Reports
There are many different styles of reports including formal and informal. No matter what type of report you are doing there are pros and cons to each. With the pros and cons listed for each below, you will be able to decide whether a written or verbal report is best for your situation.
Written Reports
Pros
* Written reports have an advantage over verbal reports because they can be revised and edited until they achieve their purpose.
*Written reports provide a record that can be viewed in the future.
*Recipients of the report have longer to interpret what is being said and provide feedback.
*Written reports are more appropriate for business than face to face meetings.
*The chance of the message being understood is less since written reports provide more details.
Cons
*Audiences are not able to see your emotions or provide you with instant feedback.
*Due to the details included and revision process written reports can often take a long time to compose
*Recipients of written reports may not always read them or may skim over important details.
Verbal Reports
Pros
*Verbal reports allow the audience to ask questions and provide immediate feedback to the speaker.
*Speakers are able to adapt their verbal report to many different audiences with little effort. A written report to different audiences often takes many revisions.
*Verbal reports engage the audience more than written reports. Speakers will often times include visuals and graphics to make their reports more interactive.
Cons
*There is no written record of the report and audience members can not review important details.
*Body language may cause the audience to misinterpret what you are trying to say.
*Verbal reports are much more stressful to present than written reports. Public speaking is a major fear for many people.
References
1.http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/small/Sm-Z/Written-Communication.html
2.http://communicatebetter.blogspot.com/2008/11/advatages-and-disadvantages-of-written.html
I like how you set up the pros and cons of each type of report. I'm curious, why are "Written reports are more appropriate for business than face to face meetings?" Just wondering! Thanks for the great information!
ReplyDeleteYour post gave great information. Maybe you could try a font color change to allow the reader to easily identify which are the pros and cons. Good job Ryan!
ReplyDelete