Report Writing

---
name: report-writing
description: Write a report that leads with findings, supports them with evidence, and states its own limitations. Use when presenting analysis, results, or an investigation in writing.
---

# Report writing

A report is read by people looking for a conclusion, usually in the
first minute. Reports organised as a journey through the work, with the
finding at the end, are read backwards or not at all.

## Method

1. **Lead with the conclusion.** What you found and what should happen,
   in the first paragraph, with everything after as support.
2. **Write a summary that stands alone.** Many readers will read only
   this, so it must contain the finding, the basis, and the
   recommendation (see exec-one-pager).
3. **Separate findings from interpretation from recommendation.** These
   are three different claims with different confidence, and merging
   them hides which is which.
4. **Show the evidence proportionally.** Enough for a reader to judge,
   with full detail in appendices rather than in the body.
5. **State the limitations plainly.** What the analysis cannot support,
   what data was missing, and what assumptions were made, since a report
   without limits reads as overclaiming (see statistical-inference).
6. **Make recommendations specific and owned.** Who should do what, by
   when, rather than a general direction (see agent-decision-log).
7. **Structure for scanning.** Informative headings, short paragraphs,
   and visuals that carry findings, because reports are skimmed before
   they are read.

## Boundaries

A report communicates analysis and cannot improve weak analysis. Reports
for regulated purposes have mandated structures and content. Length
should follow the material rather than a perceived expectation of
substance.