Checklist

Overview

An executive summary, as the name implies, briefly summarizes the key points of a longer report, typically for managers and higher-level executives. These summaries enable managers to learn the key points quickly and easy so that they can review issues or make decisions without necessarily reading the entire document (though they may read specific sections if they want more information, or rely on reviews from other experts.)

Content

Executive summaries are typically 10% of the length of the report itself (1-2 pages). Like abstracts, executive summaries typically include background, purpose, scope, conclusions, and recommendations; the exact content depends on the nature of the document. In general, the summary should stand alone and provide all critical information needed to assess results or take action.

Tips

• Provide background in terms that non-experts can understand. For documents such as proposals, recommendation reports, and feasibility studies, the background is typically a problem statement or description of the current situation. Write for the least specialized of all your readers, providing as much, and only as much, information as needed to understand the conclusions/recommendations.
• Be concrete. Wherever possible, use specific numbers to describe costs, savings, benefits, and related information. E.g. "reduce costs by $6,000 annually" rather than "reduce costs substantially."
• Provide clear, specific conclusions and recommendations from the body of the report, as applicable.
• Minimize your description of the "methods" involved. For example, the summary for a feasibility report may include a brief explanation of the criteria used to evaluate the options, but should not go into detail about the evaluation process itself.
• Organize the summary based on readers' needs and attitudes - i.e. include, up front, the information required to make decision; include technical information or data only if it is relevant and understandable to the managers/executives reading the summary. Depending on the report and the audience, you may want to begin with the conclusions, if you think the audience will respond favorably, or make your case persuasively first, and end with your conclusions if you think they may not be well-received.

(Sources: Jones, Dan. The Technical Communicator's Handbook. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000; Markel, Mike. Technical Communication 6th Edition. New York: Bedfort/St. Martins, 2001)

Sample Executive Summaries

Consider the following samples of executive summaries, most of which come from extensive government reports:

Report on Information Technology

Intellectual Property

Marketing Violent Entertainment to Youth

Cloning Human Beings

Exercise 2: Review these samples and draft a memo to your instructor describing the strategies used to make the documents easy to skim and understand (formatting, language, organization, etc.)

 

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