Report Writing

Language style

The language style probably needs to be quite formal; to some extent you are placed in the role of an informed expert; therefore, it would be expected you might have researched ideas, summarised ideas found recent cases, read recent articles and you pull together and interpret with a professional advisory voice. The tone is professional and polite - offering suggestions and offering advice and options. Keep in mind your ideas may be rejected and the reader has options to gauge adopting an informative yet respectful tone.

Communication with the audience.

Consider whether you are writing for the general public or for a particular audience; gauge how expert they may or may not be. Are there key concepts they would understand, or do you need to give full explanations? Are they likely to have particular concerns because of their professional knowledge base? Imagine the above report on fast fashion written for human rights lawyers, employees, or international human resources managers. The context and emphasis would be different in each case.

First person or third person

Check the assessment criteria and task guidance to determine if you are to write in the third or third person. Here’s the difference:

First person (subjective view): ‘I, in my opinion...’
Third person (objective view): ‘It could be suggested...’

In some reports you may combine both. For example, if you are writing a report on your personal development, there may be sections where you use the ‘I’ voice. If you are in any doubt, use the third person.

Authoritative and professional tone

Your report’s voice needs to have an authoritative tone; often you will gain distance by writing in the third person:

‘It is clear that European fashion markets…’

If you do use the first person ‘I’ voice to include your experience and the impact this has had on your thinking, You can add authority and professional knowledge by linking it to theory or your evidence base:

‘My experience gained in European markets suggests young fashion consumers are willing to retain clothing for longer; this is supported by Denninger and Schwarz (2021) who found 2.5 years was the average length of time consumers hold onto fashion items between the ages of 18-24.’

When you arrive at offering recommendations, suggestions, or solutions, aim for a consultative, professional tone which gives a strong direction, but which enables the reader to accept or reject your solutions.

Click through the examples below to find out more about the differences between telling and advising, using first and third person and use of subtle formal language compared to informal language:

An informed, advisory voice can also be quite subtle and measured in delivering ideas that build through your paragraphs into evidence that informs the recommendations.

You can also strengthen the points with adverbs which help communicate your stance:

ostensibly arguably admittedly obviously regrettably

You might also include more reasoning to back up suggestions in your advisory voice:

‘Whilst customers currently are willing to tolerate outsourced fashion, the tide is turning and according to Shah and Petersen (2022) some consumers are basing purchasing decisions on ethical concerns. Business agility would help companies to future proof their profit base.’

Paragraph structure for voice and criticality.

Even when writing reports, you still need to ensure that your writing is critical. Use a three-stage model such as Point + Evidence + Discussion to structure your paragraphs, allowing you to critique the evidence with your authoritative voice. See more on paragraph structure in our Introduction to Academic Writing Guide.

Signposting for clarity

Use signposting language such as ‘however’, ‘conversely’, ‘to summarise’ or ‘in section 3’ to ensure that readers follow the flow of your argument. See more on signposting in our Introduction to Academic Writing Guide.

Referring to figures and tables

Informative visual content needs to be numbered, and a relevant statement added in your text.

Whilst decorative illustrations, for example on the cover page, may be exempt, other material will be numbered consecutively as either Tables or Figures, starting at Fig. 1, or Table 1 as appropriate. Note that in software such as Microsoft Word you can use the Insert Caption and Cross Reference features to keep track of the numbering automatically. See Insert a Cross-Reference (using Microsoft Word 2016).

It’s also good practice to add some commentary. Imagine a non-expert reading the report and offer some interpretation of figures and graphs. Briefly explain what they show and link it to your argument. For example: here’s some text commentary with the relevant figure and its caption:

Figure 1 indicates that those in younger age ranges have fewer concerns about fast fashion; it is likely they would not be opposed to purchasing fast fashions on ethical grounds.