How Important is a First Draft for Business Reports?

By Emma Meakin

When drafting any business-related documentation. a first draft is an absolute must.

When you’re writing any business report, your first draft is your best chance to get all your ideas onto the page. Once you start editing and redrafting, your focus will unavoidably turn to shaping and perfecting the presentation of concepts, and it will be much harder to introduce new ideas later on.

You should therefore think of your first draft as your raw material. Write freely, using bullet points, flow charts or whatever is easiest to get the essence of your ideas down. Don’t focus on the precise language or flow - that will come later when you start editing your work. To keep focused on ideas, resist the temptation of re-reading or editing until you’ve finished the first draft.

Nothing is ever going to be perfect on the first attempt so it is always review your work - you do not want to present a report full of errors!

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