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Subject:Re: WHAT did you say? (WAS: What is a SME?) From:Mike Stockman <stockman -at- JAGUNET -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 22 Sep 1998 14:51:11 -0400
On 9/22/1998 2:44 PM, George Mena (George -dot- Mena -at- ESSTECH -dot- COM) wrote:
>To clarify for everyone:
>
>SME = Subject Matter Expert. Most of us already know this -- or SHOULD
>already know it.
One of the rules of technical writing I learned early... never tell the
readers what they SHOULD know. It's not educational, nor does it
encourage a receptive frame of mind as they read further... IF they read
further, that is.
I've been a technical writer for 12 years. I had never heard the letters
SME until I subscribed (well, re-subscribed) to this list. I never knew
what the letters meant until today (and, to be fair, I never bothered to
ask, either).
Rather than using the phrase SME, I've often referred to "the
developers," or sometimes "the product manager," although the product
manager was not, sadly, always the expert.
I guess we can all be glad the phrase isn't "Subject Matter Engineer," or
some other overblown title...
------>Mike
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