Write Clearer Reports: Organize Your Ideas!

Q. My boss is picky about our reports and he’s been sending some of mine back to me for rewrites, and telling me to organize them better. Are there some simple hints you could give me that wouldn’t be like an English or writing course? — Flo P.

A. You bet. Actually, organizing your thoughts for a report or memo is a lot easier than you’d think. First, make sure each paragraph expresses only one main idea. All the sentences in a single paragraph should relate to each other. It should be absolutely clear to the reader what the paragraph is all about. If you find a sentence that doesn't relate to the others in a paragraph, it doesn't belong there. Move it to another place in your memo or report—or omit it.

Next, try to summarize that main idea in a topic or “focus” sentence—one that summarizes what the rest of the paragraph is all about. Since a topic sentence expresses your central idea, you write it as a broad, general statement that gives an overview of all the other, more supporting sentences. Some examples of topic sentences:

• Last month, profits were down 10 percent.

• We have a new idea to improve product A.

• Absenteeism on Mondays is draining our resources.

Think of each paragraph as a pyramid, with the broadest (topic or focus sentence) sentence at the base. In the normal position, the base of the pyramid is at the bottom, so the topic sentence would be at the end of the paragraph.

You can locate your topic sentence anywhere in the paragraph. Putting it at the end of the paragraph is ideal for sales letters or when you want your reader to read all the specifics before reaching a conclusion.

Or you can put your topic sentence at the beginning—which works well for an executive summary. Think of your pyramid as being in the “base-up” or “upside down” position. This lets your reader skip the details and focus on just the key ideas--just by reading the first sentence

Sometimes you may want to put the topic sentence in the middle for variety or to clarify, highlight, and reinforce the specifics. In this instance, you start with specifics, build to a topic sentence, then end with more specifics. The format of your paragraph would look like this—two pyramids with their bases touching.

Now, with each paragraph having just one main idea, and the sentences arranged in the form of a pyramid, all you have to do is move the "pyramids" around to organize your writing in a simple-to-understand order.

What’s Your Theme?

Look at all your pyramids/paragraphs and find a common theme that ties together all the ideas. Here are some common themes that will make it easy to organize anything you write:

Time

You list events or processes according to the time they happened: On Monday we started the program by…On Tuesday we…Then on Wednesday we…You can use the months, years, or even first, second, third for the time sequence.

Space

Here you focus on the physical relationships among persons, places or things, (east to west, small to big, up to down, inside to outside, etc.): “We started the new product campaign in California, then moved to Colorado, Michigan, New York and Maine.”

Criteria

Arrange your paragraphs according to a standard you use to measure something (sales volume, typing errors per page, scrap record. “Here’s the per cent of absenteeism each month, by department: Manufacturing – 8%; Accounting 7%; Purchasing, 5%; Customer Service, 3%.”

Importance

Present the most important ideas first and then those less important. “Three people quit today, because they didn’t feel safe working here…There’s a scrap problem with Machine #3.”

Familiarity

Go from the simple, easy-to-understand and familiar—to the more complex, hard-to-understand and unfamiliar. “Increasing or decreasing the current of a simple electromagnet will make it more— or less— magnetic. The same principle makes stereo speakers work: the stronger the current, the stronger the magnet that makes the cone vibrate and produce sounds.”

Comparison

Show the similarities among the ideas: “Prospecting customers professionally is like making new friends: you do it carefully, so both you and the friend enjoy the experience.”

Contrast

Show how the ideas are different from each other. “Bagels and doughnuts are cooked differently: A bagel is boiled, then baked, whereas a doughnut is fried in hot grease.”

Restate

Paraphrase the ideas, using different specifics for clarity: “This DVD player is dependable, yet economical to buy. Only three percent have ever been returned for a quality problem, and its price is the second lowest of the top five sellers on the market.”

Cause/Effect

Show how one thing caused another. “If you praise people or say thank you, they work harder and are more loyal.”

Problem/Solutions

Show the different ways to solve each problem. “We can increase profits by: cutting manufacturing costs; increasing sales volume, or by laying off people.”