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RE: "Too Good" (was: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years - Help!)
Subject:RE: "Too Good" (was: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years - Help!) From:Goober Writer <gooberwriter -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 27 Oct 2003 12:01:42 -0800 (PST)
> > Works for me! I have a photographic memory,
> > but a horrible memory for audio-received
> information.
>
> Wouldn't that be an argument for preferring to have
> something complete
> in front of you instead of fragmented phrases
> reinforced by a spoken
> presentation?
No. Having a photographic memory doesn't mean you
remember everything you've seen. It means you can
capture a ton of value in a recognizable yet small
visual trigger.
> Seems like if the book is written right, the key
> terms and phrases would
> be in there and you could just get out the yellow
> highlighter... And
> which would be more useful to you now, those
> textbooks with your notes
> in the margins, or fragmentary "designed to be
> filled in" handouts with
> your notes on them?
It depends. If the text is written in a way that my
mind works, yeah, highlighter works fine. If it's
well-written in a way that may convey all info but not
in a way I can highlight snapshots of info, then no,
that won't work for me.
Most of my notes have been small sketches of glyphs
and words - minimal detail. I capture the gist or feel
of what I need to remember. Everything else falls into
place. It's more of a visual key to unlock what I've
absorbed.
> > Everyone learns differently.
>
> Good point. A coworker of mine dropped by my cube,
> noticed Goober's
> reply on my screen, and said that he too needed to
> write stuff down in
> order to retain it in his memory.
>
> Maybe the ideal training handout would be a
> detailed, complete, heavily
> illustrated explanation, with key terms in boldface
> AND big white spaces
> for the trainee to add notes? :)
Ugh.
A training handout should NEVER be confused with a
user manual. A traning guide goes through scenarios,
preferably pertinent to the trainee. A user manual
tell is like it is, completely.
=====
Goober Writer
(because life is too short to be inept)
"As soon as you hear the phrase "studies show",
immediately put a hand on your wallet and cover your groin."
-- Geoff Hart
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