TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Reassuring language From:Gord Deyo <DeyoG -at- ITLS -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 22 Jun 1998 15:00:08 -0400
> I'm updating a user's guide and online help that another writer
> created.
> This other writer peppered his procedures with reassuring words like
> "simply" and "easily" ("Simply click here" or "You can easily do
> this"). I
> find these words are extraneous and do nothing to reassure the reader.
> If
> anything, they would make me nervous ("Now don't worry Mr. Hickey.
> This
> simple procedure won't hurt a bit... <yank>").
>
> My question is, do these reassuring words help the user at all or they
> just
> fluff?
>
Let's take it the other way: "This is pretty difficult, and most can't
do it, but click here to..." or "If you finish this procedure correctly
without having to call customer support, your intelligence is above
normal." Customers that finish procedures with this type of
embellishment are going to be delighted. "It's not so hard," they would
exclaim. "This manual has taken something really difficult and has made
it easy to understand, even for me!" The documentation team would be
hailed as geniuses and there would be raises for all.
