Why don't people take our advice? Sometimes it's because we're not upfront enough about what action we think they should take. Often when you're writing a report or proposal you need to include recommendations.

There are two main types of recommendation:

• A plan of action helps people make quick decisions about the next steps. Your writing is persuasive (but based on logic and facts) and there is no room for debate or discussion about the recommendations.
• A list of goals and general principles acknowledges that there may be disagreement about the way a problem is handled. Such recommendations are less directive than a plan of action.

Tips for writing recommendations:

• write standalone recommendations, i.e. your reader can read them without reading the rest of the report and they still make sense
• make one point in each recommendation
• be consistent in tone, style and format — for example, if you're using a list start every bullet point with the same part of speech
• use the active voice (I wrote the letter rather than The letter was written by the manager)
• use verbs — they are stronger than noun phrases (compare discuss with enter into a discussion)
• be objective, though you can use I, we or you if appropriate.

Reference: http://www.jeanweber.com/howto/reports.htm

Further reading
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Trouble getting started
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