1. REPORT WRITING SKILLS AND
PRESENTATION TECHNIQUES
A TOPIC DISCUSSED IN THE WAIFEM
WORKSHOP HELD IN GHANA (April 7-16
2014)
PRESENTED BY
MATILDA ZAINAB KAMARA
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2. STRUCTURE OF THE PRESENTATION

FEATURES OF TECHNICAL REPORT WRITING
 Introduction
 Types Of Technical Reports
 Process of Producing Report
 Basic Structure of a Technical Report
 Title Page
 Table of Content
 REFERENCES
 GUIDLINE FOR PREPARING FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC
REPORTS
 Characteristics of a Good Report
 Guidelines for Report Writing
 Report Drafting
 Final Report Preparation
 Pitfalls in Report Writing
 Overcoming the Pitfalls
 Author’s Checklist
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3. STRUCTURE OF THE PRESENTATION
CONT’
 PRESENTATION SKILLS
 What’s presentation?
 Helpers
 Dress for success but don’t forget to put some confidence
 Structuring the presentation
 Effective Delivery
 Handling Questions
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4. FEATURES OF TECHNICAL REPORT
WRITING
INTRODUCTION
 A Technical Report is a formal presentation of the results or findings obtained
from:
 a research, analysis, investigation or survey conducted for a specified period of
time;
 Purpose:
 to inform, convince or persuade the audience or reader,
 analyze and solve problems
 present the findings of an investigation or project
 record progress
 make proposal or recommendations for change
 aid policy makers and other relevant stakeholders in decision making,
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5. Types Of Technical Reports
 They could be Economic or Financial Reports, or
 Annual Report
 Research Papers,
 Business report,
 Audit report
 Narrative or descriptive,
 Memos, etc
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6. Process of Producing Report
Identification
of Research Issue
Data Generation
and Processing
Report Writing
Presentation of
Report
Dissemination of
Report Findings
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7. Basic Structure of a Technical Report;
 Title Page
 The name(s) of the researcher(s):
 Name and address of the recipient institution where applicable.
 Date of presentation to the Agency.
 Table of Content, List of Tables, Figures and Acronyms defined
 Executive Summary/Abstract
 Introduction
 Literature review
 Methodology, Data sources
 Analysis of results
 Recommendations
 Bibliography/References
 Appendix
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8. References
 List of relevant studies and citations made in the report
 Serves as evidence of the researcher's knowledge of existing materials on
the subject of current investigation.
 Enables researchers to comply with demand of intellectual property to
avert embarrassment associated with plagiarism.
 Assists in the verification and validation of sources of materials.
 Bibliography is the list of all materials or publications referred
to in the course of your study (whether cited or not).
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9. Referencing styles
I. Harvard Style (American Psychological Association – APA)
II. Chicago Style (Turabian Style)
III. Vancouver Style
IV. Modern Language Association (MLA)
V. Numbered Style
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10. Harvard (APA) Style :
 The bibliography/reference list is presented at the end of the
report using single line-spacing.
 If there are two or more references to the same author in the
same year, they should be distinguished by adding a, b, c, etc.
after the year of publication.
 Style of presenting a bibliographic reference varies according
to the type of reference (e.g. book, journal article, film, web site
etc.).
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11. Harvard (APA) Style (Cont’d)
 Books
 Name of author/s or editor/s using last name, plus initial/s. (Type Ed. or
Eds. - short for editor/s here if referring to a whole edited book). (Year of
publication). Title of Book (Edition number goes here if later than first
e.g. 2nd ed.). Place of publication: Publisher.
 Official publications
 Name of author/s. (Year of publication). Title of Official Publication
(Official publication’s reference number). Place of publication: Publisher.
Examples:
 National Revenue Authority. (2014). Impact of revenue Collection (IRC
4310). Sierra Leone. Government Print.
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12. Havard- Bibliography/Referencing (Cont’d)
Magazine articles
 Name of author/s. (Year of publication, Date of publication – month/s or
month plus day if weekly). Title of article. Title of Magazine, Page
number/s of article.
 Example:
 John, E. (1998, November/December). The death of neo-liberalism.
Marxism Today, 4-8.
 Newspaper articles
 Name of author/s. (Year of publication, Date of publication – month plus
day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper, Page number/s of article.
Example:
 Kamara, R. (2014, July 1st
). EBOLA Disaster. Awoko p. 1.
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13. GUIDLINES FOR PREPARING FINANCIAL
AND ECONOMIC REPORTS
 Planning
 Gathering, sorting, analyzing and interpreting the
Data
 Drafting the Report
 Writing the Report
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14. PLANNING
 Plan the structure of the report for coherency by doing the following:
 The purpose of the report
 is it to supply information,
 act or react to a subject,
 report the proceedings of a conference,
 persuade somebody,
 record progress?
 Carry out an audience analysis
 Determine the analytical tools that would facilitate the understanding of
the goals of the report.
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15. Gathering, sorting, analyzing and interpreting
the Data
 A report must be based on verifiable data.
 There are 2 types: Primary & Secondary.
 Collating the data;
 Grouping the findings into sections and decide on the best
order of presentation;
 Ensuring that the recommendations derive from the findings
and can be implemented.
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16.  Drafting the Report
Draw up appropriate outline by arranging in an orderly manner the
problem or issues to be discussed.
 Get a good and clear title for the report to avoid ambiguity, name(s) of
author(s) – the first page for identity.
 Structure the report into chapters or sections which should be logically
linked.
 Write brief notes indicating what you intend to say under each of the
headings.
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17. Drafting the Report Cont
Your first draft should be a preliminary write-up to establish a ‘flow’.
Concentrate on what you want to say rather than how to say it.
Review this version - only for its technical content.
Are all of the ideas you want to express included?
Have you included irrelevant ideas?
Link sentences to ensure continuity and flow of thought.
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18. Drafting the Report Cont’
In the second version of the rough draft, writing style becomes important.
 Now concentrate on how to say what you want to say.
 To make sure your readers understand your report, you must transmit
your information clearly, logically, concisely, honestly, and tactfully.
 Also, note accuracy in the use of language by
 dotting your i’s,
 crossing your t’s,
 inserting full stops,
 commas,
 semi-colons, and
 question marks in the appropriate positions. 18
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19.  writing the final report
 Evaluate the draft and re-examine the choices of materials, expressions
and structure.
 Ensure unity and coherence among sentences.
 Ensure appropriate formatting of headings and subheadings.
 Get a colleague or a neutral party to read, assess and make suggestions
for improvement.
 The final copy will emerge as a product of a continuous process of
planning, drafting, re-drafting and editing.
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20. Formatting and layout
 When you format your document you'll need to consider:
 font (type and size)
 line spacing
 margins
 the amount of white space around and within the text
 the fonts of headings and sub-headings
 types of graphics.
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21. PIT FALLS IN REPORT
WRITING
 Ignoring the audience
 Unstructured report
 Failure to define the aim(s) of the report
 Bad introduction
 Numerous spelling errors - poor editing and proofreading
 Wrong titles and numbering of tables, graphs, etc
 Inappropriate positioning of tables, graphs, charts etc
 Findings not derived from the observations in the report, and
recommendations not arising from the findings; and
 Conclusion is out of context.
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22. OVER COMING THE PIT FALLS
 Report the facts as they are
 Do not draw illogical cause-effect conclusion
 Be consistent
 Build your report from your findings
 Make the aims and objectives clear
 Place your tables and figures in the appropriate position
Note: A good report is not written once
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23. OVER COMING THE PIT FALLS
Ensure:

