Briefing reports are typically used to keep those who make decisions apprised of a particular situation. Briefing reports can serve several other functions as well. The report may be an introduction aimed at getting the go ahead on a larger project, or it may be used to broadly cover a topic for the purpose of guiding your intended audience to further reading on the topic. Sometimes a briefing report may be used to apprise your intended reading audience of a particular situation. While briefing report purpose vary, the general guidelines for writing them typically remain the same.
Instructions
1. Plan your briefing report before you write it. A maximum of six to 10 pages is the desired length; anything over that becomes a full report. A good outline should include major points of interest to touch on in your brief, with notes about any further resources or reading, and a statement as to the intent of your briefing report. Keep your target audience in mind and focus on the information in your outline the audience needs to know.
2. Keep in mind the purpose of your briefing and structure the briefing accordingly. You should have three main sections of your paper: purpose, supporting facts and conclusion. The supporting facts should take up approximately half of your briefing.
3. Use compare and contrast methods when the information you're writing uses other studies or programs to support your briefing. When your briefing report is aimed at apprising an audience of a situation, give as many factual details of the situation as you can, without supposition, then wrap up the brief with proposed ways of following up on the situation in question, or defining the ways in which the situation has already been handled.
4. Format your briefing report according to standard report format unless otherwise instructed. The standard format is 1-inch margins and a 12-point Times New Roman font. Center the title on the first page, set the body copy to double space, and drop down one double space to begin. Be sure to place page numbers in the upper right hand corner of every page.
