Business Writing – Reports & Proposals

Writing reports and proposals are integral to most jobs. Yet, writing technical findings and statistical results in a way that everyone can understand, vital to all reports, is a challenge for many. Just as challenging is the ability to use the language of persuasion required in proposals that are designed to get decision-makers to agree to projects.

Learn how to make your reports clear, comprehensible yet concise; and how to make your proposals bring home their points and sway opinions.

After the workshop, you will be able to:

• appreciate the 3 components of writing to better identify personal writing challenges
• sort through research to include only the relevant material
• structure writing for clarity
• understand what is required of the different components of a report
• adapt your writing to suit the purposes and audience
• differentiate between reports and proposals
• present events and facts objectively and clearly
• shape arguments with paragraphs and transition words
• understand the language of reports
• use the language of persuasion for proposals
• employ visuals aids to enhance clarity
• have proofreading and reviewing skills

Outline

• Understand the Writing Process
  – Invent
  – Compose
  – Revise
• Planning Your Content
  – The art of research
  – The importance of recording accurate information
  – Checking information
  – Pre-writing checklist
  – Organising your content
• Structuring Your Writing
  – 2 types of clarity
  – Headers & Lists for visual clarity
  – Key components in a report
• Types of Reports
  – Types of reports and their purposes & audience
  – Reports vs Proposals – What’s the Difference?
• 7 properties of a good sentence
  – Short
  – Simple
  – Concise
  – Precise
  – Plain
  – Write as You Talk
  – Cut Down on Jargon and Acronyms
• 7 strategies for writing good sentences
  – Cut out information
  – Cut up information
  – Cut out the Deadwood
  – Drop Redundancies
  – Order your Sentence
  – Use First Person
  – Choice of Voice
• The Language of Reports
  – Presenting technical terms for the layman
  – Presenting numbers and statistics that can be easily understood
• The Language of Persuasion for Proposals
• Grammar & Vocabulary
  – Grammar pitfalls – tenses and subject-verb agreement
  – Prepositions
  – Dos and don’ts of choosing words
  – The power of paragraphs
  – Linking words
• Using Visual Aids
  – Types of visuals aids
  – When and how to use them
• Proofreading & Review Techniques
  – Proofreading techniques
  – Reviewing techniques
  – Checklist for reviewing