INTRODUCTION TO INFORMAL & FORMAL

REPORTS
7

This unit will be especially useful for students who are very poor in
communicating in the business world. The lessons are well equipped
with examples and models for students to help them describe and apply
the technique of writing various reports all by themselves. The emphasis
throughout the Unit has been placed on developing your abilities to :
 organise materials
 write more coherently, correctly and more within the styles  best
suited to the business communication world
 explain and write both informal and formal reports of various types.
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UNIT-7
Lesson-1: Type of reports
After reading this lesson you will be able to:
 distinguish between two major group of reports
 explain the nature and purpose of informal reports
 describe various types of informal reports
 state the nature of a memorandum, letter form report, prepared form
of report and other miscellaneous reports
 state and write a progress report in memorandum format
 explain and write any kind of survey reports by using the model
survey report presented in the lesson as your guideline.

Introduction
Reports are categorised according to their purpose and readership. The
most simple division is 'informal' and 'formal'. The essential
difference between the two types is that the formal or complex reports
require some kind of investigation and research, where as the informal
one does not. The types of report that you might be writing on any work
day will depend upon your reporting responsibilities and specific job
performance.
Informal reports
Informal reports vary in length and arrangements. Informal reports are
usually written for readers within and among organisations. Most often
these reports are quickly prepared, require no extended planning and
contain little background information. Also the informal reports are
written without any supplements (abstracts, title page, glossary, etc.) and
can have a variety of formats. Usually they range in length from one
sentence to several pages.
The purpose of informal reports is to communicate precisely and
rapidly in any one of these formats: The memorandums, the letter
form, and the prepared form report, or a variety of other formats that
fit into none of the above three categories and which are called
miscellaneous reports. The informal reports are the kind most regularly
written and read in the working world to keep the companies moving.
Your worth as an effective communicator will depend on how well you
can convey what you know. Your success on the job may depend on
your skill in sharing useful information with colleagues. Here are some
of the informal reports that you might write on any work day;
 a report of your progress on a specific job assignment
 a report of your inspection of a site, item, or a process
 a cost estimate for planning, material, labour, or a new project

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 an hourly or daily account of your work activities

 a proposal outlining the reasons and suggesting a plan for a new
project
 a statement of reasons for equipment malfunction or failure to meet
the deadline
 a record of the minutes of a meeting
 a report of your survey to select the best prices, material, equipment,
or service among those offered by several competing firms
 a voucher detailing your travel expenses
 a set of instructions for one or more subordinates
 a request for assistance on a work project
 a memo describing a change in the company’s personnel policy
(promotion, leave, etc.)

Most often these reports may be cast in a number of different forms but
in any case you have to create a professional format: words on the page,
indentation, margin, spacing, type space, numbering, headings and
Format is the division of report section. In fact, format is the mechanical arrangement
mechanical
arrangement of
of words on the page and determines the physical appearance of your
words on the page report. Also whether your informal report, data is in the letter form,
and determines the prepared form, or in the memorandum format, or in some miscellaneous
physical appearance format, will depend on your purpose and reader's needs. In style
of report
informal report is personal and relaxed. The first person-I or we is used
here.

What is a memorandum?
A memorandum is the most common form of in-house communication.
Sometimes the same information you cast in a memo to a superior will
be incorporated in a letter to a client outside the organisation. Memos
cover any topic important to a firm's operations. The most common
types include informational, recommendations, justification, progress
reports, periodic survey, credit and market reports as well.
The standard memo has a heading that names the organisation, identifies
the sender, recipient, subject, and date. Its text follows an introduction-
body-conclusion structure. First, identify your purpose for writing the
memo next, give the information related to your purpose, finally,
conclude with a request, recommendation, or an offer of further
assistance. When you need a second page don't forget to list the
recipient’s name, the date, and the page, and after that you can begin
your text three spaces below. (example given in Unit-2, Lesson-2)

Fig. - 1

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NAME OF ORGANISATION
(2 spaces)
MEMORANDUM
(3 spaces)
1.5 inch
margin
TO : Name, Title DATE:
(3 spaces)

FROM : Name, Title, Signature

(2 spaces)
SUBJECT : CLEARLY TITLED IN FULL CAPS
(3 spaces)
no
indentation

Introductory Paragraph (single spaced)

(2 spaces)
Body Paragraph (single spaced)
(2 spaces)
Concluding Paragraph (single spaced)

A format of a Memorandum

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Here is an informal report cast in memorandum format. Like all

examples use it as a guide only, don’t follow it word for word. Again
don’t forget that the format, organisation you choose must fit your
purpose, readers, and situation.

