Skill #9: Creating a Human Connection in Your Documentation

📣 Special announcement: The Not-Boring Tech Writer team (Kate and Chad) will be at Write the Docs Portland in May. Thanks to KnowledgeOwl's sponsorship, they’ll be wearing KnowledgeOwl and The Not-Boring Tech Writer t-shirts and giving out The Not-Boring Tech Writer stickers. If you're attending WTD Portland this year, please say hi to Kate and Chad, let them know what you think of the show, and swing by the conference swag table to grab some free stickers so you can flaunt your not-boring tech writer status with the world!_____________________________________________We’ve all read (and perhaps written) a boring document: the robot-like language, the walls of text. And we’re all familiar with the result: a disengaged reader who’s likely missed the message.Enter John Espirian, freelance technical writer and Director at the Society for Editors and Proofreaders.John believes the difference between a boring and a not-boring document comes down to one essential element: a human connection.In this episode, John shares how you can create that human connection in your documentation, including:how to better understand your end-users.why your documentation tone must match the brand.what simplicity means (and doesn’t mean).Show Notes:Pen Portraits John Espirian (Twitter) (LinkedIn) (Facebook)John’s site