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Devising Longer Reports and Proposals

Quarterly & annual reports/long range planning programs/systems evaluations/ grant requests/proposals Make strong recommendations Are strongly persuasive Address a wide audience Usually include front and back matter

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Devising Longer Reports and Proposals cont.

Presentation features Title page Transmittal correspondence Table of Contents List of Illustrations (graphics/visuals) Abstract or summary Body of report with topical headings Necessary back matter

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Front Matter

Title page Use high quality paper Consider appropriate art work Include name/title/company of recipient Include name/title/company of author(s) The date

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.

Sample proposal title

page

(Courtesy of C

harles E. S

mith)

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Front Matter cont. Transmittal correspondence

Brief letter or memo format Names the title and purpose Includes names if requested Includes submission date Comments on problems encountered Acknowledges others who helped Elicits feedback

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Front Matter cont. Table of contents

Include for reports 8 or more pages Center and title Table of Contents

List all headings and page numbers Include appendices and exhibits, glossaries,

and other back matter Include separate List of Illustration on same or

separate page with titles and page numbers List tables separately from figures

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Front Matter cont.

Abstracts and summaries Short, concise previews of parent

documents Orient the read to material to follow Reflect purpose/content/scope/

methodology/conclusions of parent document

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Front Matter cont.

Abstracts Accompany scientific, technical reports and

articles Descriptive or Informative Descriptive type

Represent the complete document Usually one to five sentences Usually 150-300 words

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Front Matter cont.Sample descriptive abstract

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Front Matter cont. Abstracts cont.

Informative type Accompany research-related documents Completely describe parent document

content Longer, more detailed than Descriptive type Typically 300-500 words

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Front Matter cont.

Summaries Accompany reports to

management/executives or are included in textbooks

Concluding or Executive types Concluding summaries

Follow sections/chapters of books, reports Sometimes in manuals/system evaluations

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Front Matter cont. Summaries cont.

Executive summaries Used for long feasibility reports,

proposals, etc. Highlight the contents of report to follow Usually persuasive More casual organization than an

abstract Typically 10% of report in length

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Front Matter cont.

Sample concluding summary forsystem evaluation paper

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Front Matter cont. Abstract and Summary methodology

Determine appropriate type Reread entire report to grasp content Estimate number of words not to exceed 10%

of original document Determine organization, scope, methodology Include key facts, statistics, conclusions in

informative abstracts Summarize the content for a concluding

summary

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Front Matter cont. Abstract and summary methodology

cont. Condense details and include persuasive

words for a executive summary Condense and explain findings for both

informative abstracts and an executive summaries

Edit carefully for completeness and accuracy

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Back Matter Back matter

Include glossaries, tabulated survey results, financial projections, job descriptions, equipment brochures, bibliographies, etc.

Number and title each supplement Exhibit 1 Title here Exhibit 2 Title here Appendix A Title here, etc.

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Back Matter cont.

cont. Refer to each in body of text Include each in Table of Contents

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Devising Longer Reports and Proposals cont.

Proposals – action-oriented reports Investigate solutions, expense and profit issues Cover all details of implementation

Proposal types Internal – written by members of company External – written by outsiders Solicited – sought by the organization Unsolicited – written by employees or group of

outsiders

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Devising Longer Reports and Proposals cont.

Proposal organization and format Clear statement of what is proposed and

why Explains background or problem Presents the actual proposal with

methods/costs/personnel/action Discusses advantages/disadvantages Offers conclusions, recommendations Includes all longer report features