Dropping the you? The Asian response to imperative voice. (was: Re: you or he/it)

[Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

Monica Cellio wondered: <<The imperative can work well for direct, 
procedural material.  I'm having trouble imagining how it would work 
when writing more open-ended documentation, such as when giving advice 
about the alternatives available to the reader.  How would you rewrite 
something like this (in a sys-admin or programming manual)?  "If most 
of your users are located in one facility, we recommend using the 
standard client-server configuration.  If most of your users are in 
remote locations, or if  any have slow or unreliable network 
connections, we instead recommend using the multi-server configuration 
with the following modifications [...].">>

Provide your recommendation, but using wording that defines why you 
made that recommendation and specifies the conditions under which that 
recommendation is valid. For example: "The standard client-server 
configuration is most computationally efficient [safe? easy to 
administer? easy to understand?] when most users are located in a 
single facility."

This avoids the problem of imperative voice (too abrupt or "imperial" 
<G>), eliminates the "you", is very concise, and gives your 
recommendation in a way that gives the reader tools to decide whether 
your logic matches theirs. If so, they'll follow it without actually 
being told to do so*. If not, the text that follows should provide 
other clues about alternatives and when those alternatives are 
appropriate. For example: "In contrast, when users are geographically 
dispersed, the WAN configuration is..."

* "To prevent sudden death of the purchaser, we recommend installation 
by a less-valued co-worker." See? Rhetoric (persuasion) does have a 
place in technical communication! <g>

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Geoff Hart   ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca
(try geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com if you don't get a reply)
www.geoff-hart.com
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