Precis writing definition:

“A precis is a brief, original summary of the important ideas given in a long

selection. Its aim is to give the general effect created by the original selection.”
Precis writing is a concise summary that forsakes all unnecessary details
(including illustrations, amplifications, and embellishments) in favor of
reproducing the logic, development, organization and emphasis of the original.
Precis writing aims at intelligent reading and clear, accurate writing. It is a skill of
both analysis and genesis that critically questions every thought included and
excluded, each word used to express those thoughts, and the proportions and
arrangements of those thoughts — both in the original and in the precis. In its
exaction it mercilessly reveals an author’s wordiness and looseness or thinness of
thought and construction. It should strengthen our style, our sense of proportion
and emphasis, and our sensitivity to word meanings and an author’s viewpoint,

Four main pillars of Precis

1. Simple
2. Concise
3. Clear
4. Complete
Elements of Good Precis
1. A good Precis should give leading thoughts and general impression of the
passage
summarized.
2.A good Precis should be continuous and compact piece of prose.
3. A Precis should be clear, concise and complete in sense of original thoughts.
4. The precis should be written from the original author’s point of view, without
editorializing.
5.Indirect Speech should be used.
6. 3rd person pronoun should be used and should be in past tense.
A Precis must fulfill following requirements
1. All Important/relevant Ideas must be included
2. All unimportant/irrelevant ideas must be excluded
3. It must be in the form of continuous narrative
What should we avoid?
1. Avoid your own comments and other irrelevancies.
2. Avoid borrowing sentences and phrases from the original passage.
3. Avoid emphasizing the wrong points.
4. Avoid exceeding the prescribed length (1/3). “5 Words could be”
5. Avoid Bad style of Grammar and Structure.
6. Avoid redundancies of expression.
7. Avoid introductory remarks, Illustrations, Examples and side-remarks.
8. Avoid Informal language.
Method of Precis Writing
1. Reading:
First Reading: (i) Read every word slowly and carefully until you clearly
understand the sense of the passage.
(ii) Look up all unfamiliar words, phrases, and allusions
(iii) Identify the dominating idea, the essential thought, of the passage. Ask if
this idea were omitted, would the fundamental meaning of the passage be
changed?

1
(iv) Determine what emphasis and space to give the thought in each section;
write a heading for each section.
Second Reading: (i) Underscore with a pencil the important facts containing
the essential thoughts. This is a process of differentiation between what is
essential and what is not. Generally you will omit examples, illustrations,
conversations, and repetitions.
(ii) Reread your selections to see that they are wise and adequate.
(iii) Determine if your underscoring expresses the main ideas.
Final Reading: (i) Rapidly and intensely reread the origin, dwelling on the
important facts selected for a precis.
(ii) If you need for more reading, you should read again, The main idea of the
passage should be clearly understood by the student.

2. Title: We must give a striking title to our precis. The title of the precis can be
found either in the first Paragraph or sentence or the last last paragraph.
3. Practice is mere important for the students to achieve the goal of good precis.

Summary and abstract words are used in the place of precis since both the words
convey the same meaning. Summary is the presentation of statements in the
form of notes with main heading and sub-heading and numbered points beneath
them. Abstract is presented in the form of paragraph which contains main theme
of the passage or an article. In nutshell, a precis-writing should be accurate, brief
and clear i.e ABC.

Meaning of Precis Writing

Precis-writing means a brief and clear statement of the important matters of a
longer passage.

Definition of Precis Writing

Precis-writing is defined as a brief statement in a summary form of the essential
ideas in a longer article.
Importance of Precis Writing
Today, every businessman and top executives are forced to be busy to win in the
competition. They have only meager time to spent for reading correspondences,
newspapers, magazines, journals, announcement of the government and the like.
They require main points of the communication and other items. Hence, a person
is requested to read the full passage and present the important matters as in the
form of precis. This process involves the precis writing.

