The Building Blocks of Writing to Achieve Results
- Discover the building blocks of writing to achieve results in audit reports
- Use the building blocks for evaluating all forms of writing in audit reports
- Fixing the Macro before addressing the micro
- Understanding the importance of following a writing process in audit report writing
Writing Basics: Determining Audience and Purpose
- Review the principles of good writing
- Identify your audience
- Be clear about your purpose
- Identify the essential information the audience needs given your purpose
- Determine how to communicate as clearly and concisely as possible
- Understand the importance of word choice
- Seek feedback before you send to the reader
- Writing from a viewing point vs. a point of view
Mind-mapping: Organizing for Results
- Learn a method for thinking critically, organizing logically, and prioritizing strategically
- Establish a desired result
- Generating ideas and information related to audience and purpose
- Organizing, discussing, and prioritizing ideas and information
- Presenting a final mind-map and receiving feedback
Transparent Structure: Making Reading Easy
- Learn and practice using a wide range of graphic tools that help make organizational structure transparent to the reader
- Formatting documents to make reading and comprehension easier
- Creating visually appealing audit reports
Cutting the Clutter
- Demonstrate the importance of clarity and conciseness
- Enhance the readability of reports
- Learn how to become a better editor of your own writing
- Identify redundant words
Making Sentences Make Sense
- Emphasize the importance of making every thought in writing clear to the reader
- Communicating ideas clearly
- Identify run-on sentences and learn to edit from the viewpoint of the reader
Writing Findings and Recommendations
- Understand the Deming quality management concept as it applies to report writing
- Identify the five components of a well-written Finding and Recommendation
- Practice organizing your thoughts before your write
- Write a Finding and Recommendation from the view point of the reader
Fixing the Micro
- Realize the importance of noun/pronoun agreement
- Realize the importance of subject/verb agreement
- Recognize the importance of parallel structure in sentence formation and bulleted items
- Become familiar with using a grammar reference manual
Editing
- Review the six most common editing problems
- Review the six most useful editing techniques
Proofreading
- Review the seven most common proofreading problems
- Review the six most useful proofreading techniques
- Identify common errors in an audit report