A PROGRESS REPORT ON TERM PROJECT

Date : April 20, 1995

From : Suraiya Zafar

To : Dr. Enamul Haque

Subject : Evaluation of the Environment Protection Department's

(EPD) Remedial Action Master Plan

Work Completed
February 23 : Began general research on the BLI
contamination of the local area.
March 8 : Decided to analyse the Remedial Action
Master Plan (RAMP) in order to determine
whether residents are being studied to death
by the EPD.
March 9-19 : Drew a map of that area to show places of
contamination. Obtained the RAMP from
Imran Ali of the EPD.
Interviewed representative Mr. Khan briefly
over the phone. Made an appointment to
interview others on April 10, 1995.
Interviewed Pervin Choudhury, Executive
Director of the New Dhaka Environment
Club, briefly over the phone.
March 24 : Obtained public comments on BLI’s
(Bangladesh Leather Industries) reaction to
RAMP.
April 13 : Searched Mr. Azam’s office files for
information. He is the project officer of
EPD.

Work in Progress : Contacting by telephone the people who

commented on the RAMP.

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Work to be Completed :
April 25 : will finish contacting commentators on the
RAMP.
April 26 : will interview an EPD representative about
the complaints that the commentators raised
on the RAMP.

Date for completion : May 4, 1995

Complications : The issue of BLI (Bangladesh Leather

Industries) contamination is complicated and
emotional. The more I uncovered, the more
difficult I found it to remain impartial in my
research and analysis.
Lastly, the people I want to talk to do not
always have the time to find the answers for
my questions. Every one I have spoken
with, however, has been interested and
encouraging, if not always informative.

Functions of Memo Reports

Most "Memo Reports" written in business perform the following

functions:

1. Maintain a flow of information across the levels or ranks of the

organisation  from supervisor to supervisor, from vice president
of sales to vice president of production.
2. Send information up and down within an organisation.
3. Serve as a reminder and maintain a permanent record of meetings
changes and procedures.

SUMMARY

Reports are mainly of two types: Informal or short reports which

require no extended planning and contain varieties of formats and
formal or long complex reports with supplements addressed to the
secondary readers.

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B. LETTER FORM OF REPORTS: Detailed information on the

letter form of reports has been given in Unit 2 of this book.
C. PREPARED FORM OF REPORTS: To have a smooth, clear-
cut communications many companies, firms, use prepared forms
for short reports. These forms are useful in two ways:
1. Prepared forms provide clear guidance for recording data.
If you can fill in the form correctly, you are sure to satisfy
your readers' needs.
2. In a prepared form, identical categories of data are
recorded in identical order, so it allows for rapid
processing and tabulating of data. Also a prepared form
standardise data reported from various sources.
There are countless prepared forms for countless purposes. Below is a
sample of a questionnaire used by a police officer to obtain the precise
description of a suspect. As a witness provides details, a police artist
converts the word picture into a sketch with the help of such descriptive
questionnaire. Example No. 1

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Fig. - 2
Description of Suspect

Sex _________ Nationality __________________ Age _____ Height

Weight ______ Build __________ Who does this person look like?
___________ In what way? __________ Hair: Colour
__________Long _____ Short _____ Bald _______ curly _____
Straight _______ Other ______.

Face : Round ______ Oval _______ Square ______ Other.

Complexion : Light ______ Dark ______ Unusual facial : Scars

________ Pockmarks _______ Dimples _______ Other _________.

Eyes : Colour ______ shape _______ Brows : Colour ______ Bushy

______ Thin ______ Average.

Nose : Large _________ Small _________ Wide ______ Flat ______

Pronounced __________ Nostril shape __________

Mouth : Lipshape _______ Large ________ Small ________ Wide

________ Thin _____ Colour _______.

Teeth : Large _______ Pronounced _______ Crooked _______ Missing

________ Stained ________.

Speech : Manner of speaking _________ Words spoken __________

Chin : Pronounced ______ Recessed _________ Wide ________

Narrow __________ Dimple __________

Facial Hair : Mustache ______ Beard _______ Sideburns ________

Colour _____________ Shape _______________

Example of a prepared form of report 1

Fig. -3

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F. H. CHOUDHURY LIMITED
ACCIDENT REPORT
NAME OF INJURED PERSON ........................................................

OCCUPATION ....................................... DEPARTMENT ..................

TIME AND DATE ............................................ PLACE .....................

DESCRIPTION OF ACCIDENT ........................................................

..............................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................

NAMES OF WITNESSES (BLOCK CAPS) ......................................

..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
REPORT BY (BLOCK CAPS) ...........................................................
SIGNATURE ........................................................................................

