TLAs revisited

Posted by Jon on 9 April, 2007 under Processes & best practice, Word play & writing | 1 Comment

My recent post regarding the use of abbreviations sparked an interesting email debate with a friend, so I thought I’d return to the same topic.

One tip I picked up from BJ earlier in the year was the method for introducing an abbreviation the first time it appears in your document. Logically, if the assumption is that all readers will all already understand the abbreviation, you put the shortened version first – e.g.:

FSA (Financial Services Authority)

…whereas if you think they might not all be familiar with the term, then the abbreviation comes second:

Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Clear explanation is essential, though. I used the phrase “TCO” with a telecoms marketing team last autumn. They weren’t sure whether I meant the US government’s Telecommunications Office, or someone holding the post of Telecommunications Co-ordination Officer. As my personal background was in IT purchasing, I’d thought everyone knew about “Total Cost of Ownership.”

That said, I guess context is everything. Evaluating proposals for a major IT hardware programme not long ago, I was grateful to one supplier for reminding me in their Executive Summary that that “PC” meant “Personal Computer”! That takes the document to the opposite extreme – patronising the reader: not a good place to be.

Glossaries also need careful consideration. Placing a copious list of abbreviations at the start of your document can create a very negative impression in the customer’s mind (“wow, this is going to be a hard read”). Yet leaving it to the end of the book (actually my personal preference, if you include one at all) results in evaluators read the whole document before noticing that help is at hand. And if the customer physically divides their proposal, parcelling out different sections to the relevant experts for review, then your readers probably won’t have your glossary in their individual bundle of papers, wherever you’ve chosen to include it!

So that’s it!

Posted by BJ on 5 April, 2007 under Musings | Add your comment

A client recently shared the following with me and I offer it for your amusement.

Question -What’s the difference between a ‘quote’ and a ‘proposal?

Answer – “A proposal has a table of contents.”

As they say, “You can’t make this stuff up folks.”

More useful websites

Posted by Jon on 3 April, 2007 under Musings, Word play & writing | Add your comment

Another couple of websites that readers might find useful.

Nothing will ever persuade me to part with my Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, but two hardback volumes spanning nigh on 4,000 pages aren’t that easy to lug around when I’m travelling to client sites. Meanwhile, BJ writes (and occasionally speak) an often-entirely-different language. The two online dictionaries I resort to are therefore the Ask Oxford site for “English English” and Merriam-Webster online for US work. Other recommendations welcomed!

And here’s a money-saving idea. Many proposal teams submit their documents in PDF format – yet the relevant software products can prove expensive. However, although PDF is a proprietary format, Adobe do make it available to other vendors. CutePDF offer a free download that will let you create simple PDF files; they make their money from a “professional” version to which you can upgrade if you need more bells and whistles.