How To Write A Report

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There’s a lot more to learning how to write a report than merely writing words. You have to make it so people will find those words appealing to read, easy on the eyes, and simple to follow along.

This involves formatting.

Whether you use Word, or OpenOffice, or any other word processor, you can easily change the format of your document by resetting the page view, the font, colors, headers and footers, etc.. The goal is to make it so your report will look good as a PDF, executable file, or even a web page.

Mind you, you’ll want to enhance these things, not to spread your document out so it appears larger than it is. But rather, you want it so people will find it enjoyable to read, and professional in appearance. You won’t fool anyone if you use large fonts with a standard format just to make your report 30 pages instead of 10.

But let’s talk about the font first.

The standard font in most word processors is “Times New Roman” set at 12 pixels. While this might be fine for a technical paper, there are several more appealing ones to choose from for an informative report. Look for a font with rounded corners like “Arial,” or “Verdana.” These are fonts that come as part of the default font packages on most, if not all computers. They’re easy to read and adjust nicely regardless of the size you opt for. Some fonts don’t look as nice if you bold or resize them, but these two usually do.

You can create a nice looking report by setting the font size to around 14 with headings set at 18 or 20 and sub-headings set for 16.

Be mindful to stick to the format you start out with. If you choose Arial or any other, stay with it throughout your report. Keep your text, headings and sub-headings the same size throughout as well. Likewise, if you opt to add color to your headings, then follow through with the same color coding to the end.

Some report writers use graphic images for their headings. This is fine as long as they blend in with the font and color of the rest of your document, and they follow the same pattern such as background color.

Margins are important too.

The average person’s eyes tend to focus on a central point when viewing a browser window or PDF document. If your text begins at the far left and carries over to the far right with very tiny margins it will cause more strain to the eyes.

Indenting your margins to leave a good inch on either edge of the page will make it easier to scan over and will keep your readers from having to scroll left to right with their eyes.

Keep your paragraphs short and to the point.

There’s no rule that says your paragraphs can’t be one sentence long. If that sentence makes the point you want to make and allows you to move on to the next point, then that’s fine. Think of paragraphs as groupings of thought. When the thought has been made clear, you can move on to the next, new paragraph.

The shorter and more concise your paragraphs are, the easier it’ll be to read and follow. By grouping your points into paragraphs, you’re also helping to assure yourself that your readers are “seeing” your message more in line with how you’re trying to present it.

Try to keep your paragraphs from running onto the next page too. If you’re displaying your report in PDF format, some older PDF readers tend to jerk when they flip to the next page which can throw off your readers’ concentration.

So there you have the basics of formatting a report. Don’t underestimate the importance of your report’s appearance. In this time of rapidly produced information products, we may tend to overlook this for the sake of expedience. But if you really want to learn how to write a report the proper way and assure yourself that people will appreciate it, then take heed of your report’s format.