REF. NO. : DATE :

A Sample of A Prepared Form of Report-2

D. MISCELLANEOUS REPORTS: Miscellaneous reports are

usually written for assorted purposes that don’t fit our previous
classifications. If you are writing a lab report it may require you to
invent a suitable format. When creating a suitable format for a

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miscellaneous report, organise the information to answer the questions

readers are likely to ask. Use topic headings to guide them. One
common example of a miscellaneous report is, minutes of a meeting
which follows fairly standard conventions but can have varieties of
contents. Besides being purely informative as in the minutes of a
meeting, miscellaneous reports can offer recommendations too (as in the
next sample).

A. Preliminary Marketing and Research Report

Miscellaneous reports can deal with any aspect of an organisation’s
operations. The following report in figure No. 4 was written to explore
ways of marketing BRMDC’s Strategic Planning Game (a computer
assisted package for management training)

BANGLADESH RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

DATE : JUNE 5, 1995

MEMORANDUM TO : BRMDC Management System
FROM : S. Choudhury
RE : Marketing Our Strategic Planning
Game
I have considered it important to outline ways we can develop a
marketing strategy for our Strategic Planning Game. Although we have
a lot of experience marketing our consulting services, product marketing
calls for efficient approaches. Here are some broad areas of marketing
research I would like you to consider before we meet on June 20, 1995.
(1) Identify General Perceptions and Attitude Toward Using Games for
Management Training.
Example : Given the current successes in computer assisted training,
is there an important market segment that we can fill?
(2) Determine How Current Training Needs are Being Met.
Example : Identify the percentage of current managerial training
being done in-house and the percentage being done by
outside suppliers, college etc. We might be able to tailor
our programme to these needs. These are just the research
areas that might help us. Try to expand on this list before
the meeting.
A miscellaneous report Fig. No. 4

What is a survey report?

Brief survey reports are often used to examine the conditions that affect
an organisation or a company or a firm (consumer preferences, available
markets etc.). The following survey report cast in memorandum format

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from the research director for a south eastern grain distributor, gives
clear and specific information directly. Notice that an explanation
(background information) of how and where these data were obtained is
absent in the report as these are insignificant as to the purpose of the
writer. To simplify interpretation of data, the writer arranged them in a
table.

Data : June 2, 1995

To : Mr. Atiur Rahman Miah
From : M. Khan, Research Director
Subject : Food-Grain Consumption Bangladesh 1979-82
Here are the data you requested on May 9 as part of your division’s
annual marketing survey.

BANGLADESH PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF FOOD

GRAINS
IN TAKA, 1979-82

1979 1980 1981 1982

Rice Production
Various types of rice and 3315.8 2216.8 2215.8 2218.8
Other rice production 1113.5 112.5 1112.8 1113.9
Sugar and food 1114.5 1113.5 1114.6 1114.7
Lentils of various types 2201.5 1202.5 1201.2 2201.03
Wheat flour 1115.5 1115.7 1116.5 1116.5

If you require additional information, please call Ms. Khan at 55555.

xc. Mr. S. Haque Vice President Marketing.

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Questions for Review

These questions are designed to help you assess how far you have
understood and can apply the learning you have accomplished by
answering (in written form) the following questions:

1. Define informal reports with an example.

2. What does a standard memo do? Does it follow any regular format?
Answer yes or no.
3. What are the three usual formats of informal reports?
4. What are miscellaneous reports?
5. What is a survey report?
6. What are the advantages of prepared form of report?

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Lesson-2: Introduction to formal reports

After reading this lesson you will be able to:
 explain the importance and nature of formal reports
 describe and prepare a title page, letter of transmittal, informative
abstract or summary, and table of contents of formal reports
 apply the sample model of different elements of a formal report for
writing any formal reports
 define the term supplement and explain why are supplements used in
the formal reports
 write the introduction-body-conclusion-section of a formal report by
following the guidelines provided.

Why do you need formal reports?

Whether in science, business, industry, government, or education, formal
reports, are written for decision makers : managers, executives, directors,
clients trustees, board members, community leaders, and the like. Inside
or outside your organisations. These are the people who decide whether
your suggestions are sound, whether your project will be worthwhile,
whether your service or product is useful. So formal reports cover any
topic important to business operations. The most common types include,
information based reports, problem solving reports, proposals, research
reports, analytical reports, instructional reports, descriptive reports, etc.
The formal report is used instead of the memo, when the topic requires
lengthy discussion.
In writing formal reports your aim is to show how you arrived at your
conclusions and recommendations. Your approach will depend on your
subject, purpose and readers' need. As most often high level decision
will depend on your findings you must seek and interpret all data that
will help you make the best. recommendations. This is where you apply
your method of carrying out a research and writing activities such as
having mental preparation for analysing readers' needs and your purpose
of writing; gathering information from various sources, next arranging
and recording material, writing the introduction, development,
conclusion, and recommendations and finally preparing it in typed form.
In style formal report is relatively impersonal and restrained. Here the
writer does not refer to himself as I or we, instead third person references
such as "the writer", "the investigator"; "it was learned"; "investigation
shows" etc. are used.
What are supplements? Why do formal reports need
supplements?
Supplements are reference items generally added to a long report or to a
proposal to make the document more accessible to varied readers.
Supplements help readers follow technical sections. Different readers
often use one report for different purposes. According to their needs
readers can refer to one or more of the supplements, or skip them

