General Hints on Drafting Reports :

Reports are too numerous to be governed by precise rules. However, a few general hints for drafting them are given below:

(a) Collection of material or data being the foundation on which the report stands; the writer must collect them by referring to office records, interviewing people, visiting different places, etc., as may be necessary.

(b) The material collected as aforesaid has to be arranged in a logical sequence so that the report, when made out, may read like a narrative.

(c) The report should have a leading and a preface explaining its purpose and nature.

(d) Its language has to be simple, clear and unequivocal short sentences are to be preferred to long ones. It should be drafted in an impersonal manner, making use of “third person‟.

(e) If the report is likely to be lengthy, it should be divided into parts and appropriate sub – heading should be used. The report must then contain a summary also. Many people adopt the practice of giving the gist in one page and the matter in detail later in the report.

(f) Where the directors are not technical persons, technical phraseology should be eschewed, yielding place to plain and simple phraseology, the idea being to make the report, as far as practicable, easily understandable by those for whom it is meant.

(g) The conclusions put forward should be founded on the material or data collected; also these should be unbiased in character.