RE: Usage of second person or third person when writing procedures

["Nancy Osterhout" <bluetwilight -at- home -dot- com>]

Cindy Hill asked:

"Need a little help.  Our style guide is almost finished but have
conflicting source references as to second or third person usage.
When writing instructions, use the implied second or third person?
Example...Eat dinner before eating dessert or Dinner should be eaten
before dessert.  Does anyone know which is correct when writing
procedures?"

Here's my 2 cents (as a policy & procedure writer):

Give reason for acting prior to giving the command -- in active voice.

Of course, the actor (title of the person who is to do the task) is
named in one column of the page while the action is told in the column
next to the actor, so this is a non-question for the kind of writing
that I do.

Example:

Eater      Life is uncertain.  Eat dessert first.

HTH.


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