You Can Not

June 22, 2018

When writing support documentation, do not start sentences with “You can”.

For example, avoid “You can select your primary number from the dropdown menu”.

Make it action-oriented: “Select your primary number from the dropdown menu”. Make it a command. An imperative. Plain English is your friend.

Sometimes it is not as obvious as my example, but look for ways to dispose of the words “You can”.

Lots of reasons why, but the top two are this:

• Of course your customer can do it, but don’t make them think about whether they should. Just tell them. They are reading a help article already looking for ways they “can” do something.

• “You can” implies ambiguity. Avoid ambiguity like the plague.

Action-based language, like our military and law enforcement uses, is the spirit we want to use for technical documentation. (Tutorials allow for broader range).