ESM 437 Class - 5/21/09

The focus of today’s class was writing reports. Below is a summary of the major points that were covered in class.

Reports in General
Reports are generally not intended to summarize (They are often 200+ pages long).

Some things common to reports that were posted by class members in our forum were the use of visuals such as charts or maps or graphs, inclusion of some sort of introduction, use of headings to organize the document (the headings were more descriptive than those in journal articles). The language in these reports differed depending on the audience (some were more technical and some less so) but most tended to be less dense than Journal articles.

Presentation by Kate on Writing Professional Reports
1.Kate is presenting from a consulting perspective and the main thing she noticed in her work was that writing is a very collaborative process (“there is always another set of eyes on your writing”)
a.Her main audiences were regulatory agencies and corporate clients
b.The audience dictated both what sections were included in the document and what type of language was used.

2.Organization
a.Clients probably read executive summary, results, and conclusions so they should be well written and easy to find
b.Tables of contents are good for directing the reader to the location on specific sections of the report and to show the reader you understand and can provide what they need
c.Figures and tables can be listed separately below the table of contents

3.Length
a.Kate’s reports were no longer than 20p. but often you will need to write longer reports
b.It is helpful to look at other reports written by your company to get an idea of general length

4.Style
a.This will be specific to your employer and audience. For example, in Kate’s report they used the term “element” instead of chapter or issue to describe different sections of the report.
b.To get a feel for your company’s style read similar company documents
c.Make sure to write clearly and concisely as opposed to using a lot of big GRE type words

5.Challenges
a.You may need to write about unfamiliar topics or about something beyond your comfort zone. To help you do this you can ask questions to your co-workers or superiors to get more definition or clarification. You can also do background research/reading on the topic.

6.Take away points
a.Writing is a collaborative effort so try not to get offended by feedback from others or offend others with your feedback
b.Word choice is key so try to be clear and concise
c.Unfamiliar projects will come up so be ready and know how to address it

Purpose and Audience Need
1.The report posted by Kelli on Ecosystem Service Markets is a good example of a well stated purpose. Not only was the purpose clearly stated but the report also defines terms and then gives categorized examples in a manner that is very well organized. This prevents the reader from having to organize the information themselves.
a.When you read a report you should always ask “what is the purpose of the report?”
b.In terms of intro organization a good method is to state your purpose then the categories you will address and finally the assumptions guiding the information.

2.Another good example of organization is the paper on food that Bridget posted.

3.In the introduction of the paper that Christina posted the authors explain the purpose, the need the report is filling, and then who produced it. Conversely in the introduction to the report posted by Kelli they present a problem statement and present a solution. The audience for Christina’s report is more technical (denoted by the use of acronyms and technical language) while the audience for Kelli’s is more the general public. This can also be seen in how the intro to Christina’s paper is short and to the point because people who read these reports don’t need to be eased into the topic like a general public audience would be.

4.Another good example of a paper is the paper Tessa submitted which actually has a heading titled “purpose.”
a.This paper also has good visuals such as maps and is a little different because it has references which indicate it is more directed towards a research community.

5.The report that Lucas posted did not have great visuals because they did not place the pictures well and because everyone seems to be leaving the community in the pictures. Also the context map is pixilated, does not have a good scale bar, and the north arrow is not well placed.
a.In the report that Tessa posted the graphics are a lot stronger but there is a lack of color coordination and the one graphic of patches is just ugly and doesn’t go with the rest of the report.

6.The report that Lara posted is obviously professionally laid out. It has a lot of color and gradient shading and very high quality pictures. The pictures are not labeled because they are just included to provide readers with nice visuals and also because picture labels can sometimes be intimidating to the general public.

Report Analysis Activity
In this activity we reviewed the reports posted to the class forum by class members and picked one to analyze in detail. The questions we tried to answer were:
1. What is the main message/purpose?
2. Who is the target audience?
3. What assumptions do the authors make about audience need?
4. How does language communicate these decisions/assumptions?

Take Away Messages about Report Writing
1. Effective report writing requires:
a. Knowing your audience and what they need/want
b. Addressing the audience needs in the document
2. Reports are longer than journal articles
3. Report writing is often collaborative

Blogging
Blogging is a great way to get the word out and “enhance your brand.”

Everyone has a brand: it’s you. You are who you are wherever you go… and you should rep your brand wherever you go!

The goal of blogging about this class is to provide class notes as a resource class members can refer to in the future when in the workforce and want to remember something that was covered in the class.

Post By: T.Bernhardt