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Exactly, Janice, it depends on the purpose of the document and its
audience. A technical audience turning to a reference document wants to
get the information it needs as quickly as possible and the less they
have to read, the better. A non-technical, novice audience would be more
receptive to a chatty, informal style. Having said that, TPTB have
suggested I move toward a more informal, marketing-oriented style in
some of our overview documents.
Ron
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+rhearn=cucbc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+rhearn=cucbc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf
Of Janice Gelb
Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 11:51 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: Boring documentation?
David Loveless wrote:
> Agreed, it is risky for some audiences. But it appears to me that the
> people who are turning their noses up at it are the ones who are
> "educated" in that field. The fact that they have sold millions of
> copies is a testament that that audience is millions strong.
>
I think that as technical communicators our primary
goal is to communicate *to our audience* appropriately.
People documenting commercial end-user software, such as
Microsoft Word, can probably use a more informal, chatty
style successfully. People documenting UNIX system
administration who use that same style are not going
to be successful and are likely to be seen as condescending
or not authoritative. I don't think it's productive to talk
about which style is "better." This is definitely not a
"one size fits all" profession.
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