I need to complete a Project. The topic I chose was "The Effect of Communicating Bad News in the Audit Process". The prompt is below:

Submit an outline of your presentation with a source update (adding at least two additional potential sources) by the end of this module. The rough draft can be completed in either Word or PowerPoint. Final Project Notes An outline will assist you in organizing the information you have collected to date and also in identifying the additional information you need to collect. Additional sources will ensure that you are fully exploring your topic rather than accepting the first sources you find. For additional details, please refer to the Final Project document in the Assignment Guidelines and Rubrics section of the course.

The sources that I have reviewed so far are:

http://www.fm-magazine.com/feature/list/8-ways-deliver-bad-news

• http://www.thatauditguy.com/how-to-deliver-bad-news-to-audit-clients/
• http://www.jp-russell.com/pdfs/qar302-0.pdf

I have attached a copy of the rubric for ease of reference. Please be sure to provide the sources used.

ACC 645: Current Trends and Issues in the Audit Profession Guidelines and Grading Guide Overview The final project for this course is the creation of a presentation of a well-researched topic within the audit field to present as you would in the workplace. The project will be completed as an individual project. Each student will have a different topic to present. Interim deliverables (milestones) are required and are a significant portion of your final grade. The final product represents an authentic demonstration competency, because you will prepare a presentation that requires research and detailed knowledge of your chosen topic and how it applies in the field. The project is divided into six milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Two, Three, Five, Seven, Eight and Nine. Main Elements LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Research: Develop familiarity with reviewing information from the internet for accuracy and bias. Use provided resources to learn about a new topic. Communication/Information Technology: Develop professional slides that create interest in the topic. Prepare and deliver a professional script to accompany slides. Analytical Skills: Select the most important points from diverse sources to include in presentation. Communication: Appropriately organize important points, and expand through explanation. Communication: Develop meaningful questions for peers. Strategic Approach: Complete project over a nine-week period while balancing other demands. TASK: Your first task is to identify what project topic(s) are of interest to you. A sample of possible topics is provided below; you may select one of these or propose your own topic. INTERNAL AUDIT Communicating Bad News Auditing Regulatory Compliance Continuous Audit Process AUDIT FAILURES Relying on Third-Party Audit Work PCAOB Inspections PCAOB Enforcement Actions ETHICS, AUDITOR BEHAVIOR Ethics & Independence Standards Blind Spots (Bazerman)** Predictable Surprises (Bazerman)** Audit Work Paper Management SEC AAERs Writing a Better Audit Report Internal Audit Objectivity Audit Failure Case Studies* Audit Document/File Retention The Honest Truth About Dishonesty (Ariely)** Thinking Fast & Slow (Kahneman)** *Audit failure case studies must be cases that are not covered in the case study text. Examples include Adelphia, HealthSouth, RiteAid, Cendant, Tyco, Crazy Ed die's, Phar-Mor, Krispy Kreme, Parmalat, Satyam, ZZZZ Best and many others. **These are books that you can use as the basis to develop a presentation on auditor behavior. Using a variety of library, professional, and internet-based information, you will study your assigned topic. Use of just internet-based materials is not sufficient. Library resources include research journals, textbooks, and the Wall Street Journal. Professional association resources (e.g., IIA, ISACA, AICPA, KnowlegeLeader) and Big Four website materials should be utilized where possible. Internet-based information includes blogs, wikis, and consumer magazines. PRESENTATION LENGTH: Your presentation should contain approximately 10 to 15 slides. PRESENTATION SPECIFICS: Communicate the most important concepts from your research as you would in the workplace, explaining why it is important that others understand the infor mation. You must include an explanation of how the topic relates to audit professionals in the workplace. Within the presentation you must address the following: Background: An overview of the topic Definitions: List and define unfamiliar terms Statistics: If there are stats available about your topic, include them Relate this topic to your current (or future) job as an auditor: o Why should we care about the topic? o How might it impact your firm or company (finances, reputation, compliance, other)? How should this be addressed by auditors? Consider audit elements such as: o Overall risk assessment o Audit planning o Specific audit program steps o Audit time budgets Real-life examples - A good \"story\" keeps the audience's interest. If you can find examples, include them. You may choose to interview someone with ex perience in the audit profession and include a summary or quotations in your presentation. The Project Rubric and Presentation Rubric below will be used to calculate your project grade. Please review them carefully and use them along with this guide to plan your presentation activities. FINAL PRESENTATION: Your final presentation will be posted on Blackboard to be reviewed and critiqued by a team of your peers. You will need to include audio in your presentation, as well as a list of your sources in APA format. You will also be required to critique several of your peers' presentations. Deliverable Milestones Milestone Deliverables Module Due Grading 1 Topic request letter Two Project Rubric 2 List two additional sources Three Project Rubric 3 Preliminary Outline with additional sources Five Project Rubric 4 Rough Draft in PowerPoint Seven Presentation Rubric 5 Presentations Eight Presentation Rubric 6 Critiques Nine Project Rubric and General Discussion Board Rubric Project Rubric Requirements of submission: Written components of projects must follow these formatting guidelines when applicable: double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and discipline-appropriate citations. Instructor Feedback: Students can find their feedback in the grade book as an attachment. Critical Elements Milestone submission and incorporation of feedback Inquiry and Analysis Critiques Critical Thinking Research Exemplary Meets Needs Improvement requirements and addresses all instructor feedback through incorporation or clarifying questions/dialogue with instructor (23 - 25) Explores multiple questions through extensive collection and in-depth analysis of evidence to make informed conclusions (18-20) Includes at least two questions, three effective elements and two suggestions for the presenter that will significantly improve