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altogether. Some look for an overview; others want the details, others
are interested only in the conclusions and recommendation. Technical
personnel might focus on the body of a highly specialised report and on
the appendices for supporting data (maps, formula, calculations).
Executives and managers, supervisors might only read the transmittal
letter and the abstract (summary) and are likely to focus on the
conclusions and recommendations. So only by adding supplements to a
long report the writer can make it accessible to various readers for
various purposes. All supplements, of course, are written only after the
document itself has been completed.
A formal report supplements can be classified into two groups:
(1) Supplements that precede your report (front matter): cover, title
page, letter of transmittal, table of contents (and figures) and
abstract or summary of the report.
(2) Supplements that follow your report (end matter): glossary,
footnotes, endnote pages, appendix (ces) (information on these
have been provided in the last Unit of this book).
We have seen in the previous lessons that all reports (informal, formal)
must conform to the basic principles of communications: accuracy,
brevity and clarity and to the rules of construction: introduction, body,
conclusions and recommendations. Depending on the complexity of the
report each formal report might contain all of the following elements :
(A) Title Page
(B) Letter of Transmittal
(C) Table of Contents
(D) Summary or Informative abstract
(E) Introduction
(F) Body or Development (report text)
(G) Conclusions
(H) Costing
(I) Recommendation
(J) Glossary
(K) Appendix (ces)
(L) Bibliography

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Title page
Your title promises what the report will deliver by stating the report's
purpose and subject. The title page lists the report's title, writer’s name,
name of person(s) or organisation to whom the report is addressed, and
date of submission. Always write the final version after completely,
writing the report and make sure your title of the report is clear, accurate
comprehensive, and specific. Example of a clear title :

A PRELIMINARY DESIGN PROPOSAL FOR THE NEW LODGE

FACILITIES AT KUAKATA AREA

Do not number your title page, but count it as page i of your prefatory
pages. Centre the title horizontally on the page, three to four inches
below the upper edge, using all capital letters. A Sample title is given
below.

A PROPOSAL TO INVESTIGATE
THE BARRIERS TO
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN
MAN AND ORGANISATIONS

Prepared for
Asiatic Society of Bangladesh
5 Old Secretariat Road (Nimtoli)
Ramna, Dhaka 1000 Bangladesh

by
Suraiya Zafar
Resource Person in the
Training Programme in Communication
Skills

October 14, 1994

Letter of transmittal

Include a letter of transmittal with any formal long report addressed to a

specific reader. If you are writing a report for your work place then the
letter usually precedes the title page but if you are writing a report as a
college student your letter of transmittal most often comes immediately
after the title page and becomes a part of your report. This kind of letter
adds a note of courtesy and provides you a space for personal remarks or
opinions.

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Now depending on the situation your letter might also refer to sections of
your study along with any problems in gathering data. It might also
provide a list of people and organisations to whom you are indebted for
help, advice, or information. So the letter of transmittal can be tailored
to a particular reader and has an introduction-body-conclusion structure.
(example given below as a sample of a formal report's letter of
transmittal).

A letter of transmittal

October 14, 1994

The General secretary

Asiatic Society of Bangladesh
5, Old Secretariat Road (Nimtoli)
Ramna, Dhaka 1000 Bangladesh

Dear Sir :
No one needs to be reminded about the present crisis of business
communication in the world especially, in the underdeveloped
countries. We are all faced to make do with poor communications.
Accordingly, I have spent long hours devising a plan to overcome this
present crisis of communications in the society. I think you and your
colleagues will agree that my plan is realistic and feasible.
I, therefore, submit the following proposal for your consideration.

