Choices for a credible report foreword

The foreword is designed to help the reader understand why the report or document is saying what it's saying, and why you might want to pay attention. It sets the scene and sells the content. Here's how to make it work hard.

In a foreword, someone briefly introduces the report or other document and its authors, much as someone introduces a speaker at an event. It’s a word before the main content.

Setting up the foreword

The task of the foreword

A foreword is the foreword author’s public vote of confidence in the document’s value. A foreword tells people, in an approachable way, why the document they are looking at is worth reading. If a document explains problems and their solutions, the foreword explains why the document exists and why it’s worth paying attention to. A foreword sets the scene. 

It does this in two main ways: by helping the reader understand why the author is a credible voice on their subject, and by explaining why that subject matters: “This topic is important, this author has insights into it, and this report sets out those insights”.

A foreword puts the author and the report or other document in its broadest possible context. It speaks both to the rational and the emotional sides of a reader's persona. 

Forewords speak loudest to three audiences

The foreword should be aimed at almost every reader. But it may be particularly significant to:

• decision-makers, who should know of and may have personally met the foreword-writer
• media, who must themselves place the document’s key points in context for wider audiences
• people wondering where the report fits into a bigger picture. 

Choose your foreword's writer

The scene-setting of a should be done by someone the audience will recognise, trust and listen to. A foreword is an implicit endorsement, so its chosen writer needs to be a highly credible figure with multiple audiences. When the document is a report of some kind, the foreword’s formal author is generally an organisation, and the foreword may be written by the organisation's chair, patron, or some other governance figure.

Whoever you choose should understand that he is part of a co-operative endeavour aimed at giving the report credibility and persuading its audience. As part of this, the author of the foreword needs to understand that they may be asked to edit – or accept edits to – their foreword to bring it into line with the organisation's needs. 

Because the foreword is establishing credibility, check any potential foreword-writer's credibility with the report's audiences. If part of a key audience might react negatively to the suggested writer, you may want to consider someone else.

The foreword may be written by the organisation’s chief executive. But if the chief executive needs for whatever reason to have a few words at the front of the report, consider a separate “CEO's introduction”. A foreword is an endorsement, and a chief executive necessarily makes a less impressive endorser than most: the chief executive presumably oversaw (at whatever remove) the report’s creation.

The perfect foreword isn't mission-critical

Research hasn't supported the idea that many readers want to read forewords. Just as your speech won't be judged on the introduction you get, your report won't be judged on your foreword. Most of your audiences want to get to the meat of the document – the key points of what it actually concludes. So:

• Keep the foreword short. Ideally, when a foreword's named author writes the foreword themself, let them know that the foreword may be edited for length. As little as 200 words – or even less –  may be enough.
• Don't worry too much about forewords that aren't perfectly on-message.
• Do correct anything that mischaracterises the report or looks unprofessional.
• Do suggest possible changes to the foreword's author, so long as you can do it diplomatically. But it's fine for a foreword to have a quite individual tone (see more on this below).

Three authoring choices when commissioning a foreword

Once you've decided who should write your foreword, you have a spectrum of choices to deliver the best possible foreword with the lowest obtainable risk. (This is, in part a diplomatic exercise.)

Below are the most popular positions on that spectrum of risk and reward:

1. Ask the person to put their name to a foreword which the author or authoring organisation will take responsibility for drafting, and which the named author may want to change in some ways. The report or document author or authoring organisation then crafts the foreword for their approval. This choice minimises risk for the organisation and often helps it to secure a more prominent foreword writer, because it minimises the time that the named foreword writer actually spends on the foreword.
2. Ask the person to work with a writer/editor to craft a foreword which maintains their unique tone but also meets the author or authoring organisation's requirements. This compromise gives an authoring organisation a degree of control when working with a foreword author who contributes prestige but may not fully understand the organisation's imperatives.
3. Ask the nominated writer of the foreword to write the foreword themselves, while reserving the right to change it slightly and send it back to them for approval. This can be effective if the writer:
   • is closely aligned with the organisation's goals
   • understands and agreees with the report's key messages
   • can be trusted to deliver to schedule, and
   • has the time and writing ability to do the job. 

Whatever your choice, it's usually best to leave the writing of the foreword until after the report's key messages have been set. Then you can send the key messages, rather than making a busy person think that they need to read and digest the whole report.