Qualities of Good Precis Writer

The following soft skills are required to be a good precis-writer.
1. He/she should have the power of thorough understanding and judgement of
the passage.
2. He/she must be understand.the real facts of the passage very quickly.
3. He/she must know maximum vocabulary and its meanings.
4. He/she should know the place of using any vocabulary.
5. He/she should avoid telegraphic language at the cost of brevity.

2
Essentials of Precis Writing
The following points should be kept in mind while writing the precis.
1. The precis must not exceed one-third of the length of the original passage.
2. The precis must be in indirect form and in past tense.
3. The precis should be in own words of the precis-writer.
4. The combination of the sentence of original passage should be avoided at the
maximum.
5. The original words of the original passage should be avoided at the
6. If suitable other words are not available, the original words of the original
passage may be used in precis-writing.
7. Different paragraphs are used in precis-writing. At the same time, there must
be continuity from first paragraph to next paragraph.
8. The main ideas or matters of the original passage should be presented in the
same order in precis-writing at the maximum.
9. The precis must complete and self-contained and at the same time in lucid and
concise.
10. The reader of the precis-writing should understand the subject matter in the
same direction and the right sense of the precis-writer.
11. The precis must be in simple and direct. There should not be any grammar
mistake in the precis-making.
12. Every precis must have a short and appropriate title.
Steps involved in Precis Writing

A precis-writer can follow the following steps while writing precis.

1. The precis-writer should read the full passage thoroughly to get main theme.
2. Once again read the passage for proper understanding of the material facts.
3. Underline or highlight all the important ideas.
4. Select a suitable title for the proposed precis-writing.
5. Hints may be developed by the precis-writer.
6. Verify the hints to know whether all the material facts are included for precis-
writing.
7. The precis-writer can use his/her own language for precis-writing.
8. Confirm, whether unimportant points and irrelevant points are excluded in
precis-writing.
9. Each material facts are presented in a separate paragraph.
10. Give importance whether each paragraph is well connected with next
paragraph.
11. Now, the first draft is ready. At this stage, the precis-writer can count the
number of words. If the number is one third of original passage, the precis
writing is over.
12. Sometimes, the number of words of first draft is less than or more than one
third of original passage. Few words may be added as in the form of sentence, if
number of words is less than one third of original passage. Likewise, two or more

3
sentences may be replaced in one sentence if number of words is more than one
third of original passage.
13. Read the precis-writing for spelling mistake and grammar corrections.
14. Reconsider the appropriateness of the title of precis-writing and amend it, if
necessary.

Types of Business Reports in Business Communication

The business reports are classified on many basis. Such types of business reports
are briefly explained.
Reports on the basis of Importance or Frequency
The reports are classified into two types. They are ordinary or routine reports and
special reports.

1. Ordinary or Routine Report

Ordinary reports are prepared and presented before the managing director at
specific intervals or to the next authorized person in the business routine. The
reports shall be submitted either daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly,
bi-annually or annually. This type of report contains mere statement of facts in
detail without any opinion or recommendation of the reporter.

Examples for routine reports are Report of Directors to the Annual General
Meeting, Auditor’s Report to the Annual General Meeting, Sales Report,
Production Report and the like.

2. Special Report
This type of report is prepared and presented before the top management on
specific request. It usually contains the opinions or recommendations of the
reporter with the help of facts and arguments. Examples for special report are
opening of branch, introducing a new product, Improving the quality or changing
the shape or size of the product and the like.

Reports on the Basis of Legal Formalities

The reports are classified into two types. They are formal report and informal
report.

1. Formal Report
Formal report is prepared in a prescribed format and presented before the
competent authority in an established procedure. Reports submitted by officials
or committees of constituted bodies (example: Companies, Cooperative
Societies, Local Bodies etc.) are usually formal report.

2. Informal Report
Informal report is prepared in a format of the convenience of the reporter and
presented directly before the required person as and when demanded. An

4
informal report is presented as in the form of letter or memorandum. Generally,
it takes the form of a person to person communication.

The formal reports are classified into two types. They are statutory report and
non-statutory report.

