This is a question that I
have been asked more times than I can remember by my English students. The
answer is very simple. In life, time is not always on our side and we often
need to keep it short and sweet. Although sweating to reduce a lengthy passage to
a hundred words within twenty-five minutes is not everyone's cup of tea, it is
bound to help you later in life. Let us explore a few of the many examples
where summarising occurs in one form or the other.
·
University students need to take quickly take down notes as lecturers
present their lectures.
·
Doctors have to speedily record the symptoms that they observe in their patients
while they do a medical examination. Later, a condensed medical history must be
compiled for the patient's file.
·
Lawyers have to go through volumes of legal books and evidence during the
course of their work. Summary writing skills are a must in this profession.
·
Accountants, financial analysts and economists in the corporate world need
to produce financial statements and reports about a company, industry, or the
economy as a whole. .
·
Researchers and academics encounter the need to condense the results of
their research to a manageable length. Graphs, pie charts and statistical
tables form just as much of a summary as text based summaries.
·
Reporters and journalists are guided by the number of words allocated to
them for their articles, or the amount of time they have on air. Telling the
story well within a limited amount of space or time requires a master of the
art of summary.
These are just a few examples, I am sure there are many more that you will
add on to this list through the comment box. A key aspect to remember about summarising is that it is all about giving only the information that is relevant to
your purpose. Examples and extra information should be avoided if they are not necessary.
Happy summarising!
