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10 TIPS ON WRITING
EXECUTIVE SUMMARIES
© PURSUIT Communications Limited 2011

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What is an Executive Summary?
For many people it is what it says on the tin — a summary of a much
bigger document. Executive Summaries for Government reports for
instance often have an opening paragraph followed by a lot of bullet
points. They’re difficult to read and are basically a rather turgid list
of facts — almost an expanded contents page. For your purposes an
Executive Summary is very different — it’s a selling document. Your
chance to ‘wow’ the customer.
Some companies teach Executive Summary writing as a formula.
It isn’t. Each one should be tailored to the customer.
Here are some of the top tips we think are crucial in writing a killer
Executive Summary...

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THE EARLY BIRD
CATCHES THE READER 01
Don’t leave writing the Executive Summary to the last minute. It takes a long time to refine and get a version that’s
an interesting read. You should know all the key messages that go into it from the early stages of a bid. It’s a good
discipline to produce a first draft as soon as the bare bones of your solution/response are agreed. By writing a first
draft early on you can give it to other people in the team who are writing the long–form documents to echo the key
themes from the Executive Summary. That way all the key messages flow through your submission like the words
on a stick of rock.
ACTION:
Set yourself a timetable for drafting at RFP stage.

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PUT YOURSELF IN YOUR
READERS’ SHOES 02
Remember, an Executive Summary isn’t just read by the team reviewing your submission. Other people in the
organisation will read it too — very often including the board and senior executive team. It needs to resonate
with them, to recognise their business challenges and make you feel like a company they could do business with.
Research whom you are selling to, the way they talk and the way they present themselves. This way you’ll give your
Exeutive Summary a personality and tone of voice that the customer readily identifies with.
ACTION:
Research your customer’s communications and create a word palette.

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TAKE THE READER
ON A JOURNEY 03
Before you put pen to paper, sketch out your message flow on a sheet of A4/whiteboard. Then work out the
headers for each section and add in the supporting proof points. You’ll find it’ll soon start to write itself and
will follow a logical narrative that tells a good story about why you should win the business.
ACTION:
Sketch out the message flow on a single page.

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PEOPLE BUY WITH
THEIR EYES 04
”A picture is worth a thousand words.” Some people absorb pictures better than words and sometimes a picture can
say a lot more than words. It’s not about slapping in a load of library shots, but it is about creating a cohesive look and
feel. We’ve seen Executive Summaries with charts that have clearly come from different sources and not re–worked
into the same format. It’s not a difficult job to reformat them. Another example is a team picture. Instead of a load of
mug shots of who will be working on their business, try to get a group shot of everyone. It demonstrates a cohesive
team that clearly works together. Finally, think about the overall design. Make it look like your customer, not like you.
They should feel at home the moment they open it — which is best achieved by ensuring that it complements (but not
necessarily copies) their own branding.
ACTION:
Think visually and involve a graphic designer.

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USE WORDS AS
IF THEY’RE GOLD 05
It’s easy to throw in the kitchen sink and write reams, but it’s disrespectful to your reader. Sometimes people do
it as an insurance policy. If they lose, nobody can point the finger and say you forgot to mention it in the Executive
Summary. You may be restricted to a certain number of pages anyway, but it’s a good discipline to keep to a fixed
number of words from the start. It makes you really focus on what are the essential things you need to get across
and remove the waffle.
ACTION:
Set a word count and keep to it.

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DON’T BUILD A CAMEL 06
Allegedly the camel is an animal that looks like it’s been designed by a committee. But it makes a good point.
Decide on a small group to sign off and review the Executive Summary. People like to involve everyone because
if they don’t win they can’t be accused of not involving everyone. The problem with this approach is that people
always want to have their say and add something. Executive Summaries can easily get overloaded with too much
information and the messages are lost. It’s also wise to keep one reviewer ‘fresh’ and only show them a draft that’s
close to final — that way you’ll get an objective view of what it’s like as a first read.
ACTION:
Agree a small group who will review the document at the outset.

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GRAB THE READER
BY THE THROAT 07
Too many Executive Summaries start with people telling the customer stuff they already know about their
business, typically by reciting the brief back to them. This instantly bores the reader. The Executive Summary
is your ‘elevator pitch’. You need to draw the reader in from the start. Start with something that’s going to grab
them or intrigue them. It’ll set the tone for the whole document.
ACTION:
Kick off with something that will get the reader’s attention.

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DODGE BULLETS 08
Have you ever read a novel or a newspaper article with bullet points in them? No. Bullet points are a lazy way
of listing things. Create a narrative that reads well. One that Attracts... Creates Desire... Builds Confidence.
It doesn’t have to be War and Peace. Just some nicely crafted paragraphs punctuated with pithy crossheads.
ACTION:
Avoid using bullet points whenever possible.

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KEEP IT SIMPLE 09
Don’t over complicate things. Avoid using too much technical language or terms if you can. Write it for the senior
management/executive team who may know nothing about your bid and what you are selling. All they’ll be interested
in is what it can do for their business — not what it does for yours.
ACTION:
Avoid jargon.

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IF YOU CAN’T WRITE,
FIND SOMEONE WHO CAN 10
We can’t all do everything brilliantly. Not everyone can write well, so find someone who can. It doesn’t stop you
from planning the narrative and getting all the key messages in. You can then brief someone to make it read
and flow well.
ACTION:
Get someone who can write to polish the drafts if you can’t.