Respectfully,

SURAIYA ZAFAR

Table of Contents
Your table of contents is a checklist and a map of the report for the
readers. So simply phrase major headings in the table of contents as in
the report (outline) assigning page numbers. Use horizontal dots
(...............................) to connect heading to page number. (example given
below)

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CONTENTS

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL ....................................................... ii

INTRODUCTION .......................................................................... I

Background ............................................................................... 1

Statement of Problem ................................................................ 1

Proposed Solution .................................................................... 2

Scope ........................................................................................ 3

METHODS .................................................................................... 3

CONCLUSION .............................................................................. 4

SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE ....................................................... 5

Summary or informative abstract

Summary is always written in non-technical style, it gives you the chance
to measure your control over the material. This abstract is sort of your
mini report and is always written after your report. Summary is the most
important part of your report as some busy experts or professionals will
neither have the time nor the inclination to read your entire report. They
will be interested to read the summary only to know what it is about. So
indicate briefly but clearly the scope of your report in not more than 350
words and write for general readers in clear simple language. A sample
of an informative abstract or summary of a formal report is given below.

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A SAMPLE OF AN INFORMATIVE ABSTRACT OR SUMMARY

OF A PROPOSAL

ABSTRACT
A PROPOSAL TO INVESTIGATE
THE BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN
MAN AND ORGANISATION

Effective communication is the life blood of any organisation. Today

with its increasing volume of information the business community
sees its time, energies, and its potential profits wasted by
communication that don’t effectively communicate. To overcome the
barriers, to put a stop to the break downs of communications; a
growing awareness among people to analyse the purpose of the
communication and readers' need should be developed. So I have
devised a plan to make people understand that communication skills
can be learnt by practice and perseverance. My proposal offers a
realistic plan for meeting the crisis of communication between man
and his environment. I shall use both the primary and secondary
sources of data to investigate the problem area. My primary sources
will include interviews with various officials of different
organisations. I shall roundup my primary research with letters,
personal visits, and telephone calls. My secondary sources will
include other publications on the problem, interpersonal relationships
in the departments and all other problems related to human resources
development. I shall further analyse and interpret the information
gathered from various sources following a methodical procedure and
provide adequate knowledge and advice for improving basic
communication skills.

Introduction
Your introduction section should give the reader necessary background
information (the term of reference, the reason the report has been called
for), indicate the area to be covered and explain how the subject is to be
developed.
At the end of your introduction the reader should have a general, overall
picture of where you work, what you do, how you collected data, and
what the report is about, and what is to follow next.

Development or report text (Body)

This is where you spellout your plan in enough detail for readers to
evaluate your report’s soundness. The main goal of this section is to
prove that your plan will work. It answers all these questions that are
applicable:

 How will it be done?

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 When will it be done?

 What materials, methods, and personnel will it take?
 What facilities are available?
 How long will it take?
 How much will it cost, and why?
 What results can we expect?
 How do we know it will work?
 Who will do it?
This section may be divided into two or more sections having
subsections for convenience in preparation or ease of understanding.

Conclusion and Recommendation

In conclusion you summarise, interpret, and restate the need for the
project or proposal report and persuade readers to act. So your
conclusion must reflect accurately the body section of your report. Your
recommendations for any further actions must be consistent with the
purpose of the report, the evidence presented, the interpretations given.
Information regarding glossary, appendix(ces), footnotes and
bibliography have been given in the last Unit of this book.
In writing all reports, know who your readers are, and how will they use
your information. Reports should not challenge the readers to
understand them, they should rather provide a challenge to the writer to
write briefly using simple precise and clear language. Keep in mind that
well designed visuals condense information displaying it in a meaningful
way. Appropriate visuals in your report will display abstract concepts in
concrete, geometric shape, so apply visuals wherever you need to do so.

Formal reports are usually long complex reports requiring sufficient

research, planning, organising, drafting, and revising procedures. Formal
reports are sometimes provided with supplements depending on the
nature of the report.

Question for Review

These questions are designed to help you assess how far you have
understood and can apply the learning you have accomplished by
answering (in written form) the following questions:

1. Why do people write formal complex reports instead of a memo?

2. What do you mean by supplement?
3. Do all the readers need all the supplements in a report?
4. What is an informative abstract?
5. What is the main purpose of writing a letter of transmittal?
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6. Do you think all reports follow the same principle of

communications? Yes or No.

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Lesson-3: Designing effective format and outlines formal

reports

After reading this lesson you will be able to:

 define an outline of a report
 explain the nature of a formal report
 prepare an outline all by yourself
 design an impressive format of a formal report

Introduction
We have seen in the previous lessons that all reports must conform to the
basic rules of communication  Introduction-body-conclusion and all
long formal reports might contain all the elements or some of the
elements discussed earlier according to the needs of the various readers.
Every writer spends more time in thinking and planning than writing.
Good writing calls for deliberate decisions: about what to say, how to
say, how to organise it, and how to revise it to make the whole thing
work. Writing begins in disorder. Messiness is a natural and often
essential part of writing in its early stages. Always compose the finished
outline after you complete writing the final draft of a long document. At
this final stage a finished outline serves as a quality control check on
your reasoning, and as a way of revealing to your readers a logical line of
thinking.

