Expert: Leslie - 10/22/2007

Question
hi there,
i am in the process of writing a professional report which forms part of an undergrad uni assessment. In the brief it just says i should choose an appropriate structure and it should be produced in a professional manner. What I would like to do is a like in magazines, in terms of layout and style. i was just wondering if you had any examples to show of what makes a good professional report, the report must be user friendly and assume the reader has little knowledge of the subject matter.

Answer
Greg,

While you may like to have a report that appears like a magazine article, that style would not be an appropriate style for a report. Magazines typically are in a column format with headlines.

An appropriate structure would be headings starting with an executive summary. The background, the body of your report, a listing of your points, and a summary (depending on the type of report), would be more appropriate than a magazine article.
You might try this website for some suggestions: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/reportW/index.html

Leslie