Module 2b —
Report Writing
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Section 3: Working with visual information
Section overview
An effective report depends not only on clear language; but also on professional presentation. A report that is visually well designed, including formatting, style, and page layout, will contribute to your credibility as a writer and your report’s credibility.
Apart from the page design of your work, reports can be greatly enhanced by an intelligent use of visual information. This type of presentation includes diagrams, tables (especially for figures and statistics), graphs, illustrations and maps. They can be invaluable aids for your audience because they condense text, clarify relationships, and highlight patterns.
Using visual information to explain ideas
In some departments or with certain high profile reports, you may have access to professional graphic artists who can create visual representations of a concept or trend in a way that improves upon mere textual explanations. The Global Employment Trends report is a good example that makes extensive use of graphs and charts to explain and highlight complex information. This section is mainly targeted at those who would like to enhance their reports with graphical information but who are writing this report without the support of other specially trained staff.
Explaining information that is presented visually
It is not enough simply to add a visual element in place of descriptive or analytical text. You have to know how to use your visual elements, and one key factor in their effective use is knowing how to integrate the visual elements of your report with your writing. That is, you can use the visual to enhance the written parts of your report, but you must also be able to use your writing to enhance the contribution made by the visual element. That means using your text to interpret or highlight main points within a diagram, an image, or a chart.
Considerations for using visual information
In this section, you will reflect on why and how to incorporate visual elements in your report. When deciding whether or not to use visual elements and considering how to use them most effectively, keep the following determining factors in mind:
- relevance and purpose
- clarification, simplification and emphasis
- reinforcement and explanation