MeritKeep

Summarise something long, without losing the bad news

Take a real document of at least 1,500 words — a report, a proposal, a post-mortem — and compress it to 150 words that stand alone. The test is not brevity. It is whether a decision-maker who reads only your version reaches the same decision they would have reached after reading all of it, including the parts that do not flatter the project.

Part of the Business Writing & Communication course~75 minutesEvidence: a write-upWe mark it against a checklist you can read first
01 · What counts as done

What you have to hand in

  • 150 words or fewer.
  • Submitted alongside the original.
  • Every material risk in the original appears in the summary.
  • Nothing is stated more confidently than the original supports.
  • A reader could decide from the summary alone.
02 · How it will be marked

The checklist, published before you start

We score your work against each line below, and every score has to quote the part of your work it is based on. You read all of it first, so you can argue with any score on the specifics.
  • A decision can be made from it alone35% of the grade

    The reader never needs the full document to say yes or no.

    1. AbsentReads as a teaser for the full version.
    2. DevelopingMost of what is needed, with one material gap.
    3. Competent— this is the pass markEverything needed to decide is present.
    4. StrongComplete, and states explicitly what is *not* covered.
  • The bad news survived compression30% of the grade

    Risks and caveats material to the decision are in the summary.

    1. AbsentA material risk was dropped in compression.
    2. DevelopingRisks mentioned but softened relative to the original.
    3. Competent— this is the pass markMaterial risks carried through at their original weight.
    4. StrongCarried through, and the most likely failure is named first.
  • Faithful to the original20% of the grade

    Nothing is overstated or reweighted to make the summary read better.

    1. AbsentClaims are stronger than the source supports.
    2. DevelopingEmphasis shifted in one place.
    3. Competent— this is the pass markProportions match the original.
    4. StrongProportions match, and any judgement call is flagged as the summariser's.
  • Within the length it promised15% of the grade

    Meets the stated word budget without abandoning completeness.

    1. AbsentMore than 25% over, or complete only by omission.
    2. DevelopingSlightly over, or scraping under by dropping something needed.
    3. Competent— this is the pass markWithin budget and complete.
    4. StrongComfortably within budget with room to spare.
03 · What this proves

The skills a pass would prove

Pass, and these skills count as proven, with this piece of work attached as the evidence.

This brief is part of the Business Writing & Communication course

Starting it starts the course: every skill above, in the order they depend on each other, with this brief at the end as the thing you hand in — marked against the checklist you have just read and nothing else.

About three minutes to set up: what you want to do with Business Writing & Communication, where you are starting from, and how many hours a week you actually have. The subject we already have from this page.Start the Business Writing & Communication course
See the whole Business Writing & Communication course, or every graded brief we run.

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