content (9-10) Demonstrates comprehensive exploration of issues and ideas before accepting or forming an opinion or conclusion Proficient Meets Needs Improvement requirements and incorporates some of the instructor's feedback throughout the progression of the project (20 -22) Needs Improvement Student completes and submits all milestones by the due date (18-19) Not Evident Student submits incomplete milestones or does not submit by the due date (0-17) Explores some questions through collection and in-depth analysis of evidence to make informed conclusions Explores minimal questions through collection and analysis of evidence to make informed conclusions 20 (16-17) Includes at least two questions, three effective elements and two suggestions for the presenter that will improve content (8) (14-15) Includes two questions, three effective elements and two suggestions for the presenter that will clarify content (7) Does not explore questions through collection and analysis of evidence and does not make informed conclusions (0-13) Does not Include two questions, three effective elements and two suggestions for the presenter (0-6) Demonstrates moderate exploration of issues and ideas before accepting or forming an opinion or conclusion Does not demonstrate exploration of issues and ideas before accepting or forming an opinion or conclusion 20 (18-20) Incorporates resources effectively that reflect depth and breadth of research (14-15) (16-17) Incorporates some resources effectively that reflect depth and breadth of research (12-13) Demonstrates minimal exploration of issues and ideas before accepting or forming an opinion or conclusion (14-15) Incorporates very few resources that reflect depth and breadth of research (11) (0-13) Does not incorporate resources that reflect depth and breadth of research (0-10) Value 25 10 15 Writing (Mechanics/Citations) No errors related to organization, grammar and style, and citations (9-10) Minor errors related to organization, grammar and style, and citations (8) Some errors related to organization, grammar and style, and citations (7) Comments: Major errors related to organization, grammar and style, and citations (0-6) Earned Total: 10 100 Presentation Rubric In a professional career, one may be called upon to conduct research and deliver findings in professional settings. No matter how extensive the research or accu rate the conclusions, a weak presentation can undermine an argument. A presentation is a tool to assist in making an argument. When creating presentations, students develop skills in researching an issue, synthesizing the information, organizing data logically, and presenting findings in an effective manner. Principles of an Effective Presentation: You may utilize a product such as Microsoft's PowerPoint or Google Presentation to create your presentations. There are various template designs that you can find on the web for your presentation. However, first consider your presentation from the perspective of your audience prior to selecting a specific style. Distracting backgrounds, large blocks of text, all uppercase fonts, elaborate font styles, grammatical errors, and misspellings are distracting. Be consistent with the style of text, bullets, and sub-points in order to support a powerful presentation that allows your content to be the focus. Each slide should include your key point(s). Do not place large blocks of text on the visual. Your presentation is not a means of presenting a short paper. In an actual presentation you would not \"read\" from your slides but rather use them as prompts. Any notes or narration you would use in delivering this presentation to a group should be listed in the \"notes\" section of the slide. References should be listed at the bottom of the slide in slightly smaller text. Use clip art, AutoShapes, pictures, charts, tables, and diagrams to enhance but not overwhelm your content. Be mindful of the intended audience and seek to assess the presentation's effectiveness by gauging audience comprehension (when possible). Below are some links that offer helpful tips and examples for developing your presentations: Making PowerPoint Slides Beyond Bullet Points: The Better Way to Use PowerPoint Really Bad PowerPoint and How to Avoid it Requirements of submission: When applicable, discipline-appropriate citations must be used. Critical Elements Content: Inquiry and Analysis Organization Critical Thinking Visual Appeal Narration (Research/Writing) Exemplary Includes almost all of the main elements and requirements; explores multiple issues through extensive collection and in-depth analysis of evidence to make informed conclusions (23-25) Slides are organized in a logical way that complements the central theme; transitions are well-paced to create a natural and engaging flow (18-20) Demonstrates comprehensive exploration of questions before accepting or forming an opinion or conclusion (23-25) There is a consistent visual theme that helps enhance understanding of the ideas; includes multiple types of media (18-20) Mechanics and style ensure clarity. Incorporates multiple properly cited scholarly resources (9-10) Proficient Includes most of the main elements and requirements; explores some issues through collection and in-depth analysis of evidence to make informed conclusions Needs Improvement Includes some of the main elements and requirements; explores minimal issues through collection and analysis of evidence to make informed conclusions Not Evident Does not include any of the main elements and requirements; does not explore issues through collection and analysis of evidence and does not make informed conclusions (20-22) Slides are organized in a logical way and transitions are paced so that the material is easily accessible (18-19) Slides are organized mostly in a logical way and transitions are paced so that the material can be understood with focus and effort (0-17) Slides are organized in a way that is illogical OR transitions are paced so that the material cannot be understood (16-17) Demonstrates moderate exploration of questions before accepting or forming an opinion or conclusion (14-15) Demonstrates minimal exploration of questions before accepting or forming an opinion or conclusion (0-13) Does not demonstrate exploration of questions before accepting or forming an opinion or conclusion (20-22) Original images are created using proper size and resolution that enhance the content; includes more than one type of media (16-17) Mechanics and style promote clarity. Incorporates some properly cited scholarly resources (8) (18-19) Visually depicts topic and assists audience; images are proper size and resolution (0-17) Graphics are unrelated to content and cross over each other. Distracting, busy, and detract from presentation (14-15) Mechanics and style make narration intelligible. Incorporates very few properly cited scholarly resources (7) (0-13) Several mechanical errors OR does not incorporate scholarly resources 20 25 20 10 (0-6) Earned Total: Comments: Value 25 100