Clarity and Completeness

Your writing should be clear, concise, and complete. It should have a logical flow of ideas that is easy for the reader to follow. Use precise and appropriate vocabulary. Avoid repetition or wordiness and be sure that all relevant information is included.

Most of the writing you will complete as a Digital Ambassador is intended to explain something or present information. You may be writing to help someone learn how to do something new with their device. You may be informing people about how to be safer online users. All of this writing should be clear, concise, and complete.

Tips for clarity and completeness in your writing:

• Write short sentences. Write simple sentences. This is especially helpful when trying to tell someone the steps to complete a task. It’s better to use a period and end a sentence than to use commas and continue it. Break long sentences into multiple sentences when you can.
• Write in an active voice. You can write in an active voice by writing a subject (noun) first and then the predicate (verb). It’s harder to understand a passive voice in writing. There are software and online tools that can determine how much passive voice you are using.
• Use strong verbs. Using clear, strong verbs is related to writing in an active voice. Strong verbs are descriptive. Start a sentence with an action verb (“Click the button.”). This makes your sentences shorter and implies the noun (as in “You click the button.”).
• List steps. You’ll have to share directions often on the Help Desk. Procedures are best presented in numbered lists. Bullets are helpful to keep information concise. Use bullets rather than numbered lists if the order of steps doesn’t matter.  

All of these tips have been used in this module. How have they helped you to understand the material?