Technical Writing
How to Write Instructions
Writing instructions someone can follow is a specific skill, and it's one of the highest-leverage skills at work. Most confusion at a workplace comes from unclear instructions — not from complicated tasks.
Seven principles
- Know your audience.
- Put steps in logical order.
- Use clear action verbs.
- Remove unnecessary complexity.
- Use headings and lists.
- Highlight warnings and important information.
- Make the expected result explicit.
A test for any instruction
Read your instruction to someone who has never done the task and watch what they do. Every place they hesitate is a place your instruction needs work. That single test will improve your writing more than any book.
Try it
Practice this in a timed session.
Realistic source material, a task timer, and a scored result.
Related