I help accountants and auditors turn insights into impact by improving their business writing.
PowerPoint allows speakers to pretend that they are giving a real talk, and audiences to pretend that they are listening. (Edward Tufte, 2006) Ouch! I am not against PowerPoint or any of the other slide applications. My view is that the slides should be made after the thinking has been done. I suspect many people start with the slides and all that choosing of themes and rearranging bullet points is actually a substitute for thinking.
“If you can’t explain something to a first-year student, then you haven’t really understood.” This goes for accountants and auditors as much as it does for physics teachers. If you’re speaking to folks who aren’t accountants, keep it simple. With non-financial managers, there’s no hiding behind terms. You need to speak in plain, everyday words. Here are three tips to keep things clear: Assume your reader is new to the topic.
I like writing as a verb. I like to write: to think and express my thoughts as words on a page or screen. But I also like writing as a noun. I always have. I like the writing you find in museums, whether it is a handwritten journal, a typewritten letter or a carved inscription on stone. This love is why I have a weakness for buying pens and notebooks, and why I have two (really, two!
Save the stories for books and movies. At work, your reader just wants to know how the story ends. Writing a chronological narrative puts conclusions and recommendations at the end. Busy people will do one of two things They won’t get to the end (especially if your story is boring) and will never see your conclusions. 𝗢𝗥 They will skip directly to the end (missing out your story to get to the bit they are interested in) Here are two better ways to structure a document.
Tables in reports are helpful for presenting information but you need to help your reader to see your message. Formatting your table can help but too much formatting works against you. All you’re doing is adding clutter. In particular, don’t use “zebra striping” (where alternative rows are shaded one darker, one lighter). You may think it makes your tables more organised as well as pretty, but it doesn’t actually help the reader focus on what’s important.
When writing about financial topics to non-financial people don’t use technical terms or jargon. What I mean by this is not to use a term and then explain it. Don’t use the term at all. Just write what the term means because the reader doesn’t need to learn the term. I give an example in this video.
This poster hangs above my desk. It is a reminder to be willing to delete bad writing. I hope my ratio of good writing to bad is better than 1:99 but bad writing is bad writing. The lesson for us all is: • Always read what you write. • Delete everything you don’t need. • Revise what’s left to be as clear and simple as you can make it.
We begin to write by using short sentences. As we grow so do our sentences. By the time we are at work we think we need long, complex sentences to be professional. This leads us to a use jargon and unclear language. We end up writing without clarity and impact. Yes, long sentences can sound impressive—like something from a professor, journalist, or expert. But how often do you actually enjoy reading their work?
You’ve probably read or watched lots of advisors recommending your use stories in your finance presentations. But what does that mean? How do you tell a story? There are stories all around you that you can adapt. Here are some ideas from movies.
Here’s a third clip from my appearance on the Human Too podcast where I explain why I spend so much time and energy giving tips to accountants and auditors to improve their writing and presentation skills. Having great insights about finances, and great advice to give, is no good if you cannot communicate your insights and advice to the right people.