Annual Report Writer Reports
And Professional Speechwriter
Warren H. (Sandy) Anderson
Writer of Annual and Quarterly Reports
I can bring to financial reports, 20 years of experience writing:
- Four annual reports for National Steel Corporation
- Two annual reports for National Intergroup, Inc
- Two annual reports for PNC Financial Corp
- Two annual reports CommScope
- One annual report for Northern Indiana Public Service Company; and
- Two annual reports for Worldtex, Inc.
In my last tour with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I was the primary Joint Staff Officer (Lieutenant Colonel) responsible for writing:
- The Military Posture Statement of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Congress and the American people -- a copy of which went to every library in the nation.
I have also written or edited quarterly reports for:
- National Steel Corporation;
- National Intergroup, Inc;
- PNC Financial Corp; and,
- Worldtex, Inc.
In Addition, I have written the following kinds of financial reports under the following terms:
- Business annual reports
- Annual financial reports of corporations
- Business proposal writing
- Business plans
To help corporate communications officers and top executives with the decision-making process, I have originated the WYSIWYG, or What-you-see-is-what-you-get annual report writing system described below.
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Avoiding the Annual Report Agony
(What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get )
WYSIWYGAnnual Report Development System
The Problem: High among the host of problems in the production of annual reports is the fact that busy top executives seldom take the early drafts of an annual report seriously, because they know they will have another shot at a later draft. Another reason early drafts are not taken seriously is that the double-spaced drafts don’t have the look of an annual report.
Although some authors "write-to-fit" the space available, the design and text of annual reports seldom come together until the last draft or even until the galley proofs. Often it is not until the sections are joined that differences in tone and problems with the amount of text space are discovered. To solve this problem for my clients, I have designed the WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) Annual Report Draft Writing System.
The WYSIWYG Process Solution:
- Step 1: A concept meeting is held, to include the CEO, CFO, the heads of communications and investor relations departments, the designer and the primary author where the theme, direction and tone are determined.
- Step 2: From this meeting, the designer prepares recommended layouts and the author formulates a four- or five-page concept paper expanding on the agreed-upon theme for the report.
- Step 3: The author receives an approved design from the designer and creates a detailed computer-driven mockup of the layout (see insert in center and WYSIWYG sample of an actual annual report mockup page on back) from the cover to the financial section.
- Step 4: Working closely with the CFO, the author develops a plan to fill in the report outline to include a list of key contributors.
- Step 5: The author works back and forth with the primary and supporting contributors until a solid first draft is achieved that fits the design.
- Step 6: The author prepares the first overall draft report and gives primary and supporting contributors a copy of his or her first double-spaced draft, along with a computer-designed mockup of that section. (The following is an example)
Step 7: Designated contributors and the author -- working with the Chief Financial Officer, the Investor Relations Officer and/or Communications Officer -- revise successive drafts and mockups of the annual report's front section until they have a combined, agreed-upon, final draft in (WYSIWYG) form with scanned pictures or annotated screened blocks showing exact locations of graphics.
Step 8: Mockup and copy drafts are distributed to the CEO and key officers for comment and the Chairman/CEO is provided either an outline of points recommended for the CEO's letter or a draft letter, depending upon the CEO's guidance.
Step 9: The approved WYSIWYG draft is submitted to the designer and printer from which a galley-proof is made, which should require few changes, since everyone has had a shot at both the copy and the layout.
Step 10: First copies are delivered with very few surprises. Making WYSIWYG Drafts
- The author discusses the layout and design with the designers and obtains exact measurements, font spacings, etc.
- The author replicates the designer's layout as closely as possible in black-and-white format, with pictures scanned in as soon as available or -- if not available -- with rough sketches or text descriptions of the photographer's instructions for that picture.
- Special design features, logos, etc. can be sent by modem or on disk from the designer to the author or scanned into the computer-driven WYSIWYG layout from the designer's sketches.
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