1. WHAT IS AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY?

While an executive summary is an essential component of various types of marketing research,

project or policy reports or proposals, its a term less clearly understood. A quick scan of the
executive summaries of various reports available in the libraries would give you the impression
that it may be synonymous with an introduction or an abstract. An executive summary is not
the same as an introduction.

An executive summary is a summary to familiarise your audience with the contents of the
report without needing them to read the entire document. It is a business tool for the
summation of long reports to a concisely worded document containing the major highlights of
the report. Brief, yet packed with relevant information, it provides a birds eyeview or an ariel
view of a document by consolidating its primary points on few pages. In an easy to read, non-
technical language and format, it must briefly cover statements pertaining to the aim of the
report, methods used, major findings and conclusions/recommendations. An executive
summary is usually no longer than 10 per cent of the original document. They are a self-
contained, stand-alone document. Therefore, it can be either attached to the front of a long
report or taken out as a separate document. This can even be a cover sheet to a document.

The differences between an abstract and an executive summary are:

An abstract is a shortened form of a work that retains the general sense and unity of the
original.

An abstract is basically a miniature version of the original.

An executive summary may be called an abstract when it accompanies a scholarly

document, although there are differences.

An executive summary goes beyond this: it seeks to let the reader in on what the real
significance of the report is--what is the reader expected to respond to?

An Executive Summary consists mainly of six elements. The elements that you include in your
Executive Summary and the amount of space that you give to each element will depend on the
purpose and nature of your document. These elements are:

1. Purpose and scope of document

2. Methods

3. Results
4. Conclusion

5. Recommendations

6. Other supportive information

2. WHAT IS EXPECTED IN AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY?

The summary should convey the main points of the report and your evidence that supports
those points, without requiring the reader to digest the full document. The goal is to provide
the important information that allows the reader to reach an informed decision, without having
to wade through the minutae.

The main aims in writing an executive summary are:

An Executive Summary is expected to:

- communicate the punch of your piece, minus all the details;

- give readers the essential contents of the document, say, in a single page;

- enable readers to build a mental framework for organizing and understanding the
detailed information in the document;

- help readers determine the key results and recommendations reported in the
document;

- draw attention to the key information located within the pages of the bulk of the report;

- condense the information into a form that the reader can quickly understand;

- maintain the reader's confidence that the information has been captured accurately;
and to

- persuade the reader that the document is worth reading.

3. FOR WHOM IS AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR?

The reader of the Executive Summary is a key decision maker who will have the responsibility of
deciding on some issue(s) related to the report. Therefore he/she needs the information in a
streamlined manner as he/she may not have the time to read the entire report in detail. The
executive summary must be written with this need in mind. Accuracy is essential because
decisions will be made based on the summary by people who have not read the original.

4. HOW TO WRITE AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY?

Executive summaries are typically written for longer reports. They should not be written until
after your research is finished. Before writing your summary, try to:

Scan your research to determine what the content, structure and length of the report
would be.

Highlight key points; determine purpose/central theme of the report.

Review your research and determine what the key ideas or concepts are.

Group ideas in a logical fashion and prepare a point form outline of the summary.

Edit the outline to eliminate secondary or minor points; use your judgement to keeping
the summary concise.

Determine whether subtitles, bullets, selective bolding or some other type of

organizational structure will add to the clarity of your summary.

Write the summary in your own words, using a professional style.

Read it aloud or even tape record yourself reading your summary.

Questions to Ask Yourself as You Write

1. What is your research about?

2. Why is it important?

3. What is included in the research?

4. What is included in each section?

After beginning with a summary statement of the findings, the executive summary should go on
to provide a specific recommendation for action geared toward the audience. An executive
summary provides an analysis and/or justification for the proposed action in terms the
audience will consider important. In many cases, this might involve an economic or ethical, but
actions can be justified many ways, depending on the concerns of the audience and the topic of
the research.

Include justification for the recommendation by referring to information summarized. A

recommendations justification is usually based on a reference to material already provided in
the summary. In other cases, the justification for the recommendation might be complicated
enough to justify a summary of causes for the justification. In this case, the recommendation
paragraph usually begins with a summary of how the writer reached the conclusion that leads
to the justification.

Here are 8 tips that can help you write an effective Executive Summary:

1. Write the summary last: This is one of the most important points to understand when
writing an executive summary. Since this summary is going to be a short rundown of the rest of
the report, you want to make sure this piece is completed last to ensure a higher degree of
accuracy in the final product. Keep it organized, and follow the exact order of the report as you
document the reasons for your conclusions. If the reader wants more information from the
report, such as detailed data support, they will find it presented in the same order as this
overview.

2. The Executive Summary is usually no longer than 10% of the main document, which can
be anywhere from 1-10 pages, depending on the length of the entire report.

3. Choose your key points: The intent of an executive summary is to be concise, but at the
same time every word counts. Since your piece is a summation, you want to make sure you get
your point across in the most succinct way possible and still be able to include all of the key
information without omitting any important points. For each of the main points you want to
write a sentence or two fully stating the intent of each statement. As you choose your points,
go through the full report and extract the highlights, then systematically list them in your
executive summary so the points correlate with the order the report is written.
4. Follow the sequence: Begin by stating the reason for writing the report, then state the
conclusions or recommendations. Include only the most significant information that supports
those conclusions.

5. The Tip: To outline the contents of the Executive Summary, take a look at the first and
last sentences of each paragraph and use these as a guide.

6. The Trick: Organize your draft by identifying and using key words from the report that
define essentials, such as "major, central, principal, basic"; words that show contrast, such as
"more than, less likely, similar to, however"; words that enumerate, such as "finally, first, next";
and words that show causation, like "therefore, as a result, consequently".

7. Always remember to include information found in the report. Do not introduce anything
new.

8. Stand alone Test: Validate that your Executive Summary stands independent of the
report itself. It must make sense on its own. Ask someone unfamiliar with the contents to verify
this.

9. Proof-read and spell-check everything, but don't rely on your word processor to do so.
Read the overview aloud to catch mistakes.

Be brief, provide the facts, state your conclusions and check your work. The following steps will
help you in preparing an executive summary.

1. State the purpose of the summary. Begin with words such as 'It is the purpose of this
document to ' or 'The main objectives of this report are '. Make sure you present the main
message of the document.

2. Describe the procedure you used. Outline the methods you used to analyse the
situation.

3. Present the results of the study.

4. Outline any recommendations that appear in your report.

STANDARD PRACTICES

DOS
 You should choose the elements of an executive summary that make sense for your
document and omit the ones that don't.

Mention only concise statements of the conclusion(s) you reached after conducting your
analysis.

Change the selection of words depending on your audience and what they care most
about.

Make sure the report is error-free.

DONTS

An executive summary need not go into ANY mention of how you conducted your
analysis and/or what you're basing your conclusion(s) on.

Never submit an executive summary laden with typos, inaccurate or wrong information.

A lengthy executive summary defeats the purpose.