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In today’s hurry-hurry, everything-was-due-yesterday business world, managers and clients are often too rushed to read the lengthy reports presented to them. They may need to know—before they commit the time—that the material in the report is important and germane to their concerns. And let’s face it, they may never even read the lengthy document that was so much trouble to prepare.
Voilà! The executive summary to the rescue, for lengthy reports, proposals, business plans and white papers. A shorter version of such a summary can be called an index, an abstract or an outline, and it’s often used for advertorials, brief reports, white papers, and even sales letters. Abstracts are commonly used in academic and scientific journals, where they serve the same purpose: giving busy readers a taste before they chew.
You can decide on a case-by-case basis which kind of summary works best, according to the nature of your project and your purpose. But it’s a good idea to leave a reasonable chunk of time for doing it well. Why? Significant judgments and decisions are routinely made on the basis of the summary alone. The higher up the corporate ladder you go, the more likely this is. Many CEOs just do not have time to read all the reports and proposals piled on their desks.
So here are some choices.
The executive summary is typically the most challenging format and demands some thought. It is best done after the document itself is finished, and it needs to be self-contained, so that someone who reads only the summary will understand the gist of the problem and its solution. This means it must sound well-reasoned and lead to the conclusions you want. Think of it as a call to action. Communicating a sense of urgency may be appropriate.
Content
Here are some hints on how to write a useful executive summary.
- Create a good title for it, rather than just calling it “Executive Summary.”
- Write a strong lead that highlights the topic’s importance and why the report was needed and written.
- In the middle section, describe the actions that were (or could be) taken and/or the products that were developed (or could be developed).
- Include the central points that support the paper’s recommendations.
- Finish with conclusions, recommendations for action, and suggestions for further study or research as appropriate. It may be helpful to think of it as a reporting job, demanding your best journalism techniques to “report on the report.”
If your report is directed at more than one audience, such as executives in different corporate units or working abroad, consider writing different executive summaries that address each group’s perspectives and needs.
Length
How long should an executive summary be? The usual advice is to make it no more than 10 percent of the original document’s length, although it can be shorter than that, as long as it defines the subject and its importance, presents the findings or actions, and offers conclusions and recommendations.
Alternative styles
The “formal” executive summary, which is basically a narrative, is the one described above. Other summarizing techniques include:
- Bullet points
- A combination of narrative and bullet points
- A numbered sequence
Which one you use depends on the nature and length of your report. Shorter reports often work best with a brief bulleted list, while lengthy, detailed reports are usually best summarized in a narrative format. Advertorials of four pages or so frequently have a short, narrative paragraph on the cover page, or a bulleted list headed: “What’s Inside.”
Beyond making life easier for busy executives, of course you ideally want to encourage readers to venture beyond the summary and to read the report itself. To do that, your bullet points, numbered items or whatever you use must be clear, inviting and “punchy,” especially for proposals. Easier said than done!
Some examples
Here’s a brief narrative abstract, which captures the essence of a white paper and aims to draw the reader into the topic: empowering electronic businesses.
“To succeed, e-businesses need to implement a highly scalable, continuously available information-centric storage infrastructure. Such an infrastructure can enable an e-business to move quickly and with agility, operate reliably and at peak performance, and lessen risk. This white paper describes this process and how it can benefit your business.”
This particular white paper, titled “Information Technology Infrastructure Analysis: Enterprise Storage’s Role in Empowering E-Business,” actually uses both the brief abstract above, which is kind of a teaser, and a full narrative executive summary, which runs for five paragraphs and about 450 words, a good length for an eight-page paper. In this instance, it was called “Executive Summary,” rather than being given a separate and more interesting title.
Here’s an example using the numbered sequence technique. The summary is headed: “Three Quick Takeaways,” and it gives harried readers a quick overview:
- When the technology team makes sacrifices, make sure its members get adequate recognition from the bosses.
- Chief information officers can’t be totally hands-on for every project, so it’s crucial to figure out the right management approach on a case-by-case basis.
- State and local governments need to act with due diligence when considering information technology investments.
Another format is part of a sales letter and uses the bulleted summary to spell out the benefits of the product for the reader:
Our new software solutions help you:
- Ensure regulatory compliance and reduce costs.
- Lessen business disruptions and losses.
- Automate problem identification and remediation.
- Simplify patch and configuration management.
Here’s a topical summary that briefly captures the meat of this particular advertorial, which was written for technology marketers.
Why Market Our Solutions?
Pros: Customers need them; they’re profitable services.
Cons: None
Bottom line: For your shop, they make sense.
As you can see, summaries can take many forms and may be called by various names. What they have in common are brevity, “punchiness” and the goal of making life easier for the audience.
Natalie Canavor is a business writer, communications consultant and journalist who was formerly a national magazine editor and communications department director.
Claire Meirowitz is an editor, writer, proofreader and project manager with a background in publishing and university public relations.
Together they own and operate C&M Business Writing Services, which creates publications, e-media, communication models and training programs. Their book, Business Writing for the Digital Age: The Only Guide You’ll Ever Need for Print & E-Media, will be published in 2009 by Prentice Hall. Natalie and Claire are past presidents of IABC/Long Island (New York). Reach them at
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