Sourced from many references, this presentation presents simple guidelines for Technical Report Writing.

1. Tips of Writing Report
PPT by Sherwin B. Manual
From various resources

2. Parts of a Report
• Title
• Executive Summary
• Table of Contents
• List of…
• Introduction
• Body
▫ Parts / components
• Conclusion

3. Rule 1. Use concrete rather than
vague language.
• Vague: The weather was of an extreme nature
on the South Western Mindanao.
This sentence raises frustrating questions: When
did this extreme weather occur? What does "of an
extreme nature" mean? Where on the West Coast
did this take place?
• Concrete: California had unusually cold
weather last week.

4. Rule 2. Use active voice whenever
possible.
• Rule 2. Use active voice whenever possible.
Active voice means the subject is performing the
verb. Passive voice means the subject receives
the action.
Passive voice is a useful option when the
responsible party is not known.
• Example: My watch was stolen.

5. Rule 3. Simplify
• Avoid overusing there is, there are, it is, it was,
etc.
• Example: There is a case of meningitis that
was reported in the newspaper.
• Revision: A case of meningitis was reported in
the newspaper.
• Even better: The newspaper reported a case
of meningitis. (Active voice)

6. • Example: There are some revisions that must
be made.
• Revision: Some revisions must be made.
(Passive voice)
• Even better: Please make some revisions.
(Active voice)

7. Avoid long sentences
• Sentence Length: Long (30 words)
• Sentence Structure: Complex (1 main clause
+ at least one subordinate clause)

8. Rule 4. To avoid confusion (and pompousness), don't use
two negatives to make a positive without good reason
• Unnecessary: He is not unwilling to help.
• Better: He is willing to help.
• Sometimes a not un- construction may be
desirable, perhaps even necessary:
• Example: The report is uneven but not
uninteresting.

9. Rule 5. Use consistent grammatical form
when offering several ideas
• This is called parallel construction.
• I admire people who are honest, reliable, and
have sincerity.
• I admire people who are honest, reliable, and
sincere.

10. Rule 6. Word order can make or ruin a
sentence.
• If you start a sentence with an incomplete phrase or
clause, such as While crossing the street or Forgotten by
history, it must be followed closely by the person or
thing it describes.
• Forgotten by history, his autograph was worthless.
• The problem: his autograph shouldn't come right after
history, because he was forgotten, not his autograph.
• Correct: He was forgotten by history, and his
autograph was worthless.

11. Headings and bullets
• Headings are used to underscore the main
points, form white space, and make it easy for
readers to scan the document.
• Bullets, on the other hand, are often for series of
items. They are useful because a huge volume of
data can be converted into “small, digestible
bites,” making the reading experience smooth
and the paper easier to navigate.

12. • Maps, flowcharts, and diagrams – These are for
more complex data or connections of data that
text alone can no longer detail substantially.
These also aid in presentations, saving more
time and other resources.

13. • Bold face and italics – To emphasize specific
points to readers , you can put the words in
boldface or in italics.

14. Using figures, tables and graphs
• Tables and graphs should be:
• numbered sequentially
• labelled clearly and
• positioned as close to the relevant text as
possible.

15. Refer to figures and tables
• Make specific reference to each figure and table. Do
not assume that the reader will make the necessary
connection between the text and the figure or table.
Write something about each figure and table.
• Refer to each figure or table in the text by its figure
or table number.
• Remember to guide the reader in interpreting the
information in the table or figure. What does the
table show? What specific point are you making?

16. Labelling
• Label tables above the table and figures
below the figure.

17. Titles
• Keep titles brief but informative. You can
include explanatory notes, if needed, as
footnotes under the table or figure.

18. Referring to tables and figures
• Label tables above the table and figures
below the figure.
• When referring to tables and figures, you can use:
• clauses beginning with as
• Example
As shown in Table I below, lipids were found in
hamburgers, hot dogs, potato chips, pizza and
doughnuts.

19. • Passive voice
• Example
The disbursement rates of the regions are shown in Table 1.
• You may refer to Tables or figures by using brackets
with or without the verb see
• Examples
• Region 12 has the most number of subproject
proposals (Table 1).
• Each FMR subproject has reduced the travel time
from the barangay to the market. (see Table 2).
• Plant growth did not differ across irrigation
treatments (Figure 1).

20. Placement of tables and diagrams
• Put graphs, tables, figures and diagrams in the
Results section (discussion near the tables) and
complex raw data in the Appendix.

21. Write shop.