Report writing - six simple rules for better business documents

Six rules which help to improve documents and technical writing: 1) start at the end, 2) signpost, 3) be prepared to revise, 4) cut down on long words, 5) be brief, 6) think of the reader.

Report writing

Six simple rules for better business documents

Andrew S C Ehrenberg

Six rules which help to improve documents and technical writing are (1) Start at the end; (2) Signpost; (3) Be prepared to revise; (4) Cut down on long words; (5) Be brief; (6) Think of the reader.

What is our aim when we prepare our reports? Do we want to impress by their length and learned style, or to be read, understood, and remembered? Technical writing is plagued by the belief that it will be judged by its weight - the more work we...

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