Early in my career, I was intimidated by executive summaries. They sounded so corporate and formal. But, proper name aside, they’re really just the elevator pitch or the TL;DR (too long, didn’t read) of a document.
Writing an executive summary is an important leadership skill, whether you're an entrepreneur creating a business plan or a CEO delivering a quarterly report.
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All business plans have an executive summary, but not all executive summaries belong to business plans.
A business plan includes a company overview, short-term and long-term goals, information on your product or service, sales targets, expense budgets, your marketing plan, and even team information
Business plans are very detailed and comprehensive. They can be as short as a dozen pages or as long as 100 pages. The executive summary is the first section of the business plan.
An in-demand CEO or investor might not have the bandwidth to read your full business plan without first understanding your company or goals. That’s where an executive summary comes in handy.
Note: Need help putting together your business plan? We’ve got a template for you.
Mission statements and executive summaries are typically found in business plans, but they serve different purposes.
A mission statement defines your organization’s purpose, values, and vision. It’s your company’s North Star and communicates your core identity and reason for existence. On the other hand, an executive summary provides a high-level overview of the document.
HubSpot highlights its mission on its “about” page. Image Source
Ultimately, your mission statement directs your business plan, while your executive summary describes your business plan to executives and shareholders.
Like mission statements and executive summaries, company descriptions can be found in business plans, your “About Us” page, or even social media profiles.
They provide an overview of your business, including company history, what your company does, unique selling points, goals, management team, and overall value proposition.
An objective is a specific goal or target your company sets to help achieve its overall goal.
It is a concrete, measurable outcome guiding your business’ actions and decisions. Objectives are usually set at the strategic level and align with the company’s mission, vision, and overall strategic plan.
Company objectives are often included in executive summaries but are not their sole focus.
An executive summary may seem like a “nice-to-have.” After all, you can find the same information just by reading the rest of the document. However, these summaries serve many purposes.
I've cultivated a list of the necessary components and an example to get you started. This template is focused on writing an executive summary for a business plan, but the guidelines are adaptable to other documents.
A good executive summary tells your company’s story, contains key facts and data, conveys information with an engaging tone, is specific and void of clichés, and follows your greater document’s structure. These elements will ensure your executive summary is effective, informative, and impactful.
Writing an executive summary without reading the document is like trying to review a novel when you’ve only read the blurb on the book jacket — unreliable.
Before you can effectively summarize something, you need to know the entire story, so the first step in writing an executive summary is reading the whole document.
As you read, note essential information (like a novel's most crucial plot points). Your executive summary should capture these details.
Who is the intended audience of this document? Who will read this executive summary, and what do they want to know?
Like anything in marketing, you should keep your target audience in mind. This will shape the tone and content of your executive summary.
For instance, take this blog article. If I were to summarize it for someone short on time, I’d focus my summary on sharing actionable tips.
As we learned earlier, an executive summary can make your longer document easier to navigate and digest. How does it do that? By following the same structure.
Let’s take our blog article as an example. If you summarize this article for a friend, discussing the sections in order is far easier to follow than jumping from one to five.
Of course, you won’t include every detail, but following this established structure helps organize the information for your reader.
If someone reads your longer document afterward, the structure from your executive summary will make it feel more like they’re filling in the gaps, rather than making huge revelations.
What was the goal of the document you’re summarizing? What is it trying to communicate or recommend? What are you hoping people will know when they are done reading it?
Make sure you state that objective or hypothesis early and concisely. Once again, that will set the tone for the rest of your summary and the document at large.
In the case of this article, I’d summarize the objective as helping you write an exceptional executive summary.
With your audience and objectives in mind, summarize any juicy points, data, or results needed to drive home your point. If a fact helps sell your objective, include it!
We’ll get into specific examples in our next section.
End your summary by reiterating your most important takeaway(s). Depending on the type of document, this could mean delivering the results of an experiment, a recommended plan of action, sales numbers, or trends from your research.
In the summary of this article, it would mean reiterating the steps and tips I’ve outlined.
Whatever the document, remind the reader what was, or needs to be, done, why it matters, and why they should care.
Like any writing, don’t just ship the first draft of your executive summary.
As a writer, I’d recommend putting what content expert Ann Handley calls “the messy first draft” to the side and revisiting it after a day or so. Reread for clarity, grammar, and excitement, and consider getting external feedback.
Now that you know how to write an executive summary, let's dive into what to include.
An executive summary should provide a preview for readers, letting them know what to expect from the rest of your report.
Generally, that means including the following components:
The length and nuances of these elements will differ depending on the document you’re summarizing. But you’ll be in good shape if you use these as a guide.
There is no hard and fast rule for the exact length of executive summaries, but they typically range from one to three pages. Don’t get caught up with an arbitrary word or page count when gauging if yours is too long or short.
At the end of the day, your executive summary should engage the reader and highlight the most critical points of your document while avoiding any fluff. If it does that, you’re golden.
You’ve got the basics, now let’s add some flash.
Here’s how to take your executive summary to the next level. Let’s assume you’re writing an executive summary for a business plan.
Facts and figures might not be remembered, but emotions are, and few things capture emotions better than a story.
When investors or CEOs read your executive summary, you want them to understand what your business is about and why they should root for you. The best way to do this is by telling your story.
In the executive summary of your business plan, include an overview of what your company does and why it does it.
Discuss your mission and values and how they connect to your business plan. Drilling into these emotional elements sets the tone for your proposition and gets people more invested.
You can also briefly highlight essential details about your company’s management, like your founder or CEO’s qualifications and motivations. You can also provide a high-level summary of your company’s business operations or management best practices.
Think of this like an elevator pitch. If someone stopped reading, and you only had the executive summary to share, what story are you inviting them to be a part of?
Learn more about how to use stories in your marketing with “The Ultimate Guide to Storytelling.”
You grabbed the reader with emotion; now, you sell them with facts. While short, an executive summary should include plenty of data because it’s objective.
Even if someone is not moved by your story, it’s hard to argue against facts and figures that support your case. So, when writing an executive summary, highlight the document's most important findings and insights.
While the rest of your business plan fleshes out the details, your executive summary gives your reader the most compelling nuggets.
If relevant, go into your target market. Provide a basic rundown of how you plan to address their needs and pain points and how you’ll reach them. Additionally, consider including key financial information including the overall budget, the price per product/service, and your financial projections.
What data is “important” may differ depending on the type of document you’re summarizing. But the bottom line is: if it makes your case or drives home your point, include it.
Use this executive summary template to provide a summary of your report, business plan, or memo.
