An advisory report summarizes an advisory board meeting and relays key information that informs business decisions. The advisory report comes into the hands of many key decision makers who are all very busy. Therefore, it’s critical that someone takes the time upfront to create a concise and actionable report that can be easily understood. 

Here are some tips that can help you create an advisory report that your client will fall in love with: 

• Provide the plethora of information into bite-size morsels that can be easily understood. Think of how you can categorize the information so that it makes sense (this might require some thinking).
• Within each category, start with the ideas that resonate the most. Then, work your way down to the ideas that resonate the least.
• Try to eliminate bullets using effective visualization (this can also require some critical thinking).
• Craft the executive summary slide in such a way that readers can grasp key concepts right away.
• Craft the conclusion slide effectively so that your recommendations and rationale are easily understood.

Prior to drafting the advisory report, you might want to confirm with the client if they have a particular format in mind. After completing your initial draft, run it by your team members for feedback; after all, 2 heads are better than 1. 

Below an example of what a basic advisory report can look like.

It’s time to make big strides and turn heads–let’s go.