Report Purpose and Audience
In a technical writing course, the report assignment serves several purposes: a) it gives you some experience in writing a report; b) displays your research on a topic; and c) shows how you came to your conclusions on that topic. The report is often the conclusion of a weeks-long research and writing process that goes through many stages until it gets to the end point.
Another point to keep in mind relates to the audience for different kinds of reports. Consider the example of a report written to a supervisor at a solar power company over the effectiveness of the solar panels currently used at a location. The report’s primary audience may be an executive, whose knowledge of the technicalities is very broad. The executive will read the report and understand the profits and losses but will need to consult a technician to understand the technical aspects of panel usage. The content and language used for these two different audiences will need to be adjusted to fit the writing situation.
To help write for the specific document’s audience, it is a good idea to define your reader and sketch out some qualities about them before you begin drafting. This information will help you persuade the reader to accept your research and conclusions, as well as help keep your own writing on task. It can also help you decide what research to include or eliminate from the report, how best to visually display your data, and other considerations to get your conclusion and/or recommendations accepted.
Ask yourself:
- Who is your reader?
- Your reader should be someone with decision-making authority over your topic. They could implement recommended changes or just need the information you provide. They are action-takers in a corporation, organization, business, or agency. In some situations, the reader of a report may also be a client—a person who hired you to compile the research and write the report.
- What type of reader are they?
- An expert, technician, executive, gatekeeper, or non-specialist?
- What is their background and knowledge level on the topic?
- What are their needs, interests, and culture and values? What will likely persuade them to implement your idea? For example, imagine you researched the merits of four- day versus five-day workweeks for maximum productivity. Your research led to the conclusion that four-day workweeks would increase company revenue and employee satisfaction in several areas. You will want to frame your ideas for improvement in terms that management will be interested in, such as productivity, savings in building upkeep and utilities, and performance. Otherwise, they may be unconvinced that your solution will alleviate the burden of the problem.
The type of report you create will depend on the purpose of the document and who will read it. For example, you may wish to create a report to persuade them to make recommended changes, or perhaps you were asked to compile a report over current events or statuses at a company. The level of formality will also be a factor in your decisions over content and format.
There is several aspects of the report that you need to determine before drafting. Identifying these factors is vital to creating a report that will be accepted by the reader— whether the report is written for internal or external readers, and if the report is solicited or unsolicited.
Internal or External
- Internal: A report to someone within your organization (a business, a government agency, etc.). For example, if you submit a report to your supervisor that recommends improvements to more effectively reply to customer inquiries, you would create an internal report.
- External: A report that is written from one separate, independent organization or individual to another such entity. With an external report, you will need to not only persuade the reader to accept your conclusions on the topic, but also establish credibility. The typical example is an independent consultant writing a report on company productivity for another firm.
Solicited or Unsolicited
- Solicited: The recipient has requested the report. The solicitation may come in the form of a direct verbal or written request, but it is not uncommon for solicitations to be an indirect, open-bid to the public, and formally published for everyone to see. For example, a city government will advertise for an independent contractor to reinforce the structural integrity of several local bridges. The city may announce the project’s budget and solicit contractors to submit a report outlining what repairs they could make in exchange for the advertised budget.
- Unsolicited: The recipient has not requested your report. With unsolicited reports, you must convince the recipient that a problem or need exists in addition convincing them to accept your conclusions and/or implement change.
