As a Technologist, I rely on technical writing for my training, product evaluation and selection. When I see a video describing a new technology, I skip to the text.
Reasons to skip the video?
- The video is bound to simplify the important details that are fundamental building blocks in any product.
- The video is produced by marketing people, who all too often do not understand the product.
- If I am coming to you for information, I already have specific questions to answer about how your product will work in my business environment.
- I can read the text much faster and skip to the important parts rather than watch the video.
How can marketers and educators help me?
- Focus on the text.
- Hire technical writers.
- Focus on the technology.
- Eliminate "market-speak", a technical manual is not a place to blather on about innovation.
- Avoid appropriating terms from other technologies that have a similar meaning.
- Write declarative sentences.
Example: "Introduction to Microsoft Windows Server 2016" Microsoft Books
73 words, one period. A bit of a bad cut and paste job there in the middle: "software-defined datacenter features that can were born in..." I am glad they didn’t use the phrase “legacy” anywhere in this run-on sentence! "Legacy" describes me pretty well...
Anyone who survived the 90's in technology remembers
Buzzword Bingo so here's a shot on that sentence/paragraph:
| Market-speak |
Buzzwords |
“Self-Improvement” |
| Pillars |
Security |
Are clear about |
| Commitment |
Software-defined datacenter |
Choice |
| Platform of choice |
On-premises |
Now-exist |
| Frameworks |
Application platform |
Necessary |
| Traditional applications |
Application |
Allow |
| Azure |
Cloud |
Prepare |
