REPORT WRITING and PRESENTATION SKILLS

Disclaimer: This article is based on professional criticisms of a number of

report reviews and presentations I have either attended or participated. The
context was academic.

There is a tendency by many presenters (notably when working with text in

power point) to assume that the audience can read between the lines. This is
a misconception and is not good to the very process of presentation because
if the audience can read and capture the items then well, just have a print
out of these in a strategic point in the room for all to come, read and leave.
Why stand in front of an audience to simply use their precious time to read
out to them what is on the screen? However, this does not mean that you
come up with arterial, ventricular and even capillarial connections … it then
assumes the form of someone reading out a report to the audience! It gets
long, mostly irritating and even boring.

Presentation lay-out: this needs to be neat and with a running theme.

Photographs come in handy as will maps. Well captured photographs,
statistics and maps actually speak for themselves, the presenters role then
becomes that of a guide – guiding the audience in building the connections
amongst the various parts and sections of the presentation. It helps the
audience get engaged (by seeking the linkages and appreciating the
findings) again, whenever the presenter gets the audience to think along, a
great attention problem that gets some nervous is shifted or evened or both.
Important is that, the various components of the presentation must all fall
into one whole piece, with each piece leading to another even in
arrangement or coherence of thought all the way to the resultant speech.
Nothing distracts the audience as the need to shift their focus from corner of
the room to another and another in a random fashion owing to poor
integration of presentation aids (photos, charts etc) Other rules that govern
presentation layouts are those found in science e.g. the use of multi
columned and rowed tables never serves any purpose in a presentation
where the main aim is to market the product or plan! An obsession with
columnar charts (e.g. bar graphs etc) have a tendency to strain the audience
though pie-charts owing to their concentric nature are better appreciated as
the eye focus strain is reduced.

The other rule of the thumb is consistency. The text type, fonts and sizes
need to be carefully thought out and retained throughout the report e.g. a
certain font and size can be used to depict chapter titles through out the
presentation (or report). A degree of confusion emerges when one title uses
say a size 24 in power point while another uses size 18! Where many
sections form the body of the presentation or report, it is important to have
sectional summaries that capture findings and other salient aspects as
informed by the overriding objectives. A slide on significance to the study
goes a long way to prepare the audience for the eventual recommendations
towards the end of the report or presentation. One characteristic of a poorly
done report and presentation is where the audience struggles to understand
why some recommendations are being made, why some actions are being
proposed or finds itself ambushed with new information at the end – in that
case, the audience begins to analyze instead of appreciating the overriding
need for the strategies being proposed!

Still on consistency, there is need for standard sizes, color schemes and
scales to be used for maps and other visual presentational aid materials. The
color schemes need to marry into the existing mood e.g. blue for confidence
etc (refer to an article on colors and meanings in this blogs database)

There is always a need for the major items of a report to come out strongly in
the presentation. I have heard examiners asking why this or that was not
factored in, when actually it was. This is not because of the absent
mindedness of our professors but it has more to do with the emphatic nature
of the presentation itself. There are people who can turn an otherwise
unattractive section of a presentation into a powerful central component
buoyed by the energy and confidence they exude and still others who can
create an anti-climax where an energized end is sought for. The major
attractions of any presentation are usually the introduction (notably
justification and linked to the situational analysis) and the end (justifiable
recommendations) but if you have low energy presenters in these critical
areas and divert the high energy presenters mid-way in the report (for group
presentations) then there is cause for concern. In a report, the same is true –
the wording in the introduction and ending sections needs to be strong –
emphatic is the actual word.

A number of reports are actually literature reviews. Unless the purpose of the
study was to analyze literature in a given area, then you need to actually add
value – enrich the existing literature. It’s strange to realize that a report can
cite a reference to some statistics say population in a given baseline – fine.
But you get shocked to realize that despite the team having access to growth
rates and the baselines, it never though it prudent to calculate forecast or at
least projections! This is but an example though such gross errors are cross
cutting.

Functional reports need to be grounded on policy, on ongoing strategies be

they national, sectoral or even international; they need to be based on the
national development goals and other on-going initiatives specifically related
to the scope of the report or study.
The institutional analysis section in many reports reveals value addition
challenge. It’s not just about who does what or even up to how! But one
needs to focus on the challenges, opportunities etc that are specific to a
given institution! And how all this falls into the objectives, how it can
facilitate or fail to facilitate progress to the vision (generated from
stakeholder aspirations) and mission attainment. The same can be said
about the situational analysis. In many student reports, there is an image of
‘not sure on what to look at’ gets communicated. A situational analysis needs
to be in-depth and not a face painting. i.e. the 5 WH questions of who, what,
why, where, how including gaps and percentages need to be factored.
Statistics need to be given. A technological analysis will definitely be
appreciated including the dynamics e.g. in a housing report, an analysis of
the technologies being used, the housing dynamics (i.e. housing in area A
and area B as inclusive of the environmental factors etc)
A section that touches on the local resources is important when local
interventions are to be sought.

When looking at the challenges, focus on the broad array of challenges and
constraints to the proposed actions e.g. legal constraints, procedure, culture,
technology constraints etc as linked to the recommendations or action plan
matrices. The proposed actions need to be practical and informed by the
needs of the people for any participatory research work notably in this age of
the participatory paradigm. The practicability of actions is seen in the light of
degree of and nature of proposals including their over-heads and net
undesirables. It cannot avoid capturing aspects of finance, the numbers and
the populations in relation to costs.

A sectoral analysis helps in plan costing. The plan must include alternative
plans and models, reporting precision, for spatial contexts a cross-section
adds value.

NB: Depending on the scope and nature of the report, twists and turns are
expected.

By Mwalili Samuel Chaku