Guidelines for how to write instructions for a technical writing class.

2. What Readers Need
Too often, readers will skip instructions entirely, but when they
really need them, they want them to be organized carefully, easy
to understand, and only have the information they really, really
need.
Here are some questions readers might ask:
 What will these instructions help me do?
 What materials do I need and where will I find them?
 What exactly do I need to do?
 What if something goes wrong? Where will I find the solution?

3. Structure of Instructions
The slides the follow will go into greater detail, but the
main sections of technical instructions include:
 Introduction
 Materials Needed
 Directions
 Troubleshooting

4. Introduction
The introduction should be brief but informative and should
include the following information:
 Aim: Identify the task that will be explained and the
outcome
 Intended Readers: Who are your readers? Will they
need additional knowledge to perform the task?
 Safety: It is your responsibility to inform the readers of
any dangers they might face while performing the task.
Use clear warnings.
Let’s talk more about safety on the next slide.

5. Safety
Readers count on you to warn
them of dangers in order to
prevent injury:
 Make warnings stand out
visually
 Place them where readers
will see them BEFORE
performing the task
 Tell readers if there are
steps they should take to
protect themselves, like
wearing safety glasses, for
example

6. Materials Needed
 Give the list of materials
readers will need
BEFORE giving the
directions
 Readers want
everything on hand
instead of finding they
have to go to the store
before they can finish
the project

7. Directions
Readers want to know what to do quickly so:
 Number each step
 Each step should focus on one action so readers don’t get
confused
 Write each step as a command (begin with an action verb)
 No: “Tab A should be inserted into Slot B”
 Yes: “Insert Tab A into Slot B”
 Highlight keywords
 Use many graphics
 To indicate where things are
 To show how to perform the step
 To illustrate how the result should look

8. For Example…

9. Troubleshooting
This section should tell
readers what to do in case
something goes wrong or if
they make a mistake
 A table format often
works best for this
section