All or Some?

By Linda Stoneall

Linda Stoneall gave a presentation based on the following article at the EBSTC meeting in May. She is the author of How to Write Training Materials.

After you complete a user manual, your boss asks you to train groups of users. You can hand out your manual, make slides from your manual pages, and go through every screen, field, button and menu choice, right? Not if you want to make the best use of the training time.

Tech writers take care to learn a system thoroughly. They are so good about covering every detail of a system that tech writers may be motivated to share all their knowledge in a training session. Telling all contradicts learning principals. In training, writing less is better.

Both tech writers and training writers create pages for users to read. Training writers act as "playwrights" to create one-act plays with dramatic scenes while tech writers are more like "encyclopedia authors." To write less:

• Select only a few points
• Create gaps in users' handouts
• Repeat the few points

Seven to Eleven Points

Most people cannot grasp everything about a system at once. Too many points can overwhelm people so they don't remember much at all. Research indicates that most people can retain about seven to eleven points in their short-term memory at a time. This is why telephone numbers have 10 digits, and zip codes 5.

Select the key points based on what users need to know the most to improve performance, impact the bottom line, or meet company or management requirements.

Gaps in Handouts

Instead of listing all the steps in the seven to eleven points or reproducing PowerPoint slides as handouts, write handouts with gaps so that users take notes. When people put information into their own words, they are forced to understand it, and it also helps them remember what they wrote. The activity of writing makes people more active learners and keeps their attention focused. An alternative is to write questions that users answer in class.

In your handouts:

• Write bullet points with just a word or phrase, but not in the exact same way as the slides.
• Write incomplete sentences with blanks so users fill in what they are learning.

Repeat

Allow users to put the seven to eleven points into their long-term memory by repeating them. Some repetition goes on when the user sees, hears, and notes how to use the new system. Repetition should occur not by writing the same sentence over and over, but by providing many different ways of presenting the concepts. For example, write scenarios that force users to use the system to solve an issue, let users try out the system and practice the key points several times, or provide games (one suggestion is to use TV shows such as Jeopardy or Who Wants to Be a Millionaire as a basis for creating games). This variety in repetition has a side benefit of reaching multiple learning styles among the visual, auditory, or visceral learners.

Final Points

Writing less allows users to

• Grasp what they need to use the most.
• Put ideas about key steps into their own words to internalize them.
• Practice using the system.
• Remember how to use the system.

Next time you're asked to train users, write less. Be selective and choose the most important parts of the system that users need to know. Give out handouts with gaps so users take notes. Develop ways to repeat the parts in different ways. In this type of training session, users will gain and retain more. Last, make your manual available so they can look up other information to become familiar with how to find answers on their own. With these tips, you can discover how to be a playwright and add drama to your training!

The Devil Mountain Views -- May/June 2002
(ebstc.org/newsletter/front.html)
For  suggestions, complaints, or (especially) compliments, contact dmvashwini@yahoo.com