• TOPICS
    • Design
    • Manufacturing
    • Inspection
    • Heat Treating
    • Lubrication
    • Materials
    • The Gear Industry
    • Gears by Type
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Departments
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
  • NEWSLETTER
    • Subscribe
  • VIDEO
    • Gear Technology TV
      • Ask the Expert Live
      • Revolutions
    • Industry Videos
  • BLOGS
  • BUYER'S GUIDE
  • NEWS and EVENTS
    • Product News
    • Industry News
    • Events
  • ADVERTISING
    • Brand Awareness
      • Print: Display Advertising
      • Online: Web Banners & Keyword Banners
      • Online: Native Advertising (Sponsored Content)
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • E-mail: Newsletter Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
    • Response & Lead Generation
      • Online: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: Newsletters
      • E-mail: Newsletter Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • Online: Buyers Guide
    • Print Advertising
      • Print: Display Advertising
      • Print: MPT Expo Showstoppers
      • Print: Buyers Guide
      • Print: Manufacturing sMart
      • Print: Specifications
      • MPT Expo Show Guide Advertising
    • Online Advertising
      • Online: Web Banners & Keyword Banners
      • Online: Native Advertising (Sponsored Content)
      • Online: Buyers Guide
      • Online: Specifications
    • E-mail Advertising
      • E-mail: E-Newsletters
      • E-mail: Newsletter Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: AGMA Industry News
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • E-mail: Specifications
    • Special Promotions
      • Print: MPT Expo Showstoppers
      • Print: Buyers Guide
      • Print: Manufacturing sMart
      • MPT Expo Show Guide Advertising
  • CONTACT US
  • AGMA
    • Membership
    • Events
    • Education
    • Emerging Technology
    • AGMA Media
    • Standards
Subscribe
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Home » Blogs » Gear Talk With Chuck » Effective Instructions

Gear Talk With Chuck
Gear Talk With Chuck RSS FeedRSS

Design / Manufacturing / The Gear Industry / Profile / Processes / Grinding / Sectors / Wind / Ground Gears
Charles schultz
Chuck Schultz is a licensed engineer, Gear Technology Technical Editor, and Chief Engineer for Beyta Gear Service. He has written the "Gear Talk with Chuck" blog for Gear Technology since 2014.

Effective Instructions

August 24, 2017
Charles D. Schultz
No Comments
Have you ever tried to assemble something with poorly written or translated instructions? The classic image of a befuddled father on Christmas Eve surrounded by parts and tools did not become a “classic” without lots of help. Having written assembly instructions for some rather complex machinery, I appreciate the difficulty of communicating clearly in my native language. The added complication of a translation is not something I would care to deal with. My hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin still had lots of non-English speakers while I was growing up, and we kids cruelly laughed at some of the “Milwaukeese” we heard from the old folks. Their direct translations from German led to phrases like “where the streetcar bends the corner round.” Technical communication requires more precision than general conversation, of course, and often relies on repetition of a word or phase that sounds awkward when read aloud. If you need to remind the assembler to refer to the bolt torque chart at every operation, you cannot be concerned with losing a Pulitzer Prize. E-mail and auto-complete are making a hash out of communication, in my humble opinion. As my old grade 7 English teacher used to remind, sloppy writing is a sign of a sloppy mind. A missing comma, for example, in the phase “Let’s eat, Grandma” could mean the difference between hospitality and cannibalism. I did not enjoy being nagged then but sure appreciate the lesson now. Not to mention great editors who check my submissions. I was prompted to write this posting by a discussion over mass e-mail formatting. The sender was displeased with the lack of timely responses and was rather startled when one of the recipients pointed out the confusion caused by the order of the questions in the request. I had run into this earlier on a form I was filling out for a client’s accounting department. In that case, if you answered “No” — there was no clear path forward on the form. My suggestion to all writers is to find a good editor to run things by, or to develop the ability to look at your own work objectively. Most of us need those editors to alert us to our errors. The next time you curse at assembly instructions, try to write your own version. It is tougher than it looks.

Recent Comments

Thank you for this - Happy Saint Patrick's...

Post a comment to this article

Report Abusive Comment

Free Gear Technology Subscriptions
Subscribe
Free Gear Technology Subscriptions
Subscribe
FEATURED VIDEO
  • Kapp3
    Kapp Niles ZP 20 Set-up
March 14, 2019
RECOMMENDED
  • Precision Equals Performance at ZPE GripTec

    October 12, 2022
    gt0922_Page_28_Image_0003.jpg
  • State of the Powder Metal Industry

    October 12, 2022
    gt0922_Page_30_Image_0001.jpg
  • The Afterglow of Furnaces North America 2022

    October 12, 2022
    gt0922_Page_20_Image_0001.jpg
  • Reigniting the Educational Infrastructure

    December 5, 2022
    gt1122_Page_20_Image_0001.jpg
  • Profile: Continuing Education and Training with the AGMA

    December 5, 2022
    gt1122_Page_26_Image_0001.jpg
  • Reigniting the Educational Infrastructure

    December 5, 2022
    gt1122_Page_20_Image_0001.jpg
  • Profile: Continuing Education and Training with the AGMA

    December 5, 2022
    gt1122_Page_26_Image_0001.jpg
  • Precision Equals Performance at ZPE GripTec

    October 12, 2022
    gt0922_Page_28_Image_0003.jpg
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • AGMA
Powered byAGMA
Copyright © 2023 Gear Technology
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact