Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART ONE: THE FOUNDATIONS OF GOOD INTELLIGENCE COMMUNICATION

Chapter 1: What It’s All About
Summary
Getting Started: Good Writing Habits
Reader Considerations: Basic Truths of Communicating
Reading: A Basic Complement to Writing
The Style of Good Intelligence Writing: Bottom Line Up Front
Defining Methods: Telling the Reader Nothing
Making the Distinction Clear for Students
The Three Missions of Intelligence Writing: Judge, Interpret, and Support
Differences between Academic and Intelligence Writing: The Four Essences
Analysts: The Voice of the Intelligence Community
The First Step in the Analyst’s Learning Process: Unlearn and Relearn
A Framework for Analysis: The Manager’s Perspective for a New Analyst
Does It Work?
A Final Thought about the Mission
Getting to the Argument
Exercises in the Foundations of Analysis

Chapter 2: Using Argument in Intelligence Writing
Summary
What Is Argument?
Argument Is Central to Intelligence Analysis
When You Argue, You Take a Stand
Formulating a Thesis Statement
Argument Reflects How Humans Think
Some Ways We Think
Evaluating Arguments
Where Are the Truths in This Ugly Business?
Putting Your Best Argument Forward
Exercises in Argument

Chapter 3: Reading: Fundamental to Writing
Summary
Read to Write: Electronic or Printed
Who Needs It—and Why?
The Forms of Intelligence: Basic, Current, and Estimative
Content: Digging into the Format
Evaluating Finished Intelligence
Think About Graphics as an Attention-Grabber
Reading for the Sake of Writing
Exercises in Reading Intelligence
PART TWO: WRITING WITH INTELLIGENCE

Chapter 4: A Tool Kit for Writing with Intelligence
Summary
Why Write?
Clarity: Be Kind to Your Reader
Conciseness: Don’t Waste Their Time
Correctness: A Hallmark of Good Writing
Appropriateness: Who, Why, and How?
Completeness: The Whole Nine Yards
Coherence: The “Glue” That Holds It All Together
Energize Your Writing with Strong Verbs
Watch Out for the Wimps: Prepositional Phrases
Stil-l-l Go-o-oing …
Taking the Tool Kit to Work or School
Exercises in the Basic Tools of Intelligence Writing

Chapter 5: Prewriting: Warming Up Your Brain to Free Your Hand
Summary
Finding Your Subject: The Search for Substance
Focusing on Form and Format
Finding the Time and the Space
Finding the Right Reference Materials
Some Prewriting Tools: Building a Foundation
Brainstorm: It Takes More Than One Brain to Make a Storm
Freewrite: Let the Mind Go
Outline: Add Structure
Map: Let the Journey Begin
Searching, Researching
Exercises in Prewriting

Chapter 6: Writing the First Draft: Getting the Words on Paper
Summary
A Reminder about Good Writing Habits
Reader Considerations: Basic to Everything We Write
Keep That Bottom Line Up Front
Guidelines for the Preparation of Key Judgments
Defining Our Analytical Methods: Who Cares?
Drafting: Get Right to It
The Way You Write
More about Style
More than Words Can Say: Visual Aids
Organizing the First Draft
Writing That First Draft: Back to the Prewriting
Your Main Points and the Important Topic Sentence
Transitions: Moving Smoothly Ahead
The Body of Your Writing
Last, But Assuredly Not Least
The Bottom Line: Focus
Remaining Objective
Evaluating Sources: Consider the Originator, Date, and Publisher
Previews of Coming Attractions: Titles, Headings, and Subheadings
Beyond the Form and the Format
One Final Note
Exercises in Writing the First Draft

Chapter 7: Drafting Conclusions
Summary
The Role of the Conclusion in Intelligence Writing
Finishing Strong
How to Think About Your Conclusions
Techniques for Ending Well
Two Practical Examples: Adea and Zanga
Cheesy, Confusing, and Otherwise Problematic Ways to Say “The End”
Some Last Words
Exercises in Drafting Conclusions

Chapter 8: Beyond the First Draft: Analytical Papers
Summary
What Intelligence Writing Should Do: Describe, Explain, & Estimate
What Is an Analytical Paper?
Focus on Conclusions
Be Relevant to the User
Concentrate on Essentials
Avoid Policy Prescription
A Model Process for Reviewing an Analytical Paper
E-Review: Working in the Electronic World
Constraints on Review: Time, Experience, Expectations, and Attitude
Styles of Review: Holistic, Top Down, or Bottom Up
Review Guidelines: 14 Steps toward Better Analytical Writing
Exercises in Writing Analytical Papers

Chapter 9: Revision: Polishing Your Writing
Summary
Basic Revision Techniques
Peer Review: A Means toward Revision
Review of Content: Three Rs and Four Sweeps
The Three “R” Method of Revision: Reread, Re-envision, and Rewrite
“Four Sweeps” for Revision: Clarity, Persuasiveness, Packaging, and Writing
Thesis and Overview Statements: One Small Step during Revision
What about Grammar-Checkers?
Commonly Asked Questions about Revision
Ten Questions to Help You Examine Your Own Writing Process
Ending on a Positive Note
Exercises in Revision

Chapter 10: Additional Exercises to Hone Your Writing Skills
Exercise 1: Writing a Thesis Statement
Exercise 2: Writing a Paragraph
Exercise 3: Writing a Summary
Exercise 4: Getting the Bottom Line Up Front
Exercise 5: Working with the Types of Intelligence Writing—Describe, Explain, and Estimate
Exercise 6: Avoiding Passive Voice and Wordiness
Exercise 7: Peer Review of Student Writing

PART THREE: BRIEFING WITH INTELLIGENCE

Chapter 11: Briefing: The Flip Side of the Communication Coin
Summary
A Disclaimer: Read and Heed, Please
Getting the Word Out
The Learning Process: Baby Steps First
Why Brief?
A Brief Typology of Briefings
“All of the Above” or “None of the Above”?
Exercises in the Types and Principles of Briefings

Chapter 12: The ABCs of Good Intelligence Briefings and Briefers
Summary
The First Half: Briefings, Easy as ABC
The Second Half: The Briefer
Summing Up, from A to C
Exercises in Good Intelligence Briefings and Briefers

Chapter 13: Organizing and Writing the Briefing
Summary
Getting Started Means Getting Organized
Finding Your Subject and the Time
Plan Ahead: Lay the Groundwork
Plan Your Milestones: One Step at a Time
Outline Your Thoughts
Analyze Your Audience
Do Your Homework
Writing the Briefing Script: Write the Words You Will Say
Tell ‘em What You’re Gonna Tell ‘em: The Introduction
Free Sample Briefing Introduction: A Brief Assignment
Tell ‘em: The Body of the Briefing
Putting the Words Together: Writing the Main Body
Putting the Pictures Together: Making Your Point with Visual Aids
Tell’em What You Told ‘em: The Conclusion
Putting the Words and Pictures Together
Summing Up
Exercises in Organizing and Writing the Briefing

Chapter 14: Fine-Tuning Your Briefing: Voice, Notes, and Visuals
Summary
Don’t Take Your Voice for Granted
Use of Notes
Use of Visual Aids
The Best Tip of All
Exercises in Fine-Tuning Your Briefing

Chapter 15: Doing It!
Summary
Getting Up to Brief: The Absolute Necessity
Rehearse First—Always!
The Big Day at Last

PART FOUR: A SHORT STYLE MANUAL AND CITATION GUIDE

A Note to Readers: Summarizing Part Four

Chapter 16: A Few Guidelines for a More Readable Style
Don’t Waste Words
Use Numbers Properly
Plurals and Singulars
Puns
Placement of Titles, Headings, and Subheadings
The Paper Layout: Think Again about Your Reader
Concluding Section: All Good Things Must End
Appendixes and Annexes: Extra Added Attractions
Additional Front Matter Options: Lists of Figures or Graphics
How to Handle Graphic Material (Figures, Maps, Charts, Graphs, or Tables)
Exercises in Usage

