Writing Visually?A Way to Get Their Attention - June 2006
Written by William D. Miller, CIA, CGFM, County Auditor, Johnson County, KS,
Guess what? People don't read our audit reports! As prideful as we may be, and with the diligence we put into writing a great report—much of it is for naught. Why is that? The answer is simple: we write like accountants and auditors. We also don't pay a lot of attention to our audience and in many instances don't know how broad that audience is. I plead guilty on all counts and until I focused on this issue, I thought I was a good writer. Let's look at a couple of things.
Incredibly, compared to 20 years ago, we have become a fast-paced, impatient society. ATMs, Internet, Debit Cards and fast food (which some even want to come faster) are living examples of how quickly society wants results. We even get irritated if we can't understand the squawk box at the drive-thru. Society also does not want to spend much time reading to get the point.
With the introduction of desktop publishing, auditing organizations have done a lot of things to make the written product look more interesting. Attractiveness does not necessarily equate to readability and in some instances can detract from the report. For example, I have seen a lot of report formats with large introductory captions and wide open spaces in the left margin. Interesting, but it sends a message to the reader—there are more pages here than necessary. A thick report is usually a dead report!
In another example, I attended an audit seminar and the speaker was presenting her desk-top publishing approach to audit summaries. This particular summary was an incredibly colorized four-fold insert that contained all the information you could possibly want in one fold-out. However, this document was not attached to the report in any way, so it quickly became a four-fold "drop-out" which could easily lose its way to the reader.
What is visual writing? I define it as making the reader "feel" or "see" the message. In essence we can paint a picture through our words that strikes the reader immediately. And, we can make the point with the first keystroke rather than the last. We can do this with sentences, graphs and charts, or tables. Here's an example, if I wrote about truck weigh stations and said that "x" number of trucks weighed over the maximum limit—excuse me while I yawn—you will only have a compliance picture in mind. You might even ask, what's the maximum limit? However, if I said the trucks weighed more than 80,000 pounds or 40 tons, a different picture appears. THESE TRUCKS ARE HEAVY! Not only does the compliance issue appear, but it also may cause one to think twice about cutting one of these rigs off in traffic! I saw another good example in a review of a budget. The auditors said the financial position is "weak". They didn't say the financial position was "below standard" or "did not meet expected levels"—they said it was weak (frail, unable to stand up). This is good stuff!
Let's take a look at a table visually written and included in an audit report: "Shaded cells indicate the department either did not have the management element or did not provide adequate evidence to support the statement that they did have it." Usually, the shaded cells would have the word "No" instead of the shading and the readers would have a simple Yes-No table with their eyes shifting back and forth as they discern the "Yesses" from the "Nos". However, with the shading you know there is a problem without reading anything more than the first Yes. Lots of shading equates to a big problem.
Figure 1.—Table of Compliance With Fleet Vehicle Standards
When using charts and graphs, pick the right kind! The reader does not want to have to "study" the picture to get the picture. Is an exploding pie chart better than a line graph? Certainly, if you want to highlight a specific element in a group. Knowing what message you are trying to emphasize helps determine what type of visual to use. Take a look at the next picture.
On its face, the invoice has to be studied to even determine that there is a problem. Now look at it with a few visual enhancements.
In this second view, the red arrows immediately tell the reader there is a problem and where to look for it. The narrative then could read:
Note: As shown, none of the calculations are correct. In addition, this subcontractor's invoice was included in the contractor's change order with an additional percentage added (which would also be incorrect) for the contractor's fee on sub-contract work.
Most reports today have some sort of Executive Summary. These summaries are needed only to tease the reader not to repeat the report contents. Some summaries have gotten so busy; another summary of the summary is needed. I've even seen reports with a "road map" on how to read them included in the summary. An Executive Summary only needs a short paragraph and a page reference for each topic point. It should be refined to a page or a page and one half. Any longer, you've lost the reader!
Let's talk about the audience and how to keep their attention. Although, the entity being audited is the prime target of the audit report, many more parties are interested. If you are in a council form of government, you will be reporting to several councilpersons. Usually, this form of government is public and the media is interested in audit results. Therefore, you must consider the publicity that can occur. If you are in a departmental internal audit function, publicity may not be a factor, but sensitivity to the audience is still critical. The audience must understand, usually quite quickly, your message or you will lose them. It is much like the standup comedian who has probably a maximum of two jokes to capture the audience in the first minute of delivery to encourage them to listen to the rest of the routine.
There are many ways to set up an audit report and there is no one perfect way. Some reports start out with a list of questions to be answered and the report presents answers to those questions. Some reports dialog issues. The point is, the reader must quickly get the message and be encouraged to read the message. Since there can be multiple levels of readers, the report can be written to satisfy those levels. Let me give an example. The legislator may be the highest level. It is not likely the legislator will read a large audit report cover to cover. The legislator may task the aide to summarize the report for the legislator, which means the aide may be required to read the report. However, the aide may give that assignment to the staffer who must consume the contents of the report to properly report to the various levels above.
I have found that a combination of brief executive summaries, charge paragraphs and well worded captions can go far in meeting the needs of all readers. The executive summary (no more than 1 to 1 ½ pages with page references to detail) meets the immediate need of the highest level reader. The charge paragraphs which discuss condition, cause, and effect ONLY meet the needs of the next level reader, and the captions meet the needs of the aide and staffer level. I try to make the thrust of the report, no matter how complex and lengthy, readable in 2 minutes. I have been successful with this approach and received kudos from all levels of review. Again, I am not advocating, write in the format that I do, but I am advocating the principle of "quick reads".
An example of what I call the two-minute drill follows. I will show only the captions in a comprehensive 21-page report on foster care in one of the states.
The safety and well-being of foster children needs management attention Foster care is a safe haven for children in need Child deaths rarely occur in foster care and are often preceded by hotline calls Foster children did not receive required oversight visits Discrepancies were found in documentation of oversight visits The division has not conducted a statewide inventory of children in foster care Foster children are unaccounted for Runaway foster children are not consistently managed by social workers Parental rights are not terminated timely More could be done to place children in foster homes The division needs to pay attention to prospective foster parents' desires and capabilities Telephone numbers for prospective foster parents were inaccurate in the division directory
This 2-minute drill captures the essence of the good and bad found in the program and gives all levels of readers a way to get the point without all the detail we deem necessary to support our written product.
In conclusion, everyone has a style of writing for their audit reports. I doubt that anyone would say their style is the best. I certainly won't. But, no matter what style is used, the concept of the quick read can be built in.
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