What should the executive summary include?

A snapshot of your whole story

The executive summary includes the introduction (the context, trigger and question) as well as the answer and an overview of your whole story that is structured to match the body of your story. For example:

(Context) BigCo has been exploring ways to build its business outside Australia and (trigger) the exec team has identified three high potential options for the board to review.

(Implied question: What are they?)

  1. Build on existing relationships across Asia Pacific to find new customers for our Australian designed and manufactured goods
  2. Contract with manufacturers in Asia Pacific to manufacture Australian designed products that we can then market to Asian, European and American markets
  3. Partner with SmartCo to manufacture and distribute Australian designed goods globally

The strengths and weaknesses of each of these options will now be discussed in turn.