Chapter 17: Citing Your Sources: A Must for Scholarship
Summary
Who Needs to Cite?
Why Do It?
How Do I Do It?
General Format
Spacing and Fonts
Sample Note and Bibliographic Forms
Abbreviations: Use Few
ABCs of Alphabetization
Anonymous Authors or Unattributed Work
Capitalization and Punctuation in Titles
Cited Hereafter as . . .
Dates of Publication
Explanatory Notes: When the Reader Needs More
Foreign-Language Publications
Indirect (Secondary) References
Members of Congress
Military Rank
Missing Data
Multiple Sources in One Note
Names, Referenced in the Text
Periodicals
Publishers
Punctuation
Punctuation in Quoted Material
Secondary (Short) Citations
Subsequent Works by the Same Author, Agency, or Organization
Titles of Individuals
Translations from a Foreign Language
Volume Numbers in Notes and Bibliography
Bits and Bytes
Exercises in Citing Sources

Chapter18: Electronic Citations
General
Electronic Sources: What Are You Citing?
The Addresses: Uniform Resource Locators (URLs)
The Mysterious Disappearing Website
Page Numbers in Electronic Citations: Not Always There
PDFs, PROQUEST and Such: Looking at the Real Thing
Links, Homepages, and Search Engines: Preferred Solution
Generic Citation Format
Keeping Up in the E-World
Exercises in Electronic Citations

Chapter 19: Handling and Citing Classified Material
Why Use Classified Information?
Unclassified Excerpts from Classified Works: A Bad Idea
How? Similarity to Unclassified Forms
Proper Precautions and Markings
Downgrading, Declassification, and Marking
No Downgrading Shown?
Note and Bibliographic Forms
Intelink: A Unique Intelligence Source
Exercises in Handling and Citing Classified Material

Chapter 20: Answers to the Exercises
Part One: The Foundations of Good Intelligence Communication
Part Two: Writing with Intelligence
Part Three: Briefing with Intelligence
Part Four: A Short Style Manual and Citation Guide
Appendix A: Possible Replacement Words
Appendix B: A Usage Glossary for Intelligence Writers
Appendix C: Intelligence Briefing Checklist
Appendix D: A “Free Sample” Briefing Introduction
Appendix E: A Sample Briefing Conclusion
Appendix F: A Briefing Evaluation Form
Bibliography
Other Sources Used or Consulted for This Book
Index
About the Contributors and the Author

About the Author

James S. Major spent 40 years in intelligence, serving in both military and civilian capacity, in assignments at the tactical, operational, strategic, and national levels. He has written 15 books, all published by the U.S. government, and in 1997 he was awarded the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement.

Reviews

Communication is the essence of intelligence. For without being communicated effectively, intelligence merely underwrites ignorance. This fully revised and expanded edition of the noteworthy volume Communicating with Intelligence provides intelligence practitioners with a comprehensive and detailed handbook for effective professional communications. Its chapters set out practical guidelines along with practical exercises for each element of the communications process, from the reading of intelligence source material, to the writing of intelligence reports, to the delivery of intelligence briefings, emphasizing throughout the trustworthy dissemination of intelligence information. This is indeed an encyclopedic manual that should be on the desk of intelligence analysts, managers, and policy-makers. It would also be a valuable asset for academic writers and graduate students in the Intelligence Studies domain.
*Martin Rudner, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus, Carleton University, Canada*

James Major's new edition of Communicating with Intelligence is full of pragmatic advice that will resonate with both beginner and advanced intelligence students. Major covers every imaginable aspect of writing and briefing for intelligence analysts in conversational (and accessible) detail. Most importantly, he does in one book what other writers have done in several: the book covers grammar, writing, presentation skills, and career advice. For intelligence analysis students and practitioners, Major's book is a must-read.
*Melissa Graves, Associate Director and Instructor, Center for Intelligence and Security Studies, The University of Mississippi; Co-Author of Introduction to Intelligence Studies (2012)*

In the past, senior U.S. military commanders have complained that the intelligence reports and briefings they received were ‘mush’ and provided little value to their decision-making. However, writing and briefing intelligence are not easy tasks. In this new edition, James Major greatly simplifies these tasks by delving into the mechanics of transforming raw intelligence into final products that deliver to intelligence consumers the information they need. Through easy-to-understand explanations, numerous examples and practical exercises, and even a healthy infusion of humor, the author teaches the reader how to communicate effectively.  This book will be an invaluable addition to the bookshelves of all  intelligence professionals, whether newly-minted or veteran.
*Christopher A. Vallandingham, USAR, Associate University Librarian/Adjunct Law Professor, University of Florida Levin College of Law*