Basic guides for school students on how to prepare a good report and presentation slides. These skills are hopefully to help them to prepare better reportsand presentation materials for academic assessment requirements at school,university and later in their career

1. FOR
SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
By
ZAINI ABDUL WAHAB
2015

2.  Introduction & Definitions
 Types Of Reports
 Steps In Report Writing
 Preparing The Presentation Materials
 Discussion & What’s next?

3.  Students would be able to:
› Explain the purpose of report writing & types
of reports
› Prepare effective reports based on given
guidelines
› Prepare effective presentation materials for
the report written

4.  A document that presents information in
an organized format for a
specific audience and purpose.
 Types of reports
› Memos, minutes, lab reports, book reports,
progress reports, justification reports,
compliance reports, annual reports &
policies and procedures

6.  Documents that are
accurate, objective
and complete
 Well-written, clearly
structured & expressed
in a way that holds the
reader's attention &
meets their
expectations

7. Good writers are born that way
 No one is born with a natural understanding of
grammar, punctuation, or proper mechanics
 All writers must learn the same basics in order to
improve
Only professional writers need to know how to write
 Nearly every job requires some form of writing
 The better a particular person writes, the more
job opportunities that person will have
Unless a person is a good writer, he or she shouldn’t
write at all
 All writers with all levels of skill can become
better by writing frequently

8. Writers wait for inspiration to write
 Successful writers attempt to chase down
creativity through the act of writing rather
than waiting for it to naturally appear
Writing is always hard
 Writing can be made easier through practice
& patience
 Using the proper mechanics & techniques,
 Acquiring a proper understanding of
grammar & punctuation

10. As a columnist in THE HEAT weekly newspaper(2013)

11.  Understanding the types of writing a
report involves
 Being able to identify the audience &
purpose of your report
 Knowing how reports are read by your
audience
 Knowing the purpose of each section in
a report (not just where the information
goes)
 Understanding how good structure of
your report helps the reader find the
information they want
 Being able to communicate well both
in writing,using graphical data & photos
The ability to write
good reports will stay
with you.
Once you leave
school & university,
good report writing
principles of writing
informatively for a
specific audience &
purpose will help you
communicate well in
whichever career you
choose.

12. Short report
 Title page
 Introduction
 Discussion
 Recommendations
 References
Science report
 Title page
 Introduction
 Method & materials
 Results
 Discussion
 Conclusion
 Appendices
 References
Business report
 Title page
 Executive summary
 Table of contents
 Introduction
 Discussion
 Conclusion
 Recommendations
 Appendices
 References
Engineering report
 Title page
 Executive summary (optional)
 Introduction
 Objectives
 Analysis
 Discussion
 Recommendations & action
plan
 Conclusion
 Appendices
 References
Research report
 Title page
 Executive summary
 Introduction
 Method / methodology
 Results / findings
 Discussion
 Conclusions
 Recommendations
 Appendices
 Bibliography

14. The purpose of the report
› what's it about
› what's required & why is it
needed?
How to know?
 Read the request for a report
› Instructions & any other
information you've been
given about the report.
 Reread the request or
instructions,then answer these
questions
› What,why & when is it
required?
› Who requires it?
 Do you need help with
answering any of these
questions?
 Once you're clear about the
above, use your answers
to draft your 'Terms of
reference

15. The steps you've taken to prepare the
report
Decide on the procedure you'll follow
& how you'll write the report
Ask yourself:
 What information do I need?
 Do I need to do any background
reading?
 What articles or documents do I
need?
 Do I need to contact the library
for assistance?
 Do I need to interview or observe
people?
 Do I have to record data?
 How will I go about this?
Also ask yourself:
 When do I need to do it & when to
start?
› Mark this date in your
calendar
› How much time do I need to
complete it?
 Decide when you're going to
complete the various sections
› Mark these 'mini deadlines' in
your calendar

16. You've planned your investigation/research. This is
what you need to do next:
 Find the information you need
 Keep careful notes of what you find & don’t
assume you’ll remember everything you read
or find
 Make sure the information you find is relevant
and appropriate.
 Check your assessment requirements &
guidelines
 Checl marking schedule regularly to make
sure you're on the right track.
 What you find out form the information
gathering will form the basis, or main body, of
your report,

17.  All reports are divided into
sections
› they have a similar structure
but some details may differ
› If you're not sure what's
required, ask your
teacher/lecturer
 More formal reports often
have a title page
 The parts/sections, of a
report usually have headings
and subheadings
› headings are
often numbered

18.  Use the structure you've
decided
› Write the headings down,
and start filling in the gaps
 Terms of reference/Purpose
 Procedure
 Findings
› The basis of your report
› Result of your reading,
observations, interviews &
investigation
› Graphs are a highly
effective form of
communication and useful
for summarising complex
material
 To include additional
information in
an appendix/attachment
› Usually labelled Appendix A,
Appendix B, etc
› Each appendix should start
on a new page

19.  Interpret the information you
have found
 How to start?
› Read through your findings &
ask yourself:
› What have I found?
› What's significant or important
about my findings?
› What do my findings suggest?
 Write your conclusions
› The conclusions must be based
on your findings – don't include
any new information

20.  What you think the solution
to the problem/what
should happen next
 How to decide on what to
recommend?
› Reread your findings & your
conclusions
› Think about them.
› What actions should the reader
of the report carry out?
› Are your recommendations
practical?
› Have you included enough detail
so that the reader knows what
needs to be done & who should
do it?
 Your recommendations
must be based logically
on your conclusions
› Ordered from most to
least important &
written as a numbered
list

21. You may be required to include a
executive summary or list of
contents
 Check your instructions to
make sure
The executive summary
 tells the readers what the
report is about
 includes a summary of the
recommendations
 Usually about 100 words long

22.  This is a list of all the sources you've
referred to in the report

23.  Have you followed the
instructions?
 Have you included all the
required sections? Are they in the
correct order? Check your
structure & make sure.
 Is your information accurate?
 Are there any gaps? Do you need
more information?
 Does your report read well? Would
adding a graph or table make it
easier to follow?
 Is your argument logical? Does
the information you present
support your conclusions &
recommendations?
 Have you explained the terms,
symbols and abbreviations that
you've used?
 Are the diagrams, tables, graphs,
and illustrations numbered &
labelled?
 Have you formatted your report
correctly?
 Have you edited and proofread
your report? If possible, get
someone else to check your
report.

25. 1. Keep it Simple
2. Limit bullet points & text
3. Limit transitions & builds (animation)
4. Use high-quality graphics
5. Have a visual theme, but avoid using
PowerPoint templates
6. Use appropriate charts
7. Use color & choose your fonts well
8. Spend time in the slide sorter
Source: www.garrreynolds.com

26. Limit transitions & builds (animation)

28.  It’s too familiar & predictable!

32.  According to the Segmentation Principle of multimedia learning theory,
people comprehend better when information is presented in small
chunks or segments
 By getting out of the Slide View and into the Slide Sorter view, you can
see how the logical flow of your presentation is progressing

34.  Simple & reflecting the main
objective & contents of the
presentation
 Attractive to create the
immediate interest of the
audience-to suite their
expectations

35.  Purpose/Objective
 Overview of the topic/key concepts/key definitions
 Process/Procedures/Steps involved
 Results & analysis
 Findings/Observations
 Recommendations
 Conclusions
 Final messages