A Quick Guide to Writing an Executive Summary

When writing summaries, you should clearly understand what is your audience and what it needs to know. It will help you include the necessary details. Make sure to cover all the key points in your summary because it’s the main purpose of such papers.

Your paper should also capture attention. For example, if you have a nice business proposal, you should also present a strong executive summary to persuade potential investors. A poorly written executive summary will certainly decrease your chances to meet the investors so we recommend that you pay attention to your writing. Check out these useful tips at https://college-writers.com/ so that you can write a great summary.

Writing Steps

• Read and review the article, trying to understand the author’s main ideas.
• While reading, highlight or note the key points. For example, you may look for the words that repeat often, topic sentences, or even transitions.
• Start to write the summary in your own words. Start with such general information as the title of the book so that your readers can understand that you’re writing about a book written by somebody else. We also recommend that you use your memory to convey the main thoughts and to present them from the author’s perspective.
• Use the appropriate language. Every time you mention the author’s argument, don’t forget to include such words as “the author says” so that your readers can understand that it’s not your own argument.
• Compare what you’ve written against your notes. When writing from your memory, you may forget something important. Add the necessary details and make sure that you present the information in a logical order. It will not only make your paper easy to read but also help you avoid repetition.
• Proofread your paper and fix any errors.

How to Write a Strong Executive Summary

1. First, it’s important how you start your executive summary. Start with the specific information, such as your name, location, and contact information.

2. Your executive summary should be a short review of the entire business document. Given that it’s a brief review, it shouldn’t be too detailed. It also shouldn’t replace the original document. While an abstract provides readers with an overview, an executive summary is a brief and unique review of the whole paper.

3. You should follow certain rules regarding your style of writing. Here are some basic guidelines you should follow:

• Write short paragraphs. Make them simple and specific, including all the important information.
• Your summary should make sense even if the audience doesn’t read the original document. Try to capture your readers’ attention at the beginning, and then provide information in chronological order.
• Choose a language that will be appropriate for your target audience. Keep it professional and make sure that you don’t have any spelling or grammatical errors.

4. State the main problem. An executive summary should be based on a certain problem so you must state it clearly. Make sure to use understandable terms and provide a clear definition of the problem. If the problem isn’t convincing enough, you won’t be able to provide a solution that can make the necessary impact.

5. Provide a solution. An executive summary should describe the problem and follow it with a solution because, otherwise, it won’t make sense. Therefore, providing a solution that can solve the problem is one of the main requirements.

6. Mention the target market. Sometimes, the product may define the market. In other cases, you’ll have to describe the target market. Make sure to provide realistic market potential.

7. Consider the main strengths. Use graphics, bulleted lists, and headings to provide the information in an easy to comprehend way. This way, readers will be able to easily find the necessary information.

• If you have a lot of information to present, break it down into digestible bullets.
• While writing your executive summary, organize the main idea using headings. This way, readers will easily familiarize themselves with the summary at a glance.
• Relevant graphics can help you illustrate the nature of the main problem, helping you to come up with the main idea of the summary.

8. Don’t use clichés and don’t make claims that you cannot support. We also recommend that you avoid such words and phrases as “core competency” and “groundbreaking.” These words don’t add any meaning and make your summary sound vague.

What Is an Executive Summary?

We recommend that you figure out what exactly an executive summary is before writing it. Your summary should summarize a business document in a few words while also mentioning all the key points so that your readers can understand the whole document without reading it.

How to Use the Format

The format of your work should attract your readers and help them understand your points easily. When writing an executive summary, we recommend that you follow these requirements regarding its format:

• It must have a strong introduction The first paragraph of your summary should grab your readers’ attention. Given that, in the beginning, you provide information about the company, this section must be strong.
• Identify the problem businesses of any kind are aimed to solve certain problems. Is your company different from other companies from the same niche? Explain why your idea is better and describe how it will solve the problem.
• Support your claims with evidence.
• Describe what you need. Provide all the necessary information on logistics, return on investment, and other aspects of your solution. Explain what are the benefits of your solution and how much it will cost.

Use Executive Summary Examples

We recommend that you check out examples of successful executive summaries because they will help you gain some inspiration and understand what a proper summary looks like. Here are some advantages of ordering examples of executive summaries on College-Writers.com:

• You will improve your workflow. The key to writing a successful summary is providing the right points in the right order. Thanks to different samples, you’ll be able to understand how to meet the needs and expectations of your audience.
• You will also improve your grammar. When reading sample summaries written by professionals, you’ll be able to better understand the grammar rules so it will be easier for you to avoid some common mistakes.
• You’ll improve your vocabulary. Business writing implies using many specific terms. Thanks to good examples, you’ll understand how to use them properly.
• Examples will help you familiarize yourself with the necessary format. You’ll be able to choose the right format in any particular situation, making your summaries strong and impressive.