Using an experienced writer/editor to draft a foreword is often the best solution. Effectively ghost-writing such pieces is a specialist task. Chances are that the  named writer will not have the time and familiarity with the subject to even brief a writer. But they are likely to appreciate that care is being taken to craft the right message.

It's important to keep that named author happy. They are often a high-profile person who can help spread the report's message once the report is released.

So make sure that the named author is familiar and happy with whatever editing process you intend to put their words through, and that the editor know what the foreword author is happy having done to their words. 

Shorewalker DMS has helped many organisations and their designated forework-writers to create forewords that satisfy the needs of the authors, the audience and the person writing the foreword. We often work with the named writer of the foreword, and we often write forewords which the named writer than signs off on. To find out more about what we offer, contact us at any time, seven days a week.

Content

The writer of a report's foreword will generally:

1. explain their relationship to the subject matter and/or author
2. endorse the report and its author, at least implicitly
3. put the subject in context
4. tie all these elements together.

Where the writer of the foreword is a member of the organisation's governance structure, the foreword may also include acknowledgments of contributors. (An alternative is to make these a separate item at the front of the report.) 

The foreword should not recap the document's conclusions at length (that’s done in an executive summary) or provide detailed description of the problem (that’s for an introduction or first chapter). Nor need it throw the foreword author's weight heavily behind one or more recommendations – although, in some circumstances, it may do. 

1. Explain the foreword author's relationship to the subject matter and/or author

The writer of a foreword can usefully start by introducing themself and their connection to the report's author(s) or authoring organisation. Keep this very short – a few sentences at most.

This is one place where a very short anecdote may work to the report's advantage – but choose an anecdote that really does tie with important themes of the report. 

2 (or 3). Endorse the report and its author

A good foreword will leave readers feeling satisfied that the author or authoring organisation can deliver authoritative verdicts. The foreword's author can lend some of their own credibility, explaining why the document is relevant to them and reminding readers that they agree with the conclusion.

3 (or 2). Put the subject in context

The reader should understand from the foreword at least a little of why the report may be relevant to them. This can be done in several ways:

• Forewords often succeed by taking a 30,000-foot view – by putting the subject in its broadest possible context.
• They can also succeed by providing a very narrow context, such as a personal story experienced by the author.
• A third alternative is to reflect on a new perspective taken or new methodology used by the report. 
• Another approach is to put the report in its historical context.

All of these give the report extra credibility. Making a foreword personal also helps the reader make an emotional connection.

In some cases, it may be appropriate to very briefly summarise the report's key message. But you usually don't really need to do this: after all, the executive summary is typically just a page or three away from the foreword.

4. Tie the bow

Finally, sign off. You may want to aim to encapsulate the report's message or approach in a sentence. Another useful technique is to double back to whatever subject opened the foreword.

And because forewords are essentially a letter to the reader, they usually finish with a “signature” – occasionally a pen-and-ink-style signature, but often simply the name and relevan title of the named author.

Tone

The correct tone for a foreword partly depends on the subject. A report on domestic violence will have little room for levity.

Tone also depends on the named author. In general, the tone of the foreword will often be a little less formal than the tone of the report itself. A famously serious person will normally take a serious tone in the foreword – but if they want a slightly lighter tone, that may be appropriate.

Forewords face several different potential tone challenges.

• If the named author is involved with the writing, the challenge is often to combine the author's tone with the needs of the authoring organisation. There can also be a challenge in helping the named author to find their personal tone and personal take on the report.
• If the foreword is largely ghost-written, the challenge is for the ghost-writer to find something of the named author's personality, often without any contact with the named author.
• The foreword, far more than any other element of the report, benefits from communicating honesty and frankness. This can be particularly difficult when the foreword is being ghost-written by someone who has limited contact with the named author – a common problem.

In general, whatever the tone, the writing style should remain economical and to the point. 

Presenting your foreword in a document

Partly because it is an endorsement, a report document can choose to show a high-quality portrait photo of the foreword's writer. (Try not to use a picture obviously pulled from a simple Instagram photo.)

The foreword may sign off with not just the writer's name and position, but their physical signature. However, in an age of electronic reproduction, it is best to have an artist invent this signature, rather than using the actual signature of the foreword's writer.