A Few Good Words
How Internal Auditors Can Write Better, More Insightful Reports
by
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A Focus on What Readers Want and Need To distinguish wanted from unwanted and needed from unneeded information, you need first to understand your readers. Specifically, you should identify how they will use the document, determine their levels of understanding, and assess their possible reactions. Sometimes you can readily predict how readers will use a document; other times, the task is harder. For example, readers of an email announcing a meeting will use the email to put the meeting on their calendars and to prepare the meeting. Thus, they want and need to know where and when the meeting will take place, what topics it will cover, and what is expected of them. When the prediction about document use is harder, you need to imagine yourself into the readers’ place—a good trick for any writer to learn. You may also need to ask for insights from others who better understand the readers and their roles. The readers’ levels of understanding help us to know how much or how little detail they need. Readers with a high level of technical understand usually want and need more detail; those with a lower level of understanding usually want and need less. This equation—high level equals more detail, and low level equals less detail—is poorly understood by many writers. In fact, some writers think they need to explain more to readers with lower levels of understanding, and they load documents with technical information beyond the reader’s reach and outside the reader’s attention span. The key is to provide those details that illuminate the messages, not to attempt to bring the non-technical reader to the same level of technical understanding possessed by the writer. The readers’ anticipated reactions to the document also influence what they want and need. Receptive readers usually need less persuasion, and including too many details may make us appear unsure of ourselves. Skeptical readers need even-handed presentations and explanations. Hostile readers may need more explanation and soothing words. Necessary Information As you draft a document, you may state the obvious, impeding conciseness. For example, a report heading "Recommendations" need not be followed by the sentence, "We recommend the following actions." Consider this longer example of unnecessary information. Example The internal audit department has adopted a risk-based approach to each audit. A risk-based approach to internal auditing is a best practice in the field of internal auditing. Using a risk-based approach, we first work with the audit client to identify the overall risks within the process. Next, we develop a rating based on the likelihood of the risk occurring and the potential impact of a risk event. We then focus the internal audit on the highest risk areas as identified by the department’s risk-based approach to internal auditing. Repetition of key terms (in the example, the word "risk") is an effective strategy for coherence, but the repeated definitions in this example are unnecessary. Here is a revision that reduces the paragraph from 89 to 71 words. Example The internal audit department has adopted a risk-based approach to each audit. This approach is a best practice in the field of internal auditing. We first work with the audit client to identify the overall risks within the process. Next, we develop a rating based on the likelihood of the risk occurring and the potential impact of a risk event. We then focus the internal audit on the highest risk areas. Word Economy English is wonderfully flexible, with various ways of expressing a single idea. Unfortunately, such flexibility can lead to sentences loaded up with unnecessary words and phrases. Here are four common problems that impede word economy: - Habitual expressions that add no value - Redundancies - "There is…" constructions - Noun constructions where verbs will do Habitual expressions take up space without adding content, and English is full of them. Consider the following revisions for habitual expressions. Examples Original: In order to prevent errors in order processing, four specific changes will be made in the procedures. Revision: To prevent errors in order processing, four changes will be made in the procedures. Original: The department is in the process of revising the personnel manual. Revision: The department is revising the personnel manual. Redundancies occur when two words or phrases say the same thing or when one idea is implicit in another. Consider the following revisions for redundancies. Examples Original: The manager returned the report back to the auditor for changes. Revision: The manager returned the report to the auditor for changes. Original: The changes will build on the self-assessment foundation that is already in place. Revision: The changes will build on the self-assessment foundation. Original: Three separate electrical poles are located in close proximity to the emergency exit. Revision: Three electrical poles are located close to the emergency exit. Constructions that begin "There is…" (or any variation in number or tense) almost always benefit from revision. Consider the following revisions for "There is…" constructions. Examples Original: There were errors in the credit verification reports. Revision: The credit verification reports contained errors. Original: There were two reasons given for the lack of documentation. Revision: Two reasons were given for the lack of documentation. Original: There are instances in which the lack of duplicate-payment controls resulted in vendor overpayments. Revision: The lack of duplicate-payment controls resulted in vendor overpayments. Using noun constructions where verbs will do results in longer, less vivid expressions. Consider the following revisions to changes noun constructions to verb constructions. Examples Original: In 20xx, the Board gave consideration to merging the two divisions. Revision: In 20xx, the Board considered merging the two divisions. Original: The consultant made a recommendation for ways to begin the documentation of the Sarbanes-Oxley project. Revision: The consultant recommended ways to begin documenting the Sarbanes-Oxley project. Original: We recommend the department undertake revisions in the task descriptions used to provide training to new employees. Revision: We recommend the department revise the task descriptions used to train new employees.
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About the Book
Learn key strategies and skills for writing effective internal audit reports and for managing report writers. A range of issues is covered: from organization to clarity, from tone to proofreading. Throughout, realistic examples support sound, contemporary writing theory.
Cutler draws on her years of consulting with and providing training for internal auditors—as well as on her formal education in writing—to provide advice that is at once insightful and down-to-earth. A useful addition to any internal audit library, A Few
Good Words will help new and experienced report writers to develop, write, and polish reports that communicate essential messages readably and persuasively. It also will help those managing report writers, providing insights on reviewing and editing as well as benchmarks for writing quality.
About the Author
Sally Cutler is the president of Word-Wrights Incorporated. She provides report-writing training and consulting for internal audit departments, both in the United States and throughout the world. Sally also is a member of the faculty of The Institute of Internal Auditors' (The IIA's) Vision University, which provides executive development for chief audit executives. Sally’s expertise is in writing-skills training, document design, reporting processes, and writing quality. Word-Wrights’ clients include American Express, American Water, Bon Secours Health System, Canada Mortgage and Housing, Chicago Bridge & Iron (CB&I), Cingular Wireless (now AT&T), Cornell University, CSX Corporation, eBay, Exide Technologies, Fidelity Investments, General Motors, GlaxoSmithKline, The Home Depot, IBM Corporation, National Grid Transco, various New York State Offices, Oakridge National Laboratories, OhioHealth, Russel Metals (Canada), Scotiabank (Canada), Sentara Healthcare, Siemens, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, The United Nations (Food and Agriculture Organization), United States Department of Homeland Security (Customs and Border Protection), United States Social Security Administration, and Zurich Financial Services/Farmer’s Insurance. Sally is the author of Designing and Writing Message-Based Audit Reports (2001) and Audit Committee Reporting: A Guide for Internal Auditing (2009), both published by The Institute of Internal Auditors (The IIA) Research Foundation. She also writes a quarterly column for New Perspectives on Healthcare Risk Management, Control and Governance, a publication of the Association of Healthcare Internal Auditors, Inc. (AHIA). Sally holds an undergraduate degree in English (summa cum laude) from The State University of New York at Albany and a master’s degree in writing from Syracuse University, in New York State, where she served on the faculty of the Independent Study Program. She is a frequent presenter for The IIA: she has also presented for the AHIA and the Association of College and University Auditors. Sally makes her home in rural upstate New York with her husband and colleague, Lewis Cutler.