Report Style:
cleare
concise
factual
careful
balanced
measured
high level of grammatical accuracy
Report Layout:
systematic numbering of sections and sub-sections
bullet points and lists
visuals such as tables, chats, diagrams
areas of blank space at the margins for the reader to make notes
Report Structure (long):
Report Structure (short):
cover page
acknowledgements
contents
summary
terms of reference
procedure
findings
conclusion
recommendations
appendix
to/from/date/subject
introduction
Introduction phrases:
The aim/purpose of this report is to…
As requested in your email of 16 November, here is my report summarizing/analyzing… together with my recommendations
I’m writing this report at the request of… /This report was commissioned by…
It includes/consists of/is divided into/contains…
It is based on interviews with… /information obtained from…
Information was gathered from the following sources: face-to-face interviews, a questionnaire sent to…, internal company documents and market research carried out…
Finding Phrases:
We found that…
Our research shows that…
We identified the following key areas.
45% of those who replied to the questionnaire thought that…
The survey showed the following areas of concern.
This will inevitably have an impact on…
One of the big advantages of this proposal is…
Conclusion Phrases:
A key challange facing us is…
In the light of the above findings, we reached the following conclusion.
On the basis of the figures presented above, … would be very profitabel.
There is clearly a gap in the market, however serious obstacles still remain…
It is clear that there are significant levels of… Unless these issues are adressed as a matter of urgency,…
This has the potential to be a successful project provided…
Recommendation Phrases:
There are three main recommendations to make.
We (strongly) recommend that…
The Marketing/Operations departments should…
Further research should be carried out to find out…
A meeting should be set up between… and…
I recommend that we provide the funds for… and move to the next stage of development.
The next stage is…
Proposal Structure:
executive summary
introduction —> analysis of the current situation, the approach selected and why
goals —> list of goals taken directly from what the client hat told you, with measurabel targets that your work will achieve
project scope and action plan —> key components and actions that you will provide; defining your role in relation to client’s role
implementation —> how you will woke with the client; a timetable; deliverables; resources needed such as office space or access to infomation
areas of special expertise —> your specialized, and preferably unique, skills and know-how that show why you’re the ideal supplier
pricing —> your fee, other costs for you or the client, and possibly a short paragraph at the end, emphazising how the proposal is cost-effective and how the client will benefit
conclusion —> a cost-benefit analysis showing why the price is worth paying
appendix —> a list of your past projects; full details of your team/the pricing/the action plan etc.
ABC is looking for assitance in choosing and implementing… Upgrading to a new system will allow ABC to… and will cut inventory costs and shorten production run times. … An upgraded, state-of-the-art system will position ABC as a leading player in the field of… with the ability to support the largest-sized customers
Goal Phrases:
JKL’s main goal is to outsource… in order to reduce the number of in-house employees. These employees are fully occupied for only about 60% of the year. […] A secondary goal is to minimize the time that JKL managers spend on problems associated with… […] These goals are achievable, and our proposal offers an ideal solution. We are able to dseal with.. and our customer service team can handle any problems that might occur.
Implementation Phrases:
We will deliver to MNO immediate stock of… and make a commitment to supply an additional… […] In addition, we will provide MNO with sales flyers and store displays for… […] We will also conduct a marketing survey of 250 end users, which can be used by MNO to…
Areas of special expertise Phrases:
STU needs a company with an in-depth understanding of…, and we have extensive knowledge of this field. […] Our personnel include a former… manager and two.. engineers. The engineers have considerable experience of… […] We’ve worked on similar systems in 28 locations in… […] Included in the Appendix is a list of projects we’ve done… and the testimonials from…
Pricing Phrases:
The total cost of the joint project with PQR will be €40.000. Of this total, our fee will be €30.000. The remaining €10.000 of expenses will be absorbed by PQR. […] PQR’s goal is to convert one-time customers into regular customers by demonstrating the long-lasting benefits of… Our proposal shows how that can be achieved in a cost-effective manner. […] The resources that PQR commits to the project will also allow it to take advantage of opportunities in… markets.
Describing movement:
go up/incease/rise
go down/decrease/fall
stay the same/be flat
fluctuate/vary/move within a range
double/take off/ boom/ increase tenfold
halve/plunge/crash
Describing special points:
peak/reach a peak
hit a low
stand at
be above/be below
Describing changes:
grow/expand
shrink/contract
improve/get better/recover
deteriorate/get worse
quickly/rapidly
gradually/steadily
slowly
considerably/significantly
moderately/to some extent
slightly/marginally
Time period complete —> past simple
Time periode not complete —> present perfect
Present result of a past action —> present perfect
Action/situation in progress now —> present continuous
Action/situation in progress in the past —> past continuous
Showing that one past event happned before another —> past perfect
"Will” future for general beliefes, predictions and facts
“going to” future when there is strong present evidence for a prediction
Last changed2 years ago