recommendations are derived from the findings;
 conclusion is based on the issues arising from the main body;
 references are complete and presented in alphabetical order;
 all terms such as acronyms, abbreviations and mathematical
symbols are well defined; and executive summary is included.
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24. Author’s Checklist
 Is the title 120 characters or fewer including spaces?
 Are the Abstract, Introduction, and Summary of Results or
Conclusions included?
 Are report headings of equal weight written in the same form (font size)?
 Is the Abstract more than 200 words?
 Are the summary of results and conclusions properly done?
 Are the tables, figures, references, and appendices numbered in the
order cited?
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25. Author’s Checklist
 Are the references complete?
 Are all the mathematical symbols defined in the symbol list?
 Are all acronyms, initials, and abbreviations defined?
 Is the report complete and ready for submission?
 Are the original graphs intact?
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26. Author’s Checklist
 Are the references complete?
 Are all the mathematical symbols defined in the symbol list?
 Are all acronyms, initials, and abbreviations defined?
 Is the report complete and ready for submission?
 Are the original graphs intact?
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27. PRESENTATION SKILLS
What’s presentation?
…………..a method of
communicating your
thought or an idea…
Preparation is the Key
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28. Presentation Skills
 Preparation/ Planning is the first step on the ladder to
success
 Aspects in the development of a good presentation
 Subject Centered (Material)
 Audience Centered (Audience)
 Self Centered (Self)
 Helpers
Who is your audience?
What do you want to present (content)?
Why do you want to present (purpose)?
Where will you be presenting (place)?
How do you want to present (words to be used or not, slides to be used)
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29. Presentation Skills
 Structure the content in line with the audience’s needs
 What do you want to tell the audience?
 What is your objective?
 Prepare keeping in mind the time allotted
 Anticipate the questions and prepare
 Collect material from a variety of sources
 Arrange points logically and sequentially
 Prepare handouts as well 29National Revenue Authority

30. Dress for success but don’t forget
to put some confidence
 If you have no
knowledge of what you
have to present then
you will have no
confidence to present.
 If you are not confident
within yourself then you
cannot be confident
outside yourself.
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31. Presentation Skills
 Structuring the presentation
2 to 2.5 mins--- opening/beginning
20 to 21 mins--- middle section
2 to 3 mins --- closing/end
5 mins --- questions
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32. Presentation Skills
 Effective Delivery
 Breath in and out
 Self Introduction
 Value of visual aids-flip charts, handouts etc.
 Be active - move
 controlled gestures
 vocal (pitch, volume, rate)
 Be natural
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33. Presentation Skills
 Effective delivery cont’
 Be direct – don’t just talk in front of the audience talk to
them
 Don’t Speaking too fast
 Using jargon
 Tone and content
 Complicated or ambiguous language
 Not questioning
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34. Presentation Skills
 Handling Questions;
 Do not get confused
 You are not supposed to know everything
 Anticipate and keep answers ready
 Sometime questions themselves give you a lead to highlight
your point of view
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35. Presentation Skills
to conclude :
Always prepare
Channelize you fear
Interact with your audience
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