What is an outline?
An outline is an information map with which you organise your
information to make sense to your readers. A good beginning, middle,
and ending are indispensable for all reports but alter your own outline as
you see fit. The organisation of any report ultimately is determined by
what your readers need. An outline usually follows either of the two
systems of notation: the roman-numeral-letter-Arabic-numeral
system, or the decimal system. Notation is the system of division
makers. Use notation to show how each part relates to other parts and to
the whole.

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Numeral and decimal version of notation for the body of a report are
shown here side by side:

II
A 2.0
1 2.1
2 2.1.1
3 2.1.2
a 2.1.3
b 2.1.3.1
4 2.1.3.2

B and so on 2.1.4
2.2 and so on

The following model is adaptable to most reports directed toward

reaching a decision

GENERAL OUTLINE MODEL

I. INTRODUCTION
A. Definition, Description, and History
B. Statement of Purpose
C. Target Readers
D. Information Sources (including research methods and
materials)
E. Limitation of the Report
F. Scope of Coverage (sequence of major topics in the body)

II. BODY
A. First Major Topic
1. First Sub topic of A
2. Second Sub topic of A
a. First Sub topic of 2
b. Second Sub topic of 2
(and so on sub-division carried as far as necessary)

III. CONCLUSION (Where everything is tied together)

A. Summary of Information in II (body)
B. Recommendations Based on Information in II.
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But no one model should be followed slavishly by any writer. Alter your
outline, revise it anytime you need to adjust it to your readers' need.
Formats in Workplace Writing
A useful document looks inviting and accessible to its readers. Format is
the look of a page, the layout of words and graphics. So beside having
worthwhile content, sensible outline, and readable style, a report must
also have good appealing format to attract readers attention.
Guidelines for Format Design
Whether you write with a type writer or a computer approach your
formatting decisions from top to down: first, consider the overall look of
your document; next, the shape of each paragraph; and finally, the size
and style of individual letters and words. These guidelines follow a top
down sequence, moving from large matters to small. Some general
guidelines are as follows:
 Use the right paper and ink
Type or print your finished document in black ink, on 8.5" by 11" or
A4 size plain white paper. Use ray-bond paper with a high fibre
content (25 percent minimum)
 Use adequate white space
White space separates sections in a document, headings, and visuals
from text, paragraphs on a page, sentences in a paragraph, words in a
sentence, letters in a word. Well-designed white space imparts a
shape to the whole document, provides breathing room between
blocks of information.
 Leave ample margins
On your 8.5" by 11" page leave margins no smaller than these:
top margin = 1.25 inches
bottom margin = 1.5 inches
right margin = 1.25 inches
left margin = 2 inches
 Keep line spacing consistent
For any document single space within paragraphs and double space
in between; for longer documents, double space within paragraphs.
Indent your double spaced paragraphs or separate them with an
additional line of space so that your readers can scan a long
document, and quickly locate what they need.
 Use short paragraphs
Short paragraph can make complex material more digestible such as
giving step-by-step instructions, or emphasising vital information.
 Number pages consistently
For a long document (formal report) count your title page as page i,
without numbering it, and number all front matter pages, including

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your table of contents and abstract with lower case roman numerals
(ii,iii,iv). Number the first page of your report and subsequent pages
with Arabic numerals (1,2,3).
Apart from these (above) guidelines whatever form you select for a
document, whichever highlights you choose, be consistent all over and
never combine too many highlights.
EXAMPLE OF A FORMAL REPORT
The following example of a formal report is only one among countless
possibilities.

REPORT ON THE
DHAKA UNIVERSITY CAFETERIA

I. TERMS OF REFERENCE
On 15 May, 1995 the Vice Chancellor asked the officers of the Student’s
union to investigate the services provided by the university’s Cafeteria in
the campus, report its finding and make necessary recommendations.

II. PROCEDURE
The members, the chosen officers of the union visited the cafeteria
during the morning and afternoon breaks and at lunch time for a period
of 4 weeks and observed the way in which the cafeteria operated making
notes on the services provided. They have also examined the quantity
and quality of the food.

