2nd Edition
Radical Reporting Writing Better Audit, Risk, Compliance, and Information Security Reports
"If I were giving out an award for 'book of the year' for internal audit professionals, I would certainly award it to her outstanding manuscript: Radical Reporting: Writing Better Audit, Risk, Compliance and Information Security Reports."
- Richard Chambers, Former President and CEO, The Institute of Internal Auditors
Most people dread writing reports; they also dread reading reports. What they don’t realize is that the techniques that make writing more readable make it more powerful. This is especially relevant for professionals in areas such as audit, risk, compliance, and information security.
This small volume provides the tools and techniques needed to improve reports. It does so through addressing crucial concepts all too often overlooked in the familiar rush to perform tasks, complete projects, and meet deadlines.
These concepts – the role of culture in communication; the link between logic and language; the importance of organizing thoughts before writing; and how to achieve clarity – may seem academic or theoretical. They’re not. Unless writers understand their own thoughts, actions, and objectives, they cannot hope to communicate them at all – let alone clearly.
This second edition develops these points with additional material on critical thinking, as well as the use of AI in reporting.
Acknowledgements
Author
Introduction
Part 1: Words in the mind
Chapter 1: Communication and culture
Chapter 2: Communication within and among teams
Chapter 3: Clarity – the theory
Part 2: Words on the page
Chapter 4: Clarity – the practice
Chapter 5: Planning
Chapter 6: Structure and layout
Part 3: Words into action
Chapter 7: Findings or observations, and recommendations
Chapter 8: Executive summaries
Chapter 9: Reviewing – making the gain outweigh the pain
Conclusion
Resources
Index
Biography
Sara I. James is an internationally recognized expert in internal audit communications. Through her business, Getting Words to Work®, she delivers tailored report-writing and other training to internal audit, risk, compliance, and information security teams worldwide (www.saraijames.com). With over 30 years’ academic, teaching, writing, publishing, and corporate experience in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East, she brings a wealth of varied yet specialized expertise to clients and audiences. As a member of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors (UK and Ireland) Technical Guidance Working Group, Sara has produced many governance, risk, and internal audit advisory pieces. She has also produced articles on clear writing for industry journals and spoken at numerous audit conferences and heads of internal audit forums. In 2022, she was named one of Richard Chambers' Internal Audit Beacon award-winners. Finally, Sara has been fortunate to live, study, and work in different countries, including the US, the UK, France, and the then-Soviet Union, and speaks five languages. These experiences and skills give her invaluable insight into cross-cultural communication and global organizations. She is also regularly asked to contribute scholarly essays, articles, and conference papers on language and literature.
"If I were giving out an award for ‘book of the year’ for internal audit professionals, I would certainly award it to her outstanding manuscript: Radical Reporting: Writing Better Audit, Risk, Compliance and Information Security Reports."
—Richard Chambers, Former President and CEO, The Institute of Internal Auditors
