 | Radical Reporting: Writing Better Audit, Risk, Compliance, and Information Security Reports Subjects: Computer Science; Communication Studies; Economics Finance Business & Industry; Information & Communication Technology (ICT); Management of IT; Computing & IT Security; Technical Communication; Writing & Composition; Legal Ethical & Social Aspects of IT; Business Management and Accounting; Industry & Industrial Studies; IT Security; Accounting; Service Industries; 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. Sara is an internationally recognized expert in internal audit communications, deliveringtailored report-writing and other training to internal audit, risk and compliance teamsworldwide (www.saraijames.com).With over 30 years' academic, teaching, writing, publishing and corporate experience inthe US and Europe, she brings a wealth of varied yet specialist expertise to clients andaudiences. Clients include multinational blue-chip organizations in sectors as diverse asfinance, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals and aerospace; national and local government;legal and medical professionals; and charities.As a member of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors (UK and Ireland) TechnicalGuidance Working Group, Sara has produced many governance, risk and internal auditadvisory pieces. Topics include Covid-19-related working practices; privacy legislation(GDPR); taxation (IR35); auditing cultural and heritage entities; and of course reporting.Sara has also produced articles on clear writing for Audit & Risk magazine, and spokenat numerous audit conferences and heads of internal audit forums.Sara is the official rapporteur for the annual international defense internal auditconference. In this role, she is responsible for producing a definitive report that meetsUK Ministry of Defence standards and is read by specialists at NATO, NGOs andmultiple national European defense departments.Finally, Sara has been fortunate to live, study and work in different countries, includingthe US, the UK, France and the then-Soviet Union, and speaks five languages. Theseexperiences and skills give her invaluable insight into cross-cultural communication andmulti-national teams. She is also a recognized internationally scholar on language andliterature, and is regularly asked to contribute essays, articles and conference papers. |
