Executive Summary vs Introduction
When you look at the table of contents of a book, you find different titles such as the executive summary, introduction, preface, conclusions, etc that confuse you a lot. It is especially the executive summary and introduction that look similar, and you are clueless as to why there are two separate pages for similar content. This article attempts to make clear the difference between executive summary and introduction to make you appreciate them better the next time you see these names in the table of contents of a book.
Introduction
The name of the title says it all as in the introduction of a report or a book; the writer tries to tell a bit of his background and then comes to the point by telling about the present project and his aims. Introduction also contains an outline of the total body of the report or the book.
Executive Summary
Like any other summary, the main purpose of an executive summary is to provide the reader with a condensed version or the gist of a long report or book. In fact, it would suffice to say that an executive summary is just a miniature of the entire book. It should be packed with information, so that the reader knows in a glance what is there in store for him in the book or the report. It is placed at the beginning of a large report summarizing main features of the report for an executive.
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What is the difference between Executive Summary and Introduction? • Not only are the contents in an introduction different from that in an executive summary, the purpose of each is also different • Executive summary is meant for busy executives and gives them an overview of the project or the report • The introduction entices you to read the entire project by giving a glimpse of what is in store for you • Executive summary has a bit of introduction in it but covers all other major features of the book • Executive summary is sharper and more precise than the introduction |