III. FINDINGS
A. Provision of Food
1. The quality of the food:- The officers of the union took lunch
for about a month and all of them agreed that the quality of the
food was quite satisfactory.
2. The quantity of the food:- All the officers agreed that the lunch
was a bit small and the portion of meat and fish were
particularly inadequate. They also noted that the size of the
meals was quite adequate on many occasions and the breakfast
and afternoon tea were of good quantity.
3. The distribution of food:- Students wanting any kind of
refreshment and meals had to join the queue and it took them
over ten minutes before they collected the food. This was
because there was only one person serving for the whole
cafeteria
B. Seating Accommodation
1. The size of the Cafeteria:- The seating area in the cafeteria is
only 20 metres by 8 metres. This seemed quite inadequate for
the whole university students.

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2. The seating arrangement:- The tables are placed fairly close

together so it is sometimes difficult to get into a chair.

IV. CONCLUSIONS

1. Provision of Food
Although the quality of the food was satisfactory they were
inadequate and because of the poor serving arrangements students
wasted a substantial part of the lunch hour waiting and for this
reason they were late in attending afternoon classes.
2. Seating Accommodation
The floor space of the cafeteria was sufficient, but the seating
arrangements were not adequate to cope with the mid day rush.
V. RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Size of portions
In organising
information writers The portion of food should be increased
use outlining as a
simple device or 2. Serving Arrangements
tool for orienting
information to the A good number of staff should be employed in serving the food,
readers. and arrangements should be made so that there are separate queues
for light refreshments and lunches and hot snakes on the other.
3. Tables
The tables should be better spaced. Three more small tables could
be placed in the alcove at the further end of the cafeteria. If these
are provided with chairs, the seating arrangements for lunch should
be adequate.
10, JUNE 1995 Rina Wahab
Mahbub Jamil
Shihab Zafar
Tanveer Tareq
Officers of the Students Union
Dhaka University

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Question for Review

1. What is an outline? What does an outlines follow?
2. Prepare a model outline for a formal report containing introduction -
body - conclusion structure only and no supplements.
3. There are some guidelines in topic form below. Are these guidelines
meant for preparing an outline or designing the format of a formal
report?
1. Use the right paper and ink
2. Use adequate white space
3. Leave ample margins
4. Keep line spacing consistent
5. Use short paragraphs
6. Number pages consistently

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Lesson-4: Introduction to technical writing

After reading this lesson you will be able to:

 define technical writing
 distinguish between technical and non technical writing
 explain what is a press release
 write a press release following the sample provided.

What is technical writing?

Suppose that you are writing an instruction manual for some people on
"How to prepare a ground for a tent." In the introduction you are
informing readers that these instructions are for partially informed
readers who know how to use spade, shovel, and rake for clearing the
ground but who are approaching this task for the first time. Afterwards
you provided the steps to be followed in carrying out the job. Now while
giving this kind of information you have taken extra care in choosing
precise words and correct steps so as not to mislead your readers through
the steps. Because your instructions will help the readers do the job
efficiently you have to aim for utmost clarity in your information. Your
instruction should have only one interpretation so that the readers get
In technical writing
specific, direct information instead of becoming confused with your
you communicate information. So information based on facts and having only one
and interpret interpretation is called technical information. In technical writing you
specialized communicate and interpret specialised information for your readers'
information for
your readers practical use. Readers may need your information to answer a
practical use. question, solve a problem, perform a task, or make a decision. All
Readers may need technical documents are prepared in response to some definite situation,
your information to to fill some specific needs. In technical writing vague, descriptive words
answer a question,
solve a problem, (such as 'a room', 'at a high speed') are replaced by more precise words
perform a task or (eight by twelve foot room, eighty miles per hour) that give readers a
make a decision. clear picture. So as an expression of facts technical writing always give
only one interpretation of its information. Examples of technical reports
are, weather reports, accident reports, police reports, instruction manuals,
lab report, technical description of items, processes, etc.

Technical writing is that writing, where writers provide factual

information for readers' practical use. The responsibility of a
technical writer is to observe, interpret, and report from a technical
point of view: based on facts and verifiable evidence.

Features of Technical Writing

All useful technical documents share the following features :
 Each is produced by a writer who fully understand the subject.

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 Bangladesh Open University

 Each is focused purely on the subject not on the writer. The

readers are not interested to know what the writer feels and thinks
about the subject, they want to get the straight forward information
about the subject only.
 Each conveys one meaning, allowing one interpretation only.
 The writers of technical documents always adjust their message to
the specific needs of their readers.
 Each document is written at a level of technicality that will be
understood by the specific readers (i.e. general information for non
technical general persons and specialised information for the
highly technical persons such as Computer Programmer,
Engineers, Scientists).
 All technical documents are categorised as efficient documents,
where every detail serve a useful purpose.

Instead of merely happening, a technical document is

carefully designed to share all the above features.

