1. Copyright 2010 by Arthur Fricke Report Templates Engl 2311

2. Copyright 2010 by Arthur Fricke Templates what they are Templates are preformatted documents that do not contain information yet, that often have useful automated formatting, and that group members can use to simply enter information. Instead of formatting a whole big long report at the end of a project, you can simply format JUST A FEW PAGES at the START of a project. This saves A LOT of time and effort in the long run.

3. Copyright 2010 by Arthur Fricke Templates what they can do for you Templates can prevent confusion  set style and formatting from the start  group members only have to enter information  can contain messages to group members Templates can save effort  automate things like making a table of contents  each group member doesn’t have to format their sections Templates can save time  rough draft writing must be delegated for efficiency  each group member will work on a different report section  templates prevent format problems when these sections are pasted together into a final draft

4. Copyright 2010 by Arthur Fricke Templates how to make one Decide what document-level organization and design elements you will use:  subsections?  heading fonts and sizes?  body text font and size?  bullets or lists?  margins? paragraph breaks? footnotes? page numbers? Format a template section with all these elements Add “front matter” sections (cover page, TOC, etc)

5. Copyright 2010 by Arthur Fricke Templates how to use one 1. Distribute the template to all the group members 2. Group members write rough draft sections by just filling in the blanks 3. Group members delete any template elements that do not apply to their specific sections 4. Put together final complete rough draft by simply copying and pasting together everyone’s specific sections Formatting is DONE !!! No last-minute panic !!!

6. Copyright 2010 by Arthur Fricke Templates LOOK at an example I have linked a simple example template to the course schedule for today. If you want, you can download and modify this simple template or create one from scratch. Please DO NOT use this exact template without at least modifying it – the whole point of this project is to match a report to a SPECIFIC audience.