ClearTips: Riveting reports
7. Gather Your Details, Examples, and Comments
On each page, under each point—20 for a 20-paragraph
report, 100 for a 100-paragraph report-begin noting your support—data,
details, examples, and comments. It helps to spread all your pages out
on a large table. I generally carry them around in a binder. That allows
jotting down—and not losing—ideas that come to mind. It also
allows working on one paragraph at a time.
The support for some of your points will fill some pages
quickly, while others remain empty. If one point is short on detail and
examples, you may need to compile more information by doing more research.
If you can't support a point well, consider cutting it. And remember,
an ounce of example is worth a ton of abstract generalization.
Here are examples from the Rockefeller Foundation's report:
Point The integrated model provides in-depth training
in the skills required for a specific job and—just as important—places
heavy emphasis on work habits.
Support Less intensive programs offer little to
those with special disadvantages
- Development of life skills
- Stresses punctuality and attendance
Point The integrated model provides literacy
and numeracy training concurrently with job training.
Support Only elements directly related
to job included
- Just-in-time remediation of basic
skills speeds learning process
- The closer the tie between job skills
and basic literacy and numeracy training, the more willing
trainees are to increase basic skills
Point Another key feature of the integrated model
is to have the education and employment program plugged directly into
the requirements of industry—and to have industry plugged into
the development of the program.
Support When the demand and wages for a skill
fall, it is phased out of the skill offerings
- Technical instructors drawn from industry
- Approach treats training as a business
Having all your material slotted into a paragraph-by-paragraph
plan enables you to refine it before you've written a paragraph.
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