How to adapt to your audience when writing reports and proposals.

Like all messages, reports and proposals are most effective when adapted to the needs and interests of their intended audiences:

• Be sensitive to audience needs
• Build strong relationships with your audience
• Control your style and tone

All four aspects of audience sensitivity apply to reports and proposals:

• Adopting the “you” attitude
• Maintaining a strong sense of etiquette
• Emphasizing the positive
• Using bias-free language

Reports and proposals that are highly technical, complex, or lengthy can put heavy demands on readers, so the “you” attitude takes on special importance with these messages.

You can meet the needs of a diverse audience—provided that you plan for these elements in advance.

Readers today want results quickly and easily. If you want readers to understand and accept your message, help them seamlessly navigate your document by using:

• Headings
• Links
• Smooth transitions
• Previews
• Reviews

Headings are brief titles that cue readers about the content of sections that follow.

• They improve a document’s readability and are especially useful for identifying the framework of a report.
• They also visually indicate shifts from one idea to the next and allow readers to see the relationship between subordinate and main ideas.

Whatever scheme you use, make the hierarchy of headings and subheadings clear.

When using three levels of headings in a report, for example, an effective scheme could be

• 20-point bold type for the first-level headings
• 16 points for the second level
• 12 points for the third level

Another option is to put the first-level headings in all capital letters or emphasize them using colour.

Use transitions to help readers move from one section of a report to the next and from key point to key point within sections. Transitions can be:

• Words
• Sentences
• Complete paragraphs

Effective transitions can help readers summarize and remember what they’ve learned so far while giving them a mental framework to process new information.

Preview sections come after a body of material and summarize the information just covered. They introduce important topics and help readers get ready for new information; they are particularly helpful when the information is

• Complex
• Unexpected
• Unfamiliar

Previews and reviews can be written in sentence format, in bulleted lists, or using a combination of the two. Both are effective, but when appropriate, bullets can increase your document’s readability by adding white space to the document design and making it easier to skim.

Building relationships with your readers starts with planning how to adapt style and language to meet their needs and expectations.

Some reports—particularly any reports that can be transmitted online—can take on lives of their own, reaching a wider audience than ever imagined. Choose content and language with care.

If a report is likely to meet with audience approval, you can usually adopt a fairly informal tone.

To create a tone that is less formal, refer to readers as you, and refer to yourself as I (or we, if there are multiple report authors).

A formal tone is objective and businesslike and is more appropriate for

• Longer reports, especially those that deal with controversial or complex information
• Reports being sent to other parts of the organization or to outsiders
• Imposing a controlled distance between you and your readers

Before composing a first draft, review the outline one last time. Verify that the organization you’ve chosen makes sense and review the wording of the headings and subheadings to make sure they establish the right tone.

For a direct tone, use informative phrasing. For an indirect tone, use descriptive phrasing.

Like other written business communications, reports and proposals have three main sections:

• An introduction (or opening )
• A body
• A close

The content and length of each section vary, depending on the:

• Type and purpose of the document
• Organizational structure
• Length and depth of the material
• Document’s degree of formality
• Relationship between writer and audience

An effective introduction accomplishes at least four things:

• Puts the report or proposal in a broader context by tying it to a problem or an opportunity
• Introduces the subject or purpose of the report or proposal indicating why the subject is important
• Previews the main ideas and the order in which they’ll be covered
• Establishes the tone of the document and the writer’s relationship with the audience

In the body, the middle section in the report or proposal, cover these actions:

• Present the information
• Analyze the information
• Interpret the information gathered during an investigation
• Provide detailed proof supporting conclusions and recommendations

The close, the final section of your report, has three important functions:

• Emphasizes the main points of the message and briefly reiterates the logic behind any conclusions or recommendations.
• Summarizes the benefits to readers if the document suggests a change or some other course of action.
• Brings all the action items together in one place and gives details about who should do what, when, where, and how.

The final section of a report leaves a strong lasting impression. The close offers one last chance to make sure that the report says what is intended.

Your credibility is on the line with every business report you write, so make sure your content is

• Accurate. Information presented in a report must be factually correct. Double-check facts and references in addition to checking for typos.
• Complete. To help audiences make informed decisions, present information in a way that meets their needs. Include all the information necessary for readers to understand the situation, problem, or proposal and support all key assertions.
• Balanced. Present all sides of the issue fairly and equitably and include all essential information, even if some of it doesn’t support your line of reasoning. Omitting relevant information or facts can bias your report.
• Clear and logical. Make sure sentences are uncluttered, contain well-chosen words, and proceed logically. Make your transitions clear and logical.
• Documented properly. If you use primary and secondary sources, be sure to properly document and give credit to your sources.