Words That Work

Words That Work

Words That Work 1


Get Out! Events had the opportunity to participate in the X-Culture Competition as a case company. In this series, Felix shares his experiences and learning points.

In today’s excerpt, he shares how you can catch his attention from amongst all the clutter and reports.

The executive summary is essential in a report. Although every one of the 30 over reports submitted has an executive summary, I haven’t read one that was spot-on. For this business report, the executive summary should answer three main questions. Which cities should we expand into? What should we do once we are there? How do we do it? If your executive summary answers these questions, it will make me interested in finding out more about your elaborations. That would entice me to reach the whole 50-page report. Without it, I am just picking and choosing from the first few lines that I read, and your brilliance could be lost amongst all the graphs and academic theories if I did not read in-depth.

Every element of anything you write has one purpose only. As put so sweetly by Joe Sugarman, an esteemed writer, and direct response marketeer, the purpose of your first line is to get someone to read the second line. Everything you write is for this one purpose only. The purpose of your executive summary is the same. You want me to read the next chapter, so you need to tell me why I should flip the page. Keep this in mind for your next copy, and you will do much better at captivating the attention of your readers and audience.

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