Page 274 - Effective Communication Soft Skills Strategies For Success by Nitin Bhatnagar, Mamta Bhatnagar

Project Name: Manual for Soft Skills
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A report or a policy statement is unique in nature. It has a clear, defined
reader profile but this reader is multiple as the same report, policy statement,
etc., may get used in multiple committees.
Hence, reports for different academic domains (sciences, humanities, or
applied sciences) essentially need to be focused. They have to be very orderly.
To make them credible, they have to be objective, evaluative but non-judgmental.
They are a written communication that is made of factual information and/or
data. Your opinion, if any, has to be supported by this irrefutable data.
So it helps to clearly determine its purpose. Next, it is necessary to state a
clear theme statement. Once your preliminary research work is through, you
should think of its presentation that provides to your reader your hypothesis
through identifiable topics and sub-topics.
Your outline should clearly have an introductory unit, a concluding unit,
and a summary. If a summary collects all your points the concluding unit
can chart out the new directions you may possibly foresee.
The length of your report should be neither too brief (appears very
casual) nor too long. Your report should directly come to the point as your
possible future reader—an official, for example, or a bureaucrat may not have
the time or the patience to go through it. So be precise, please.
Append visual aids wherever necessary. The layout arrangement, the
headers/ footers, numbering, constructing of title (underlining/bolding it),
placement of titles, and the use of illustrations (pie charts, line charts, and
computer graphics) make your visual aids which should never attract atten-
tion to themselves.
In brief, the report should succinctly and clearly give a neat picture of
the activities it encompasses.
Any report should be arranged in three parts according to our reference
books.
They are front matter, main body; and back matter.

Table 10.9 Front Matter, Main body and back Matter

Front Matter Main Body Back Matter
• Cover (tide, number, date, • Introduction • Appendices
whether confidential) • Discussion/Analysis • References
• Title page (author’s name, • Conclusions • Bibliography
designation) • Recommendations • Glossary
• Copyright notice • Index
• Forwarding letter, if necessary
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Table of contents
• List of illustrations
• Abstract

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