RE: Passive voice (was: Eschew, Evade, and/or Eradicate Legalese)

[Rebecca Officer <Rebecca -dot- Officer -at- alliedtelesis -dot- co -dot- nz>]

I point out that if you write in passive voice, users have to figure out whether they need to do something or whether the machine does it for them. Even if it's pretty obvious ("the bla option is used to ..."), it's still extra cognitive load on users.

Cheers
Rebecca

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+rebecca -dot- officer=alliedtelesis -dot- co -dot- nz -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+rebecca -dot- officer=alliedtelesis -dot- co -dot- nz -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of Dave C
Sent: Monday, 24 November 2014 4:46 a.m.
To: Tech Writing
Subject: Passive voice (was: Eschew, Evade, and/or Eradicate Legalese)

What arguments do we make to management and/or document originators that passive voice is... well, bad? I've always found a tepid audience when trying to describe why. 

Thanks,
Dave

-=-=-=-

> Of course, there'd still be plenty of work for us converting passive voice to active voice, structuring documents rationally, and all those other things we do that add value.
> [Mike Starr]



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