In December 2016, EcoNetworks held a workshop in Tokyo on the subject of Five Things You Can Do for Better English Reporting. This was intended for Japanese companies to discuss how they should structure their reports, not about what they should report.

Participants picked up several reports written in English and compared the contents in terms of the design, volume of text per page, and overall balance in layout.

Practical know-how that we built through many translation projects was introduced as Five Things You Can Do, a list of things that companies should keep in mind when working with a translation company.

Five Things You Can Do for Better English Reporting

1. Be simple
2. Make titles short to convey just the essence
3. Check from different viewpoints
4. Agree in advance on writing styles
5. Fine-tune for readers from different backgrounds

The fifth point, especially, attracted participants’ attention. We talked about what to be careful about when expressing something in a different language, and how to adjust translation for readers with different cultural backgrounds.

The small-group workshop encouraged open discussion. Participants actively exchanged information; for example, how to get internal buy-in for the content and how to effectively express key messages in English.