Technical Reports: Basic Structure

Any report you produce will be  designed to persuade its readers in some way. This option is a good idea, so you should adopt it. This is the best solution to your problem, so you should attempt to put it into action. You will take the very simple four-step persuasive message organizational pattern introduced in the Organization Module and simply adapt it to the context:

  1. Get the readers’ attention (hook them).
  2. Build the readers’ interest in the “product.”
  3. Begin to build their desire for the “product.”
  4. Ask for them to perform some action related to the “product.”

Although some reports might simply present information without drawing any conclusions from it or providing any recommendations, most will fall under the category of “persuasive” in that they will attempt to get their audience to do something.

Once you’ve determined how you’re going to organize your report, you will want to know how to create material that is, in fact, persuasive. In order to convince your reader to do X or Y, you need to ensure that within each section of your report, you create a convincing analysis.

The main sections of the report you will be producing are

  • Front Matter
    • The Letter of Transmittal
    • The Title Page
    • Executive Summary
    • Table of Contents
    • List of Illustrations
  • Report Proper
    • Introduction
    • Body
    • Conclusions & Recommendations (will vary)
  • Back Matter
    • Works Cited or Bibliography
    • Appendix/ices [optional]
    • Glossary [optional]
    • Index [optional]

The next few pages of the module will discuss those sections in some detail.