Open notebook with handwritten notes beside a laptop

17 November 2025 · Journal

Captions short enough for a stamped briefing

Writing chart captions for departmental reporting so a director can read the point before the ink dries on the stamp.

A useful caption answers three questions in one or two lines: what was counted, over which period, and what changed since the last pack. Leave methodology footnotes for the appendix.

If your chart of service delivery metrics needs a paragraph to make sense, the chart is doing too much. Split indicators, or move the debate into the narrative section where a director expects prose.

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