The academic environment continues to grow more and more competitive with each passing semester. While at it, the skills necessary for students to successfully complete their chosen programs of study grow along with it.
Students are now expected to complete longer, more detailed reports than ever before. The majority of professors now require that an executive summary be included within these reports in order to determine if the report is of enough quality to fully read.
Therefore, it is imperative that students prepare a well-written executive summary in order to prevent a negative first impression from forming in the mind of their professor. This will help in ensuring the prof reads the entire report and award them accordingly.
What The Executive Summary Paper Is
The executive summary, sometimes just called “the summary,” is a useful tool that enables professors to make better use of their grading time. This provides a preview of what is contained within the full report.
Usually, the executive summary is prepared by the person who has written the report, but there are occasions where another writer will be brought in to offer an unbiased account of what the report contains.
The freelance writers contracted by our company have several years of experience in preparing executive summaries on a wide variety of project subjects.
6 Steps to Prepare an Executive Summary Paper
Most professors have strict expectations of what they want the executive summary to contain. If you stay true to the following guidelines of preparation, whether you are writing an executive summary of your own report or for someone else’s, you will be likely to meet those expectations.
-
Read the entire document:
This may go without saying, but it is extremely important that you read the entire document from start to end. Even if you have authored the document, read it over again before beginning to prepare the summary.
This will allow you to get a feel of what the true message of the document is, and will also give you a better idea of how to summarize the message therein.
-
Identify the main theme:
After you’ve read the entire document, you should have an idea of its main theme. Condense this main concept into a few well-crafted sentences, free from excess wordiness. Think of this as the thesis statement of the document.
-
Separate the main sections:
If the report is long enough to warrant an executive summary, the report likely contains multiple sections covering different aspects of the main topic. Closely examine each section, and discern the main differences in each.
After you have a firm understanding of what each section offers with respect to the other sections, write a few sentences for each section describing the main ideas.
-
Isolate the major points within the document:
Choose which parts of the document are the most important to those who will read it. These points must be included within the executive summary in order to provide a thorough and complete explanation of what the document is trying to convey.
-
Combine the information:
Use the information gathered in steps 1-4 and combine them into an executive summary that is no longer than a page. Keep the executive summary as short as possible without omitting important pieces of information.
The purpose of the summary is to provide a brief explanation of the entire document, so it is not necessary to delve into too many details.
-
Re-read the executive summary:
After you’ve completed your executive summary, let it sit for a while before coming back to re-read it. Check to make sure that the summary will make sense to whoever reads it as a separate item from the full document.
By taking some time before re-reading it you allow yourself to see the summary with unbiased eyes. You also have the option of letting someone else read the executive summary to see if it makes sense to him or her.
When the time comes for you to prepare your own executive summary, use these tips to ensure it is the best it can be (don’t forget to check out The Executive Summary Mistakes Web Page), or enlist the aid of the professional writers that are available at Internationalwriters.us! We will be happy to custom write an executive summary for you!