Tricks of the trade

Policy Manuals People Can Really Use

The client's problem: A government agency asked us to rewrite and re-organize a policy manual so that it would be easier to use, especially for people who needed quick answers.

The Cornerstone solution: Policy manuals are delicate, because what often seems like clumsy language has been carefully written to close loopholes. Here's what we did.

• Cornerstone replaced "turn-off" words like "facilitate" with friendlier words like "help." Why? When readers need answers in a hurry, they don't have time to decipher a lot of gobbledygook. Nonetheless, we were extremely careful not to change the meaning of the words.
• We then re-organized the material into clearer sections, and divided the sections into as many subsections as we could. Why? With more subheads, employees flipping through the manual for specific information can find what they need more quickly.
• Finally, we expanded the index, adding more entries and more synonyms ("car" as well as "vehicle" for example). Why? Readers often turn to the index first. The more information there is in the index, the easier it is for them to find what they are looking for.

Cornerstone is a writing and editing firm that uses marketing and PR principles to create "words you can build your business on."

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