Addressing Resistance to Change in Policy and Procedure Writing

Policy writing and procedure writing is challenging because of the mechanics involved. Words must be carefully chosen; nuances must be considered. Understanding the mechanics of writing these documents is critical; however, an often overlooked aspect should be dealt with before the first word is written. How can policy and procedure writing tiptoe around the elephant in the room that everyone is trying to ignore?

Hibbard, Catherine S. Cypress Media Group (2010). Articles>Business Communication>Policies and Procedures>Technical Writing

Creating Effective Tables in Technical Documents

If you have ever taken courses in technical writing, creating graphics was most likely addressed. Let's review the fundamentals and then delve deeper into creating tables in a technical document. Graphics, or visual aids, are usually divided into two broad categories: tables and figures. All tables are considered tables; all other visual aids are categorized as figures.

Hibbard, Catherine S. Cypress Media Group (2010). Articles>Documentation>Technical Illustration>Charts and Graphs

How Reading Levels Impact Writing Policies and Procedures

When you are writing policies and procedures, probably the last thing you have on your mind is the reading level of the document. Would it surprise you to learn that the reading level impacts the document's effectiveness in a very specific way? How can your readers understand, follow, or implement a policy or a procedure if they do not understand it?

Hibbard, Catherine S. Cypress Media Group (2010). Articles>Business Communication>Policies and Procedures>Audience Analysis

How to Make your Point with Sound Bites And Quotable Statements

Whether you are making a business presentation or communicating with the media, your most important objective should be to make your point clear and memorable. The following are three simple and effective techniques to make your point clear and create sound bites and quotable statements.

Whatley, Randall P. Cypress Media Group (2007). Articles>Presentations>Rhetoric

How to Proofread Your Own Writing

You don't have to be a professional proofreader to do a better job proofreading your own writing. It's difficult to catch your own mistakes because you read what you expect to see when you check over something you have written. A common example of this is writing you when you mean to write your-or vice versa. You read the word you intended to write and the error doesn't register as a mistake. To proofread thoroughly, it's important to know the types of errors that are most common. The following can serve as a checklist.

Hibbard, Catherine S. Cypress Media Group (2007). Articles>Editing>Advice

Improving the Appearance of your Technical Document

Everyone would prefer reading a technical document that is visually appealing rather than one that is cluttered with dense copy and has little or no white space. Simply put, white space is blank space on the paper. It can be used for various techniques as well as an easy way to enhance your document's appearance.

Hibbard, Catherine S. Cypress Media Group (2010). Articles>Document Design>Technical Writing>Typography

Make Sentence Structure Work for You

One of the easiest ways to improve your business writing is to create strong sentences. It really doesn't matter what you are writing; it could be an informal memo or an important report or proposal. Sentences that are concise, varied, and focused will give your documents a polished, professional touch.

Hibbard, Catherine S. Cypress Media Group (2007). Articles>Writing>Advice>Grammar

Proposal Writing Myths and Realities

Many business people avoid new business development that requires written proposals. They believe common myths about the subject that are, in fact, false. The following five myths about proposal writing refute and demystify the process.

Whatley, Randall P. Cypress Media Group (2007). Articles>Business Communication>Proposals

Six Principles of Technical Writing

Technical writing can be a challenge for those of us who must write the occasional technical document. Whether you are writing technical procedures, training manuals, or an article for an industry-specific publication, you need to follow certain guidelines or rules. I have selected the following six guidelines as a starting point.

Hibbard, Catherine S. Cypress Media Group. Articles>Writing>Technical Writing

Ten Tips for Tables in Technical Documents

If you have ever received technical writing instruction, you may feel you know all that's worth knowing about creating tables in technical documents. That may be so—but how about reviewing a brief Ten Tips for Tables Checklist?

Hibbard, Catherine S. Cypress Media Group (2010). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing>Technical Illustration

Ten Tips for Writing Technical Documents

What components are necessary to create effective technical documents? If you talk to ten people who do technical documentation, you will probably get ten different answers. I personally try to follow ten fairly easy tips.

Hibbard, Catherine S. Cypress Media Group (2010). Articles>Documentation>Advice>Technical Writing

Ten Ways to Improve Your Proposal Win-Rate

Often only a point or two separates a winning proposal from the second place finisher. You should do everything possible to improve your score. Following is a list of ten commonly overlooked things that you can do to improve your proposal win-rate.

Whatley, Randall P. Cypress Media Group (2007). Articles>Business Communication>Proposals

Using Bullet Points and Lists

Bullet points are a popular tool when writing e-mails, memos, and letters. Business writers know they draw attention to important information. Readers like bullet points because they are visually appealing and make it easy to quickly find pertinent information.

Hibbard, Catherine S. Cypress Media Group (2007). Articles>Document Design>Information Design>Business Communication