get down the gist of
someone else’s work, to avoid unnecessary
details when the main point is all you
need and to refresh the reader’s memory
if they have read the source.