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
