Documentation and E-Learning (Part 2) - Show, Don't Tell

For several years now, I've been writing poetry. The local poet who taught our class showed us a huge variety of poetic "forms": ABeCeDarius, Acrostic, Anaphora, Ars Poetica, Blank Verse, Crown of Sonnets, Eclogue, Haiku, Internal Rhyme, Nested Word, Ode, Pantoum, Rondelet, Sestina, Shape Verse, Triolet, Villanelle...just a few of the thousands of poetic forms out there. And the drumbeat mantra that helps to differentiate all of them from plain old ordinary prose is: "Show, Don't Tell."


The following short poem helps to illustrate the concept:


Fandango


(Inspired by the phrase "--a hat of wind"


from "The Death of the Hat" by Billy Collins.)


Autumn brings Earth


o the harvest dance,


her amber locks tossing


under a hat of wind.


Her olive-skinned fields


flowing into silk-stocking streams,


and wildflower tulle twisting


over twirling heels.


An indigo sash circling


her sunset neck,


and her star-flashed eyes


daring Winter to cut in.


(Copyright 2009, Dave Powell)


If one simply told readers what the poem is saying, it'd be a bit of a yawn:


""It's autumn... yellow leaves toss in the breeze... fields are green...streams flow...wildflowers twist in the wind...it's sunset... stars appear in the evening sky...and winter is near."


But a poetic picture that shows the same thing using the animated image of Earth as a dancer helps readers savor the raw facts, internalize them, and perhaps even enjoy their delivery. All of these aid in remembering, which is key to successful training.


""Show, Don't Tell" also applies to user documentation.


When I arrived at SyberWorks a few years ago, the existing Web Author User Manual described the software's features and controls, but said little about how to use them to actually build online courses.


So I wrote a completely new manual that shows users-step-by-step-how to create online training from Word files through Web Author.


And our internal customer-support people started to use the new manual to train both new customers and themselves.


Some companies have stretched this "showing" idea as far as it can go...through something called "docs without words." Hewlett-Packard and IBM were among the first to create picture-book manuals that were mostly show with little tell.


I'm not sure that this would work in my SyberWorks software manuals. But I am noodling ways to use the idea to shorten them (and maybe even to inspire more users to crack 'em open).


And "Show, Don't Tell" applies just as well to e-Learning.


As you prepare to create any new training, first outline the raw facts you want students to learn. And instead of simply telling them those facts on course pages, think of interesting, creative ways to demonstrate what you want students to internalize...perhaps even (as in poetry) using as few words as possible. Active Images, Flash movies, and animated Web Demonstrations are all wonderful tools for doing this.


But you're the course developers...You can think of more!


Need some inspiration to get your creative juices flowing? Just microwave some popcorn, curl up in front of your favorite PC, free your mind, and watch some of the thousands of educational videos on YouTube and iTunes. Heck, if it would help, you might even try writing poetry.