Upper-Intermediate ✍️ Writing · #90 of 98

Writing Executive Summaries

Condense a report's key findings and recommendations.

Examples

  • The main finding is...

Key rules

  • An executive summary condenses a report's key findings and recommendations for busy readers
  • Keep it to about one page
  • Put the most important conclusions and actions first

Common mistakes

  • The report covers many topics and has lots of data. → The main finding is that customer retention fell by 12%. We recommend a loyalty scheme, which would cost £40,000.

Use cases

  • Board reports
  • Project summaries
  • Government and policy briefings
💡 Tip: Write the summary last, so it reflects the final report accurately.

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