'An excellent course - very involving and up to
date.' Business
report writing courses - there are many of them, but not many are presented by
an experienced trainer who is also a published writer. This one is and it is
run for up to twelve people at your premises - minimum of four. The course has
been presented over 150 times so far. (Click here if you are looking for a
Technical
Report Writing course.)
COURSE AIM - Business Report Writing
Course, 1 day To
help delegates to write business reports that are clear, concise and easy to
read and understand. It covers the principles and practice of preparing,
writing and editing reports.
Business report writing can be difficult but we can make it easier
for you to write good reports. This one-day course is normally run at your
premises for between 4 and 12 delegates. It will also help delegates when
writing other types of business document and it will save you money by reducing
the time taken by senior managers to finalise and approve reports.
Reports are a vital element of many
businesses and may be the only "product" some clients see for their money.
Consequently, they have to be good - but many are not. Far too many lack a
coherent structure that is self-evident to the reader. They become hard to read
and cause the reader (often the client) to struggle. It does not encourage them
to come back for more and business is lost.
Too many business reports
contain simple grammatical or punctuation errors or inconsistencies. Once
readers notice these mistakes they may start to lose confidence in the report,
even in the factual content which may actually be very good. Most managers are
all too well aware of this and spend hours of their time correcting reports, so
pushing up the cost. Many of these problems can be reduced or avoided.
IS THERE A TRACK RECORD?
There is. Tony presented his first
Business Report Writing course at Barclaycard in April 1998. That was on behalf
of the Manchester-based training company now known as Fielden-Cegos.
Subsequently, he was the main trainer for business report writing courses at
London-based Reed Training (now Reed Learning). Now, he only presents report
writing courses under his own banner to his own clients.
The business report writing course has
often been adapted to meet the specific needs of various clients. For example,
different versions of the course have been designed and presented to Ofsted
(350 delegates), the Financial Services Commission (Gibraltar), Careers Wales,
the London Birmingham Railway, Univar, NCAS, E.ON. etc.
COURSE CONTENT - Business Report
Writing Course, 1 day
- What distinguishes a good business
report from a poor one?
- A process for business report
writing : planning reports, writing reports, editing
reports
- Planning a business
report
- Defining the purpose, agreeing the
terms of reference
- Knowing your readers and writing
for the readers
- Formatting and structuring
business reports
- Standard report sections: the
purpose of each
- Structuring business reports down
to paragraph level
- Writing, using plain English in
business report writing
- Paragraph and sentence
lengths
- Editing business reports: editing
for accuracy, brevity and clarity
- Active and passive
voice
- Preferring strong verbs to
nouns
- Choice of words,
clichés
- Using bullet points and
lists
- Writers' tips and some common
myths
- Punctuation
problems
- Using MS Word's grammar checker
and readability statistics
- I was very
impressed (with the business report writing course) and found my facilitator to
be very approachable. A job well done!
- We have now
had the minute taking course and report writing course with you and both were
great.
- Excellent
course. Thank you.
- Overall, very
impressed with the day's training.
- Very good
course - struck perfect balance - just what I needed and no more. Thank you,
Tony.
COURSE
DESCRIPTION Business Report Writing Course, 1
day
BUSINESS REPORT
WRITING COURSE: INTRODUCTION
- What types of business report do
you write?
- What do you like or dislike
about report writing?
- What distinguishes a good
business report from a poor one?
- Some samples.
- How to write a business report -
the three stages of report writing: Preparing, Writing and Editing.
BUSINESS REPORT
WRITING COURSE: PLANNING YOUR BUSINESS REPORT
- Defining the purpose or
objective of your business report.
- Who has asked for the report?
Why? Terms of reference.
- Putting the readers
first.
- Who are your readers? What do you
know about them and their needs?
- How much detail will be needed
to achieve the objective?
- What do you want your readers to
know and do, how do you want them to react to your report?
- Planning your business report.
- Achieving a logical flow and
getting the structure right.
- Sections and sub-sections.
Summary, Introduction, Main Body, etc. Who reads what?
- The purpose of each section of a
normal business report.
- Writing the Executive
Summary.
- Structuring complex information
when report writing.
