The clock is ticking, and you’ve been tasked with producing an urgent report that needs to get a critical message out to your audience. Why the urgency? You may have left it until the last minute due to other work pressures (or good old procrastination).
Or it may be urgent because the quicker you can get the report written and circulated, the more influence it will have – for example an annual report to shareholders or a report on a successful project that you can use to galvanise support and funding.
How to get started
In order to get that report produced you’ve got a mountain of facts to distil into a concise and engaging summary and very little time to do it. Where do you start?
First and foremost, take a step back. Urgent should not mean a rush job – don’t compromise on quality and accuracy just because you need to be speedy.
A good report should be clear and well-structured and written with a particular purpose and audience in mind. (See some report writing tips and examples here):
If your report needs to be produced urgently and getting the message right is critical, consider bringing in an expert copywriter, like Editing Edge, to do it properly. At Editing Edge we are able to read and write on our feet. We are masters at sifting through all the facts, teasing out vital detail and editing concisely. And we have plenty of experience of turning out copy within very tight deadlines.
Examples of urgent report writing
Here are three examples:
- Working with Collab Group, we had to produce a report from a lengthy debate between chief executives and principals from the largest further education colleges in London. The many ideas generated needed to be rapidly captured and shared with a wider audience. Editing Edge distilled hours of debate and 17,000 words of transcript into an engaging 2,000-word report.
- The Creative Industries Federation’s annual report, the C.Report, needed to reflect the strategic importance of this industry – ranging from architecture to ballet to video games – whilst illustrating the activities and influence of its members over the last year. This was a major project culminating in a 64-page report. Our careful and painstaking editing had to be finished in time for a major launch party at the Natural History Museum with the Secretary of State for Business and the Secretary of State for Culture in attendance – no pressure, then!
- When we worked with the Ramadan Relief Fund it was vital to complete their Relief Fund Report with pictures, statistics and human stories as soon as possible after the end of Ramadan so that donors could see how their money had been spent. This was important for transparency and accountability but also to encourage them to give again next year.
Get it done and dusted
Your report is urgent because of the impact it can make. You’ll have to live with the consequences for a long time if you turn out a rushed, poorly written report. That’s a very good reason to bring in professional report writers – give us a call to get that urgent report done and dusted.
