A Few Good Words: How Internal Auditors Can Write Better, More Insightful Reports

Learn key strategies and skills for writing effective internal audit reports and for managing report writers. A range of issues is covered: from organization to clarity, from tone to proofreading. Throughout, realistic examples support sound, contemporary writing theory. Cutler draws on her years of consulting with and providing training for internal auditors-as well as on her formal education in writing-to provide advice that is at once insightful and down-to-earth. A useful addition to any internal audit library, A Few Good Words will help new and experienced report writers to develop, write, and polish reports that communicate essential messages readably and persuasively. It also will help those managing report writers, providing insights on reviewing and editing as well as benchmarks for writing quality.

Sally Cutler is the president of Word-Wrights Incorporated. She provides report-writing training and consulting for internal audit departments, both in the United States and throughout the world. Sally also is a member of the faculty of The Institute of Internal Auditors' (The IIA's) Vision University, which provides executive development for chief audit executives. Sally's expertise is in writing-skills training, document design, reporting processes, and writing quality. Word-Wrights' clients include American Express, American Water, Bon Secours Health System, Canada Mortgage and Housing, Chicago Bridge & Iron (CB&I), Cingular Wireless (now AT&T), Cornell University, CSX Corporation, eBay, Exide Technologies, Fidelity Investments, General Motors, GlaxoSmithKline, The Home Depot, IBM Corporation, National Grid Transco, various New York State Offices, Oakridge National Laboratories, OhioHealth, Russel Metals (Canada), Scotiabank (Canada), Sentara Healthcare, Siemens, St. Jude Children's Hospital, The United Nations (Food and Agriculture Organization), United States Department of Homeland Security (Customs and Border Protection), United States Social Security Administration, and Zurich Financial Services/Farmer's Insurance. Sally is the author of Designing and Writing Message-Based Audit Reports (2001) and Audit Committee Reporting: A Guide for Internal Auditing (2009), both published by The Institute of Internal Auditors (The IIA) Research Foundation. She also writes a quarterly column for New Perspectives on Healthcare Risk Management, Control and Governance, a publication of the Association of Healthcare Internal Auditors, Inc. (AHIA). Sally holds an undergraduate degree in English (summa cum laude) from The State University of New York at Albany and a master's degree in writing from Syracuse University, in New York State, where she served on the faculty of the Independent Study Program. She is a frequent presenter for The IIA: she has also presented for the AHIA and the Association of College and University Auditors. Sally makes her home in rural upstate New York with her husband and colleague, Lewis Cutler.