Light(e)ning talk from STC Summit 2012: Taking the flab out of your content

1. Light(e)ning
Talk
Larry Kunz
Systems Documentation Inc.
STC Summit – May 2012
@larry_kunz

2. Flabby Content
May 2012
@larry_kunz

3. Flabby Content
Is harder to keep current.
• There’s more content to update.
• The content is harder to find.
May 2012
@larry_kunz

4. Flabby Content
Costs more to translate.
• More words
• More inconsistency
May 2012
@larry_kunz

5. Flabby Content
Forces your reader to
work harder.
• Jargon
• Sesquipedalianism Big words
• Convoluted structure
• Weak verbs
May 2012
@larry_kunz

6. Writing for
George Jetson
May 2012
@larry_kunz

7. Writing for
George Jetson
Activating the red button
initiates the process that
invokes the Pizza Making
feature.
May 2012
@larry_kunz

8. Writing for
George Jetson
Press the red button to
get a pizza.
May 2012
@larry_kunz

9. Lightening Your Content
How can you trim
your flabby content?
(You already know the answer)
• A sensible diet
• Healthy exercise
May 2012
@larry_kunz

10. Tips for a Sensible Diet
Make time to write less.
I made this very long, because I did not
have the leisure to make it shorter. May 2012
- Blaise Pascal @larry_kunz

11. Tips for a Sensible Diet
Eliminate content
that no one reads.
• Use web analytics.
• Lop off the deadwood.
May 2012
@larry_kunz

12. Tips for a Sensible Diet
Eliminate transitional
or “glue” material:
• In the next chapter we will see…
• The following sections will tell you…
• As you read previously…
May 2012
@larry_kunz

13. Tips for a Sensible Diet
Endeavor to eliminate
composition that is
excessively sesquipedalian,
bombastic, or circumlocutory.
• Simpler words
• Simpler sentence structure
May 2012
@larry_kunz

14. Tips for a Sensible Diet
• Active voice
• Strong, concrete verbs
• Controlled vocabulary
a number of = some
a majority of = most
due to the fact that = because
take into consideration = consider
Thanks to Gurpreet Singh
technicalwritingtoolbox.com
17Apr2012
May 2012
@larry_kunz

15. Healthy Exercise
Exercise good judgment!
May 2012
@larry_kunz

16. Healthy Exercise
Remember your audience!
• Not what the SMEs want it to say
(how it works)
• But what your audience needs
(how to use it)
May 2012
@larry_kunz

17. Healthy Exercise
Use structured authoring.
• Easier to isolate, then
eliminate, unnecessary topics
• No need for “glue”
May 2012
@larry_kunz

18. Healthy Exercise
Change inconsistency
into consistency.
• Terminology
• Phraseology
• Level of detail
• Topic structure
May 2012
@larry_kunz

19. Healthy Exercise
Get feedback:
• Usability tests
• Customer comments
…then adjust accordingly.
May 2012
@larry_kunz

20. Stay in Touch!
Larry Kunz
www.sdicorp.com/Resources/Blog.aspx
lkunz@sdicorp.com
Twitter: @larry_kunz
May 2012
@larry_kunz