- Structuring your argument or
process. Generic frameworks.
- Writing a beginning, a middle
and an end for your report.
- Structuring the text down to
paragraph level.
- Do you need illustrations?
Planning illustrations.
- Your Plan.
BUSINESS REPORT
WRITING COURSE: WRITING YOUR BUSINESS REPORT
- Going from plan to draft.
- General tips.
- The order in which to write your
report's sections.
- Determining style.
- Titles, headings and
sub-headings.
- Numbering systems.
- Using short paragraphs and
sentences.
- Using appropriate words and
jargon; plain English.
- Using pronouns or not, bullet
points and lists.
- Using appendices.
BUSINESS REPORT
WRITING COURSE: EDITING YOUR BUSINESS REPORT
- Only using a single draft.
- Going from the draft to the
finished report.
- Editing for accuracy, brevity
and clarity.
- Eliminating waffle, superfluous
words, and wordy phrases.
- Improving the grammar.
- The Microsoft grammar
checker.
- Differences between passive and
active verbs.
- Avoiding 'smothered' or 'hidden'
verbs. Using strong verbs.
- Superfluous adjectives and
adverbs.
- Conventions for writing
numbers.
- Some troublesome points of
English grammar.
- Avoiding sexism in
writing.
- Using Microsoft's readability
statistics.
- Punctuation, reference
list.
TRAINING STYLE For the Business Report Writing courses we use a mixture
of talks, discussions, group work and individual work in a mix that is as
appropriate as possible to the delegates. The actual course may differ slightly
from the fine details above as the training is adjusted to match as accurately
as possible the needs of the delegates. For this reason, we will discuss your
priorities with you and built them into the day as best as possible. Delegates
are asked to help one another to achieve their action plans. Full course notes
are provided which also serve as reference books later. The business report
writing course is only offered on an in-company basis for, usually, between 4
and 12 delegates.
THE TRAINER As a training consultant and published writer, Tony
draws on a career in both the public and private sectors including employment
in the Royal Navy, GEC-Marconi, the Independent Broadcasting Authority and the
University of Hong Kong. For five years he was the Training Manager at NTL and
since 1997 he has been an independent trainer and writer. As a published writer
he has four books and around 90 articles to his name.
He has trained thousands of delegates from blue-chip
organisations - both independently and on behalf of large training companies.
He has also inspected government-funded training on behalf of the Training
Standards Council and the Adult Learning Inspectorate.
Some comments from
clients:
- Excellent delivery
of course and an obvious expertise in Report Writing.
- Excellent
training, got the message across in an entertaining and productive manner.
- I really enjoyed
today and Tony made everything very easy to understand.
- The report writing
course was beneficial and has given me confidence to write reports.
- Felt Tony made the
report writing course very enjoyable, determined from the outset what was
relevant.
- Very good course -
struck perfect balance - just what I needed and no more. Thank you Tony.
- Please pass on my
thanks to Tony for the delivery of the training on Report Writing yesterday.
The group had an excellent day. The feedback is very encouraging and I would
like to arrange another session with Tony later this year for our senior
accountants.
- Thank you for
arranging yesterday (Report Writing Course) and I will be in contact shortly to
arrange a further date.
- Overall, very
impressed with the day's training on writing reports.
- Excellent report
writing course. I think I will definitely put into practice
immediately.
- An excellent
course - very involving and up to date. Enthusiastic trainer.
- Tony was
entertaining and made a traditionally boring subject fun. Very enthusiastic.
- Very good trainer,
kept it light and fun.
-
Perfect
- Very practical
and to the point. Adapts well to varied delegates experiences and needs.
- Clear presenting,
easy to understand, made the content interesting and enjoyable. Nothing like
the horror of school days.
- Good structure -
made it interactive.
- I thoroughly
enjoyed the report writing course and was glad I attended. The instructor was
pleasant and clear in his approach.
- I was very
impressed and found my facilitator to be very approachable. A job well done!
- Found the course
interesting and learned a great deal from it.
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'Please pass on my thanks for the Report Writing
training yesterday. The group had an excellent day. The feedback is very
encouraging and I would like to arrange another session later this year for our
senior accountants.'
A selection of our clients for various courses:
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