Written by: Stelios Kehaghias, Ana Cruz & Dimitris Nikolaidis
Remember:
An executive summary is a short section in your report (usually before the table of contents) that provides an overview of the most important points and offers the opportunity to the reader to get acquainted with the report without reading it. Very often busy executives will only read the executive summary and nothing more. It becomes an important skill however to be able - with economy of words - to provide just enough information in a page or so which sufficiently describes the whole project.
Within a page you should provide a comprehensive overview of your report.
Function
An executive summary can be considered a gateway for your report to be read. Executives that read an interesting executive summary often read the whole report or parts of the report.
Remember:
The executive summary should be brief, meaningful, clear, focused.
A good executive summary needs to be:
Specific - Clear - Reflective of the key aspects of the report that follows.
An Executive Summary should answer questions such as:
What
Why (key evidence that supports the reason behind the report)
When
Where (market, department)
How (process)
How much (investment, time, people)
So what (impact, results, expected outcome)
Structure / Content of the summary
The structure of your executive summary should follow the structure of your report.
Make sure you have a strong start, catching the attention of the reader.
Explain what the big picture is.
Use paragraphs and bullet points.
If you have financials make sure you provide a brief overview.
Don’t forget to mention your strong points (i.e. competitive advantage or expertise).
Explain what the company does; or what the main problem is.
Indicative Structure
A brief company summary
The problem / issues that are addressed
The context (brief analysis of the market) – if appropriate
Alternatives considered
Recommendations and expected outcomes
Urgency / importance
Financial summary
Make sure it is professionally written; free of errors.
Show confidence.
It is recommended that the length is 1 page.
In long reports the exec summary may reach 2 pages.
Read over and over the Executive Summary.
Is it inclusive enough?
Does it reflect the whole report?
Does it include the important information?
Is it too detailed?
Is there a logical sequence?
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