380 / Types of Writing
[For guidelines on improving writing techniques (structure, consistency, sentence vari-
ety, emphasis, transition, unity, and specific detail) see Chapter 3, Revising, with its
series of samples.]
STEP 11: Revising—Developing the Visual Aids
Prepare the visual aids neatly and professionally. Your word-processing software
should allow you to produce visual aids neatly and professionally with a minimum
of fuss.
Use the following guidelines for tables:
- Number the tables consecutively.
- Give each table a title.
- Give each table column a heading.
- Leave ample space around each table to offset it from the text.
- Refer to each table in the text and show its relation to the discussion.
- Place each table as near to the discussion as possible.
- Tables that give additional information, not directly related to the discussion,
should be placed in an appendix.
Anything that is not a table is called a figure. For figures:
- Number the figures in the order of their appearance.
- Give each figure a descriptive title.
- Label both the horizontal and vertical axes of a graph.
- Place all labels horizontally on charts and diagrams.
- Include a legend, if necessary, to identify multiple lines, multiple bar patterns,
or pie-chart patterns. - Keep the figures simple. Show no more than three ideas per graph, and keep
other figures as uncluttered as possible. - Leave ample space around each figure to offset it from the text.
- Refer to each figure in the text, and show its relation to the discussion.
- Place each figure as near to the discussion as possible.
- Figures that give additional information, not directly related to the discussion,
should be placed in an appendix.
STEP 12: Revising—Dealing with Format
The final draft of the technical report must include certain unique features. Follow
these suggestions:
- Begin the first page with the word INTRODUCTION, centered, in capitals.
Additional main headings will also be centered, in capitals.