RE: Sample Project for "Take Your Kids to Work" Day

["Butler, Darren J CTR USAF AFMC WR-ALC/ENGLTB" <Darren -dot- Butler -dot- ctr -at- Robins -dot- af -dot- mil>]

I used to be a youth pastor, this is something I might do with my kids.
Zany, to be sure, but kids remember things that make them laugh. You
could tone this down depending on how stuffy your corporate atmosphere.

 

Goal: The kids will write a peanut butter and banana sandwich assembly
manual that the presenter(s) will use to build an (hopefully) edible
sandwich.

 

Items: unpeeled bananas, jars of peanut butter,  jars of misc spread
(e.g. salsa, mayo etc), bags of unopened bread, butter knives, various
utensils (e.g. screwdriver, cotton swab, wisk etc), timer, tables,
aprons, BIG PUFFY MITTENS (or something similar).

 

Instructions:

1)  Explain the "game" and introduce the sandwich builders, who will be
wearing the BIG PUFFY MITTENS. An sandwich builder could be some of the
kids or your staff or their parents.

2)  Break the kids into groups of 2 or more then give them a few minutes
to write sandwich assembly instructions.

3)  Choose a few of the instructions and give the presenter(s) 90
seconds to 2 minutes attempt to build a sandwich by following the
*exact* written instructions: 
<Good opportunities for levity such as, trying to spread peanut butter
on bread still in the bag; or using salsa instead of PB because the
instructions weren't specific on which jar to open.>
<the builders shouldn't be *too* nit-picky, "open the jar" should
suffice, no need to tell them how to unscrew the jar>
<No verbal help from the kids>
<just before time begins, tell the kids that they will be eating the
results of their instructions (Not really, but the expressions on their
face will be worth it!)>

4)  When time is up you can say something like, "If a simple thing like
a sandwich requires good technical communication, imagine if this were a
manual explaining how to operate an Air Traffic Control system or if
someone needed to know how to de-activate a nuclear warhead before it
exploded in the next 2 minutes...." Go on to explain how techcomm must
be accurate, concise, and must consider factors such as time and work
obstacles/environment (did they consider the mittens?) etc.

 

 

<I include these jokingly>
If you want to add an air of realism, have an "engineer" walk through
the room in the middle of the sandwich-building and tell everyone that
things have changed and now the project is apple pies. All the
instructions will have to be re-written by lunch time. ;^)

 

-Or you could put the big puffy mittens on the tech writers. Yeah,
that'd be more like real life!

 

 

-Darren

 

-----Original Message-----
From:
techwr-l-bounces+darren -dot- butler -dot- ctr=robins -dot- af -dot- mil -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+darren -dot- butler -dot- ctr=robins -dot- af -dot- mil -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- 
com] On Behalf Of Suzette Leeming
Sent: Monday, November 01, 2010 9:36 AM
To: TechWriter
Subject: Sample Project for "Take Your Kids to Work" Day

 

Our company always organizes an excellent program for the Take Your Kids
to

Work day, which is going to be on Wednesday. I've always given a short

presentation on technical writing, and then given them a short exercise
-

writing the instructions for making a peanut butter sandwich. I'm
getting

bored with that though, and wondered if anyone had any ideas on
something

else I could give them; preferably something that doesn't require a lot
of

preparation.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Suzette Leeming

Stouffville, Ontario

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with
Doc-To-Help. 

Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try 

Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days. 

http://www.doctohelp.com

 

---

You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as
Darren -dot- Butler -dot- ctr -at- robins -dot- af -dot- mil -dot- 

 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 

techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

or visit
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/darren.butler.ctr%40r
obins.af.mil

 

 

To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

 

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit

http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info. 

 

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:

http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help. 
Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try 
Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days. 
http://www.doctohelp.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info. 

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat