Tag: technical writing

Of all the tools and techniques available to a business analyst, two tools and one technique are essential. One tool defines the question that drives analysis, one technique balances off the three forces that drive the selection of all the other tools, and the final tool ensures that the BA’s conclusions are communicated effectively.  Business […]

Writing clearly and effectively is difficult — in fact, there’s no chance that you’ll get it right the first time….which is why you get to rewrite. Rewriting isn’t about fixing your mistakes, rewriting is about adding excellence. Here’s a three-part plan for doing rewriting right.My buddy Mal Stiefel once said he was never at a loss for words […]

Deciding on whether to use technical vocabulary in your document comes down to answering two questions: “Who’s reading your document?” and “What are you trying to accomplish with your document?” Here’s how to answer those two questions (plus: How to write a great definition). We’ve all tried to read documents that were so full of […]

Scott McGillivray, the host of “Income Property,” is a very smart guy. But even Scott can make mistakes. In one episode he starts by passing on some useless information to his homeowners. Fortunately, he recovers and provides a model for what great communication looks like: Don’t talk about what you know. One of the reasons […]

Here’s how to write instructions that your readers will actually be able to use, regardless of whether it’s how to get to your house to how to disarm a nuclear bomb. The instructions in the picture have got to be intimidating: It’s a solid wall of text where, presumably, you either get everything completely right […]