How to write an annual report

Annual Report. Two words that used to fill me with dread and anguish when I worked as a comms manager. It wasn’t so much the content – but the whole fraught process of putting the thing together that caused stress levels to rocket.

Everyone seems to want a fancy-dan document to show off what’s been happening over the year, but no-one seems to want to provide you with any of the information. Apparently you can magic up the Annual Report fairies to do that. Strangely, once it is written, every man and his dog wants a say… and so begins the tortuous process of editing it by committee. There really is nothing worse.

Coming soon: how to write an annual report

I’m sitting here going word-blind over an annual report – one of many I write every year. It occurred to me that it might be a good idea to offer a few tips on how to go about this task – or how to commission one effectively.

I’m not going to do this right now as I’ve got to finish this job (and it’s Friday afternoon!), but I’ll do it next week. So this is just a teaser…

Annual reports are time-consuming jobs and mean different things to different people, yet they are one of the most important publications for any organisation so you might as well get it right – and get value for money.

I’ll post up my ‘how to write an annual report’ tips and hints next week but, in the meantime, if there’s anything you want to make sure I address, then just let me know and I’ll try my best.

Now, where was I…

Finding the right words

After my last post, it’s been pointed out to me that maybe some of the words I used were, how shall I say it, er… ‘inappropriate’.

Mmm. No offence was meant and I did sort of scratch my head when it was mentioned by the lovely Suzie Jones. But she is an expert in this field and I bow to her better knowledge.

So what did I do wrong, exactly?

Well, apparently the words ‘impaired’ or ‘impairment’  or ‘problem’ are a no-no …  I should just use deaf, BSL, deafened, hard of hearing (HoH) and deafblind (or dual sensory loss). This is because some BSL users (and some deafened people) hate the terms I used because it means something that doesn’t work.

Populate the field… agh!

This week I am mostly annoyed by the phrase ‘populate the field’.

An empty field. It clearly needs populating...

A few years back, if someone had asked me to do this I would have wondered why on earth they wanted me to fill a large area of grassland with people.

Of course today, as most people supposedly know,  it means ‘fill in the box’  in computer-speak.

So why not say ‘fill in the box’ ?  

Why are you here?