Improve Your Communication Skills, 2nd Edition

150 Improve your Communication Skills
Creating the outline is a really useful stage in constructing a 
report. You can use the outline to check with the report’s ‘client’ 
that it is developing as they would wish, to make changes to your 
report without having to rewrite lots of text, and to establish that 
you know exactly what your key ideas are for each section. The 
outline can itself form the summary of the report. It will also be 
invaluable for those readers who only want reports that cover a 
single sheet of A4. For them, the outline 
is
the report. 
Outline of a report 
Message 
We should locate new plant in Gatheringham. 
Introduction 
Our business is rapidly expanding. Existing manufacturing 
plant will reach capacity within three years. We urgently 
need to decide where to locate new manufacturing plant. 
This document summarises the findings of the relocation 
project and justifies its recommendation in strategic terms. 
1. Capital costs in Gatheringham are estimated at 10 per 
cent below those of the next best location. 
1.1 Constructors’ bids in the area average 10 per cent 
below those in other locations. 
1.2 Land costs are on average 13 per cent lower than in 
other areas. 
2. Operating costs in Gatheringham are estimated to be 15 
per cent lower than in other areas. 
2.1 Labour costs are 7 per cent less than the national 
average. 
2.2 Overheads are estimated at 9 per cent less than in 
current plants. 
2.3 Tax incentives for operating in this zone are very 
attractive. 
( c) 2011 Kogan Page L imited, All Rights Reserved.

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151 Putting it in Writing
Writing a first draft 
Writing the document should be considerably easier now that the 
outline is complete. Essentially, you need to expand the outline 
by adding text, headings, and – for reports in particular – 
numbering and graphics. The plan of the outline is in place, and 
the sentences in the outline give you a clear idea of what you 
want to say in each paragraph and section. 
Think of writing the first draft of your document as a separate 
activity from either planning or editing.