What should i write instructions on

Edit your instructions carefully. Typos and grammatical errors can ruin otherwise clear writing, making your instructions hard to follow. Read through them backwards and forwards to make sure they're error-free.

Include a list of tools or supplies needed. Particularly if a task requires specific tools or materials, a list can be helpful for your readers. Put the list towards the beginning of your instructions so your reader can gather materials before they begin the task. Recipes always provide a list of ingredients and cookware at the beginning, so you can gather all these things before you start making the dish.

Provide warnings where appropriate. After testing your instructions, you may realize that there are hidden dangers you didn't address when you first wrote your instructions. Alert your readers to these dangers so they can take precautions. Instructions are important because they teach us how to do things we may not know how to do or how to do them better.

Not Helpful 20 Helpful Instructions should include examples and pictures because people learn in different ways. Some learners can be reading and writing based, some are visual, and some need examples to completely understand the instructions and process. If you didn't include these, some people would understand, and some people may struggle.

Not Helpful 11 Helpful People learn in a variety of manners, some do best by consulting a text, and the written form provides a reference for later review. Not Helpful 13 Helpful Should I have an introduction when presenting in front of my class?

And how should I end my presentation? Yes you need an introduction to let the class know what you will be presenting. I would end with, "Thank you for listening to my presentation, are there any questions?

Writing your instructions as a list rather than a paragraph can make it easier for your readers to comprehend, so I would recommend using a list structure. Open Word, it should open with a new document.

Type out what you want on the document. Go to File, Save As. Select where you want to save it on your computer a certain folder, etc. Type a name for the document in the File name box, and then click Save. Not Helpful 27 Helpful It depends on what you are instructing them to do. You say they are "going to camp"; so are the instructions to prepare them for the camp trip? If so, your introduction could provide information such as: pick-up point, time of departure, time of return, dates of the camping trip, etc.

The actual Instructions could be a step-by-step guide on "what to expect" during the trip, such as, what to bring for the trip; travel accommodations; rules regarding behavior, etc. Not Helpful 3 Helpful 6. Is it possible to let the employer know that I do better with written instructions? Of course! Letting people know what you need is important. Not Helpful 4 Helpful 2. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

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Article Summary X To write clear instructions, break up the task you're trying to describe into multiple steps that each contain just one action, which will make your instructions easier to follow. For these situations, you use special notices —note, warning, caution, and danger notices.

Notice how these special notices are used in the example instructions listed above. Technical background or theory. At the beginning of certain kinds of instructions after the introduction, of course , you may need a discussion of background related to the procedure.

For certain instructions, this background is critical—otherwise, the steps in the procedure make no sense. For example, you may have had some experience with those software applets in which you define your own colors by nudging red, green, and blue slider bars around. To really understand what you're doing, you need to have some background on color. Similarly, you can imagine that, for certain instructions using cameras, some theory might be needed as well.

Equipment and supplies. Notice that most instructions include a list of the things you need to gather before you start the procedure. This includes equipment , the tools you use in the procedure such as mixing bowls, spoons, bread pans, hammers, drills, and saws and supplies , the things that are consumed in the procedure such as wood, paint, oil, flour, and nails.

In instructions, these typically are listed either in a simple vertical list or in a two-column list. Use the two-column list if you need to add some specifications to some or all of the items—for example, brand names, sizes, amounts, types, model numbers, and so on.

Discussion of the steps. When you get to the actual writing of the steps, there are several things to keep in mind: 1 the structure and format of those steps, 2 supplementary information that might be needed, and 3 the point of view and general writing style.

Structure and format. Normally, we imagine a set of instructions as being formatted as vertical numbered lists. And most are in fact. Normally, you format your actual step-by-step instructions this way.

There are some variations, however, as well as some other considerations:. See the chapter on lists for the style and format of these possibilities. Supplementary discussion. Often, it is not enough simply to tell readers to do this or to do that.

They need additional explanatory information such as how the thing should look before and after the step; why they should care about doing this step; what mechanical principle is behind what they are doing; even more micro-level explanation of the step—discussion of the specific actions that make up the step.

The problem with supplementary discussion, however, is that it can hide the actual step. You want the actual step—the specific actions the reader is to take—to stand out. You don't want it all buried in a heap of words. There are at least two techniques to avoid this problem: you can split the instruction from the supplement into separate paragraphs; or you can bold the instruction.

Bolding actual user steps in instructions. Bold text helps distinguish the actual action from the supplementary information. Writing style. The way you actually write instructions, sentence by sentence, may seem contradictory to what previous writing classes have taught you.

However, notice how "real-world" instructions are written—they use a lot of imperative command, or direct-address kinds of writing; they use a lot of "you. You want to get in your reader's face, get her or his full attention. For that reason, instruction-style sentences sound like these: "Now, press the Pause button on the front panel to stop the display temporarily" and "You should be careful not to A particular problem involves use of the passive voice in instructions.

For some weird reason, some instructions sound like this: "The Pause button should be depressed in order to stop the display temporarily. Or consider this example: "The Timer button is then set to Another of the typical problems with writing style in instructions is that people seem to want to leave out articles: "Press Pause button on front panel to stop display of information temporarily" or "Earthperson, please provide address of nearest pizza restaurant.

Do we all secretly want to be robots? Anyway, be sure to include all articles a , an , the and other such words that we'd normally use in instructions.

Probably more so than in any other form of writing except maybe for comic books , graphics are crucial to instructions. Sometimes, words simply cannot explain the step. Illustrations are often critical to readers' ability to visualize what they are supposed to do.

In a technical writing course, instructions may require you to include illustrations or other kinds of graphics—whatever would normally be used in the instructions. The problem of course may be that you don't have access to graphics that would be suitable for your particular instructions, and that you don't feel wildly confident in your artistic abilities. There are ways to overcome these problems! Take a look at the suggestions in graphics.

In that chapter, you'll see not only suggestions for creating graphics, but also requirements on their format. In your instructions, make good use of headings. Normally, you'd want headings for any background section you might have, the equipment and supplies section, a general heading for the actual instructions section, and subheadings for the individual tasks or phases within that section.

Take a look at the examples at the beginning of this chapter. See headings for common requirements. Similarly, instructions typically make heavy use of lists, particularly numbered vertical lists for the actual step-by-step explanations. Simple vertical lists or two-column lists are usually good for the equipment and supplies section.

In-sentence lists are good whenever you give an overview of things to come. See lists for common requirements. Special notices. If you try to avoid them, you might start to blather. Avoid hard words, which means that going for the short word is always a good choice. Keep your sentences short about 20 to 25 words per sentence and avoid complex structures. This will be easier if you use simple forms of present, past, and future tense. Sentences also become simpler automatically if you use the active voice exclusively.

Since you want your employers to act, use the imperative. Put commands like these first when your instruction includes a warning. Another rule is that of relevance. You have to scan your instructional texts for irrelevant information and delete it. These bites of information will be easier to understand and digest. English is a language with plenty of ambiguous words and the forms of nouns and their corresponding verbs often look the same. Here, you can not only see what words and what forms you should use but also which ones you should avoid.

The first rule this follows is to use ambiguous words only to express one of many meanings. This means: use words with their actual, not their transferred meaning.

Otherwise, you confuse your workers. Professional technical writers can make your instructional documents fit STE standards.

There are also software solutions that guide you on your way to efficient instructional texts. In addition to that, there are products that provide you with your instructions in the right language for your workers right away.