Purposes, Personas, Conversations -- Practical Techniques for Everything You Create

1. Purposes, Personas, Conversations– Practical techniques for everything you createJanice (Ginny) RedishRedish & Associates, Inc.Bethesda, MD USAwww.redish.net@GinnyRedishPhotos © iStockphoto.com, unless I give another source

2. Redish & Associates, Inc.© 2013, Janice (Ginny) Redish Purposes, Personas, Conversations Slide 2Everything you write serves a purposeWhen you write this What do you want to happen?A proposal for fundingInstructions for installingan appOnline help for a taskAn email to your boss askingto go to the STC SummitA web page about usingladders safely

3. Redish & Associates, Inc.© 2013, Janice (Ginny) Redish Purposes, Personas, Conversations Slide 3How do we achieve our purposes?Flickr cc photo by PolandezeEverythingwe writeis part ofa conversation.

6. Redish & Associates, Inc.© 2013, Janice (Ginny) Redish Purposes, Personas, Conversations Slide 6For most of what we write,the other person starts the conversationYou start the conversationFlickr cc photo by BradleyolinHe starts the conversation

7. Redish & Associates, Inc.© 2013, Janice (Ginny) Redish Purposes, Personas, Conversations Slide 7Jenna enjoying red wine at a friends house.Next moment after this picture – Oops!Thanks to Caroline Jarrettfor finding the example for me.

8. Redish & Associates, Inc.© 2013, Janice (Ginny) Redish Purposes, Personas, Conversations Slide 10Removing Red Wine StainsVanish Oxi Action Powder removes wine stains easily.Important: Follow the package directions.Do not use on wool, silk, or leather.Do not use on wood, metals, or other finished or coated surfaces.Instructions1.  Dissolve 1 scoop of Vanish Oxi Action Powderin 4 litres of warm water. (warm = max. 40o)2.  Soak the stained item.•  Colored item – soak max. 1 hour•  White item – soak max. 6 hours3.  Wash as usual, adding 1 scoop of Vanish to the wash.How I might revise the Vanish Oxi content

9. Redish & Associates, Inc.© 2013, Janice (Ginny) Redish Purposes, Personas, Conversations Slide 11  plan  organize  write  evaluateFlickr cc photo by Polandeze"Purposes, personas, conversations"helps you

11. Redish & Associates, Inc.© 2013, Janice (Ginny) Redish Purposes, Personas, Conversations Slide 13Plan at every level  Why? (Purposes)  Who? (Personas)  What? (Conversations)A very brief creative brieffor every piece of copy

12. Redish & Associates, Inc.© 2013, Janice (Ginny) Redish Purposes, Personas, Conversations Slide 14  Aligned with business goals and content strategy  Measurable  Specific  Focused on your customersWhy? Purposes$$$$$ $

14. Redish & Associates, Inc.© 2013, Janice (Ginny) Redish Purposes, Personas, Conversations Slide 16Focus on what you want people to dobecause you wrote this contentto sell lots of shoespeople to buy the shoes we sellto tell people how to get their drivers licensepeople to get their drivers license successfullywithout frustration and without calling with questionsWe want

16. Redish & Associates, Inc.© 2013, Janice (Ginny) Redish Purposes, Personas, Conversations Slide 18Who? Personas  Who they are  Adjectives and phrases to describe  Abilities  Aptitudes  AttitudesEven assumptive personas can helpyou focus on the people your copy is for.

19. http://www.uwmedicine.org/Patient-Care/Our-Services/Pages/Make-An-Appointment.aspx

20. Redish & Associates, Inc.© 2013, Janice (Ginny) Redish Purposes, Personas, Conversations Slide 22"Purposes, personas, conversations"helps you  plan  organize  write  evaluateDont hog the conversation.Take turns.

27. Redish & Associates, Inc.© 2013, Janice (Ginny) Redish Purposes, Personas, Conversations Slide 31Approved fumigation with methyl bromideat normal atmospheric pressure, inaccordance with the following procedure,upon arrival at the port of entry, is herebyprescribed as a condition of importation forshipments of yams from foreign countries.How would yousay this in aconversation?Flickr cc photoby Seattle Municipal Archives

28. Redish & Associates, Inc.© 2013, Janice (Ginny) Redish Purposes, Personas, Conversations Slide 32Think "conversation"even from sentence to sentenceIf you are importing yams, [someone]must fumigate them when they arriveat the port of entry.To fumigate yams, [that person] must usethis procedure:  To do x,  If x,  Do x before  After you do x, .newcontext= given,knownthen

29. Redish & Associates, Inc.© 2013, Janice (Ginny) Redish Purposes, Personas, Conversations Slide 33Talk to (and with) your customersIn the presentation, this slide had a visualwith two versions of the lead-in to a form:  a noun-based description, followed by a call to action  a conversational phrase as if the site visitor were speakingThe conversational phrase generated many more leads and sales.https://whichtestwon.com/archives/19429with permission to show but not to distribute

30. Redish & Associates, Inc.© 2013, Janice (Ginny) Redish Purposes, Personas, Conversations Slide 34Give your customers a voiceIn the presentation, this slide had a visualwith two versions of a call-to-action button.One button used "my."The other used "your.""My" generated many more clicks.https://whichtestwon.com/archives/20134with permission to show but not to distribute

31. Redish & Associates, Inc.© 2013, Janice (Ginny) Redish Purposes, Personas, Conversations Slide 35Let go of the words – but, sometimes,add words the conversation needswww.virb.comExample from Josh Porterhttp://bokardo.com

33. Redish & Associates, Inc.© 2013, Janice (Ginny) Redish Purposes, Personas, Conversations Slide 37Walk your personasthrough their conversations  Do usability testing!  Even before that:"channel" your personasas they bring their conversationsto your content.

34. Redish & Associates, Inc.© 2013, Janice (Ginny) Redish Purposes, Personas, Conversations Slide 38conversation is the contributionof professional technical communicatorsAsynchronousIssuance of a TOP command results in a linezero condition.To go to the beginning of your file, type TOPand press Enter.An example of how technical communicators changedmanuals in the early days of the personal computer:

35. Redish & Associates, Inc.© 2013, Janice (Ginny) Redish Purposes, Personas, Conversations Slide 39Thank you! More questions?Write to me:ginny@redish.netMorgan Kaufmann / Elsevier2nd edition, 2012@GinnyRedishGinny RedishGinny Redishwww.redish.net