Reports on the basis of Function

The reports are classified on the basis of function into two types. They are
informative and interpretative.
1. Informative Report: An informative report is prepared and presented with
the help of available information at the maximum with regard to an issue or
situation.
2. Interpretative Report: An interpretative report is not only contains the
facts, views and opinions of reporters and others but also includes the causes for
an issue or an event and required remedial action with recommendations.
Reports on the basis of meetings
Whenever a meeting is organized in any business organization, a report is
prepared by the secretary or any other individual about the proceedings of the
meeting. Such reports are classified into two types. They are Verbation Report
and Summarized Report.

1. Verbation Reports: A verbation report is a complete word by word record of

all discussions made at a meeting. For example, Appointment of an Auditor. A
resolution is passed in the meeting. Likewise, Directors are appointed and the
remuneration and perquisites of key personnel are fixed by passing a resolution.
In this case, a report is prepared by including the verbation record of the
resolutions passed with the names of the proposers and seconders, manner of
voting and results. However, the verbation report should not be confused with
the minutes of the meeting which is the official record of the proceedings and the
decisions arrived at in the meeting.

2. Summarised Report: A summarized report is prepared with the help of the

essential details discussed in the meeting. This type of report is prepared for
sending to the press or to shareholders of the company or members of the
institution.
Reports on the basis of Nature of the Subject dealt with The following
reports are included in the report which are classified on the basis of the nature
of the subject dealt with.

1. Problem Solving Report: A problem may arise in any one of the department
or in the whole organization. Hence, the top management may seek a report for
solving the problem. When, the reporter collects various information to find the
causes for such problem. Moreover, the report is concluded with the ways of
solving the problem. Such type of report is called Problem Solving Report.

5
2. Fact Finding Report: A machine may be breakdown in the factory premises.
Sometimes, there may be a rivalry between the two group of workers. Now, the
management wants to know the real reason for machine break down and group
clash between the workers. In this case, the reporter analyze the incident
through detailed investigation and find the truth. Finally, the reporter presents
the facts in the report form before the top management.

3. Performance Report: The business organization wants to know the

performance of each department periodically or performance of a branch or
performance of newly appointed employee or performance of existing employees
for promotion, transfer and the like. The management is not in a position to take
a decision without knowing the performance. Hence, a reporter is asked to
prepare the performance report for anyone of the reasons mentioned above.

4. Technical Report: There is a lot of changes made in the technology.

Whenever a company is going to introduce mechanical process instead of manual
process, the level of technology required assessed. Sometimes a design may be
changed in the existing product, if so, latest technology should be adopted. In
this case, a detailed report is essential to top management for taking a decision.
Such type of report is called Technical Report.
Reports of Committees or Subcommittees
Committees or Subcommittees are formed by the top management to prepare
the report on any one of the issue. The followings are included in the reports of
committee or subcommittee.
Standing Committee Report
Adhoc Committee Report
Minority Report - Majority Report
1. Standing Committee Report: Standing Committees are permanent in nature
and are entrusted to deal with some continuing aspects of the business
organization. For example: Finance, Performance of Employees, Performance of
Departments etc. These matters are continuously watched by the standing
committee and submit the report at frequent intervals.
2. Special or adhoc Committee Report: Special or adhoc Committees are
appointed to deal with special investigation and are dissolved as soon as the
presentation of report. Hence, the life of special committee is temporary.
For example: Fire occurrence or Accident incurred within the factory premises.
The causes for fire or accident are find out by forming special committee.
3. Minority Report: Committees or subcommittees are appointed to submit the
report based on the investigation of special subject. Generally, three members
are selected to form a committee or subcommittee. One member being the
chairman of such committee or subcommittee.
If the members have different opinion or views over the subject matter
dealt with, the dissentient member may append the notes of dissent or may
submit a report separately. Such report is termed as Minority Report. Even
though, the dissent members must sign in the majority report with dissent note.

6
4. Majority Report: Generally, all the members of the committee or
subcommittee including chairman have unanimous opinion among them. If so,
only one report is prepared and presented before the responsible body. If not so,
majority members of the committee or subcommittee have different opinion than
minority members. In this case, majority members are going to submit a report
before the responsible body. Such report is termed as majority report.