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Just updated: Make Better Documents, a quick guide I wrote up with some tips on how to make your professional documents more effective. It covers many of the most common errors I’ve seen (or that I’ve _done_) and some suggestions on how to address them. I hope it’s helpful, and feel free to share your tips on what else could be included. https://anildash.com/2024/03/10/make-better-documents/ (Thanks to @waldoj for pointing out one bonus item I’d missed!)
@anildash quasi-relatedly... is that sparkly seal wax?
@TheRealPomax @anildash I think they’re pigments but yeah it looked like wax to me
@anildash Thanks for posting - accurate and constructive. 
@anildash Presentation documents could likely be a whole separate article, but it took me some time to realize a) it’s not necessary to write every word I will say and b) it’s not necessary to say every word I wrote.
@anildash bring back alternating row colors on tables. they don't need to be extreme but they do save me from having to hold a ruler up to the screen to follow a row across
@anildash @waldoj
This reminded me of a presentation by Rosalind Gold at a SHARE conference years ago. It had a four-quadrant way to look at the person/people your communication was intended for, and then a four-quadrant way that you should modify your communication to suit them. I don't know where Ms. Gold is these days (the presentation was at least 10 if not 15 years ago) - but here's a link to a PDF I have containing that part of the presentation:
@anildash @waldoj Possible suggestion - when communicating quantities, include *both* magnitude and percentage and **always** include units. Bonus points for referencing similar values in YoY, QoQ, Trailing4Weeks, whatever format for context. Don't make the reader do math to figure out if some change is meaningful.
@anildash I wanted to refer someone to your "It's not a murder mystery" but your headings to have fragment identifiers.
@reagle ah thanks, i'll see if i can add them. you can use query-based fragments too https://www.anildash.com/2024/03/10/make-better-documents/#:~:text=It%27s%20not%20a%20murder%20mystery
@anildash oh, I thought they were a Google/Chrome exclusive, but they apparently work on Safari on my ipad. I’ll have to see if those are standard and widely supported now.
@anildash I admit skimming, but the one I wish a lot of people would learn is not using bold, italics, etc independently, and instead use the styles capability of their program.
Don't don't font 30, bold, italic, blue separately for a header - mark that text with the Heading 2 style. Then changing everything consistently is easy - just change the style and know that every occurrence has been changed for you.
I can dream, right?