Business and Administrative Communication 10th Edition by Kitty Locker,Donna Kienzler

Exercise 5

Locate two annual reports on the Internet. A good source is Report Watch, http://www.reportwatch.net/. Compare the style of the two reports. Here are some questions to get you started:
1. How do they use visuals to keep attention
2. What differences do you see in the letters from the CEOs
3. How do they present number-heavy information Do they rely mainly on tables and graphs Do they give prose summaries
4. Is the writing easy to understand
5. Do you see places where negative information is given a positive spin
6. Is one report easier to understand than the other Why
7. Is one report more interesting than the other Why
8. Is one report more convincing than the other Why
As your instructor directs,
a. Work in small groups to do your comparison. Share your findings in a five-minute oral presentation to the class.
b. Work in small groups to do your comparison. Share your findings in an e-mail posted on the class website.
c. Work individually to do your comparison. Share your findings in an e-mail to your instructor.