Voice and tone

• Use voice and tone that's conversational, friendly, and respectful.

• Use voice that is s casual and natural and approachable.

• Don't try to be super-entertaining, but also don't aim for super-dry.

• Be human, let your personality show, be memorable; you can even be a little funny now and then. Remember that the primary purpose of the document is to provide information to someone who's looking for it.

Avoid where possible

Buzzwords or technical jargon.

Placeholder phrases like "please note" and "at this time."

Choppy or long-winded sentences.

Starting all sentences with the same phrase (such as "You can" or "To do").

Using phrases like "simply" or "It's that simple" or "It's easy" in a procedure, unless it's an extraordinarily simple/easy procedure.

Some techniques and approaches to consider

• If you're having trouble expressing something, step back and ask yourself, "What am I trying to say?"

• When documenting, just don't document the "how-to". Also focus on "Why" and "So what?"

• If you're uncertain about your phrasing or tone, ask someone to take a look.

• If you're having trouble hitting the right tone, make sure you're communicating useful information in a clear and direct way; that's the most important part.

• Politeness and use of "please". It's great to be polite, but using "please" in a set of instructions is overdoing the politeness. Not recommended: To view the document, please click View. Recommended: To view the document, click View.