Effective Business Report Writing Course

Business Communication. Sharpen your communication skills.

COVID-19 update: arrangement of our courses

We are now delivering courses online and in-person. Please check the delivery format of each class before enrolling.

Please note that course materials (excluding prescribed texts) are shared electronically within 48 hours of course commencement. Printing is not available.

A business report is a powerful communication tool. In this business report writing course, you’ll learn how to apply timeless report-writing principles to any scenario. Whether you write annual reports or board reports, leadership reports or marketing reports, operational reports or business submissions, your audience is pressed for time. They need to know the key points quickly. You’ll learn to craft each report around a concise high-level message, supported by logically ordered support points. You’ll learn how to decide how little or how much technical detail to include, what to do about business jargon, and what to do when new facts force you to change the report angle.

This immersive course builds on the essential learnings of Business Writing Course: Essentials, and can be taken on its own or in conjunction with that course.

Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• plan your reports using the essential planning tools covered
• organise your thinking into a clear, logical structure before beginning to write
• write a clear, focused executive summary before starting on the report body
• write the report body in line with your stated objectives
• review for logical style and flow, plain English usage and correct style.

Content

Planning

The main planning tools (objectives, audience, context and constraints); establishing the focus of your report.

Organising

Brainstorming the support points; putting your ideas into order; creating content hierarchies that help readers navigate the document.

Writing executive summary

Writing an executive summary with the key components; setting up the body of the document.

Writing report body

Logical argumentation styles (inductive, deductive, proof); the three elements of persuasion (logic, emotion, credibility); what to write at the end.

Reviewing

The four stages of review: double-checking for content; keeping a clear, navigable structure; checking for plain English usage; proofreading for style, grammar and formatting.

Note: You are welcome to bring any reports-in-progress as the basis for our writing exercises, and for discussion and feedback.

Intended audience

Aimed at mid-career or senior professionals who need to write balanced and thorough reports – either to persuade, inform or request an outcome.

It assumes good skills in written English, with an understanding of linguistic terms and business processes. If you are a non-native English speaker, you may want to take the Business Writing Course: Essentials first, or browse our English language courses in various specific and general topics.

Delivery modes

• Face-to-face, presenter-taught training
• Online training via the platform Zoom

Delivery style

Learning methods include open discussions, group exercises and individual response to mini tests throughout the day. Several of the exercises are intended for you to plan, organise and draft elements of an actual report you are working on (or a fictional exercise if you prefer).

Materials

Please bring a laptop, or be prepared to write a page or two of handwriting.