Message Strategy: Preparing an Executive Summary

An executive summary is a vital business document. It is an abridged synopsis of a longer document or report. It is designed to give busy executives and decision-makers a quick understanding of the main points, findings, and recommendations.

While executive summaries traditionally have been part of a formal report, you also can write stand-alone executive summaries (sometimes called executive briefings) to provide a concise overview of any kind of event or issue.

There are different reasons for preparing executive summaries. For instance, if you a developing a lengthy business plan proposal, you may create an executive summary that will be included in the front of the written report. If your business plan is pitched as a presentation with a slide deck (and not as a written report), you may prepare an executive summary as a one-page handout at the presentation. There may be other times when you are asked by a boss to review and report on a particular matter and you may have to do some independent research and summarize it into a short, high-level briefing that can be quickly digested.

Below are the steps to follow for writing executive summaries.

Do the Leg Work

The first step of preparing an accurate and comprehensive summary, is to gain a full understanding of what you are summarizing. Read the entire report carefully, review the full pitch deck, gather all the facts, or do whatever else work is necessary to see the full picture.

Locate the Main Ideas

You should be able to identify the big idea and articulate it in a sentence or two. What is the primary purpose of the document, idea, or matter you are summarizing? For example, is someone recommending a new vendor? Is there a particular problem that is being brought to your attention? Will there be a change coming?

You should also highlight or take notes on the critical points, data, and recommendations.

Write an Introduction

Begin the executive summary with a brief introduction that explains the purpose of the document. It is important to describe what the report covers.

Summarize the Key Points

Present a concise overview of the main points from each section of the full document. Use clear and straightforward language. Avoid jargon or overly technical terms that may not be familiar to the intended audience.

One way to determine if something is a key point is to ask yourself, is this piece of information essential to making a decision on this matter? If it is, then chances are it is key point.

Keep It Short

Executive summaries usually are 1-2 pages long. But keep in mind that while that is a good rule of thumb, there are times when even one page will be too long. For instance, if you are preparing an executive summary of a 4-page report, a 2-page summary is half the length of the full document. In that case, you are likely giving so much information that the executive summary has become redundant and is taking more time for the receiver than just reading the original document. See a sample executive summary below (Figure 8.13).