Non Technical Writing

Basically poetry, fiction, essays would not form technical writing

because they are written on the basis of the writer's imagination, Non technical
writing conveys
intuition, and feelings. Also a story, poem or essay can suggest any impression of the
number of meanings and this kind of writing are subjective and termed as writer about any
non technical writing. So non-technical writing conveys impression of subject and
the writer about any subject and contain little facts about it. For example contains little facts
in it.
the discussion of a village could be the theme of both poetry, essay
writing or technical writing as in the following passages:

A. Technical description of a village  The village called 'Shimla'

lies in the northern corner of Dhaka district. It stretches 650
kilometres from north to south and 350 kilometres from east to
west, there is a pine forest in the north east side and a bazar of
100/50 meters on the west. There is a school, a mosque, and a
health complex too for the benefit of the villagers. The population
density of the village varies from 38 people per square kilometre
through medium density to higher density of about 300 people or
more per square kilometre. There are about 800 houses in the
village.
B. Non Technical description of a village  The village Shimla is
situated in the northern part of Dhaka city. It's a village full of life
and happiness. People are mostly farmers. They grow different
kinds of rice, vegetables, pulses and sell those in the nearby
market. The children can go to a nearby school in the village. The
elders enjoy the quietness of the surroundings and most often they
go to the mosque to attend their prayers. This is a village where

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there is no political parties to be seen as the elders of the village

are too old to waste their energies. There are about 800 houses in
the village. The members of these houses may not have the
comforts of modern living but they do have mental peace,
happiness and serenity of village life.
Non technical sentence : These collar ties are too heavy.
Technical Sentence : These collar ties weigh 150 kilograms a
piece, thereby exceeding the load
tolerance by 20 percent.

Press Release
Any private organisation or group may issue a press release which means
written information given to the press for public consumption. Press
release, handouts, press notes are important source of information.
These type of information come from various organisations, clubs and
association, business houses, political parties, etc., to a newspaper office.
Many of these information contain news value of varying degrees and
the newspaper office pick up only those carrying genuine and important
news value. Here the editor will decide which points to accept and
which to ignore. He will definitely ignore the points which seem
Press release is a important to those who have issued the press release but have nothing to
type of technical interest the readers. The editor will also edit the press release sent by
information which
gives factual any outsiders to make it clear, accurate and jargon free. The editor will
information to make sure before organising the press release that it will satisfy readers'
public. needs and interest. So a press release is a type of technical information
too, giving factual information to the public. But the writer may
combine both technical and non technical points of view in one single
information occasionally. Now let us look at the passage below which
have been sent by a lady to the newspaper office as a press release
information.

Dhaka: Moulvi Saleh Ahmed a very old retired government officer died
at 8:30 p.m. at the Holy Family Hospital on April 10, 1995 in the city.
He was 75. He was suffering from an internal haemorrhage. His wife
was near his bed along with three daughters, 2 sons and a host of
relatives.
If you notice carefully, then, you can see that there is no need to call the
man old when the age is already mentioned and also the exact death time
is not important in this case. So just April 10, 1995 would have been
enough. Now look at the revised version below:
Dhaka: Moulvi Saleh Ahmed a retired government officer died on April
10, 1995 following an internal haemorrhage at the Holy Family Hospital.
He was 75. He is survived by his wife, three daughters, two sons and a
host of relatives to mourn his death.
So this is how the editors of the newspaper office transforms a written
information (sent by anybody) into an accurate precise one to be released
by the press.

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Press releases are written information sent to the news office by

voluntary organisation, club or social persons for the consumption of
the public. The editors of the newspaper will sort, organise and
transform that written information into an informative factual report
before placing it as press release.

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Question for Review

These questions are designed to help you assess how far you have
understood and can apply the learning you have accomplished by
answering (in written form) the following questions:
Convert the following passage into a press release for the daily news
paper of your city.
"A person of about 50 died on the road of Mohakhali in the city
yesterday June 11, 1995. He was hit by a local train at Mohakhali rail
crossing. The body was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital
Morgue for autopsy by some social workers.
A case was filed with Gulshan Thana in this connection by the local
police.
Which of the following sentences are representing technical information
and which are non technical? Put T beside the technical sentence and N
for non technical one.
a. Our room is quite large.
b. The weather is beautiful today
c. My office is having a brick wall, a rug with a four inch hole in
the centre five chairs with broken handles and a ceiling with
plaster missing in three or four spaces.
d. My salary is Tk. 100,000.00 per year.
e. His teaching complex has an awful view, terrible furniture and a
depressing atmosphere.
f. I have a car which runs forty miles per gallon city; fifty high
way.
g. Mr. Arefin bought a car with an impressive gas mileage.

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