WRITING TIPS FOR IT PROFESSIONALS Advice for Writing Paragraphs Include at least one paragraph between two

Place your most important point in the beginning of headings for an introduction or transition.
This cheat sheet offers guidelines for IT professionals
seeking to improve technical writing skills. the paragraph. Use the word processor's style management features
Split long paragraphs into several short ones for for consistent formatting of headings and other text.
General Recommendations easier reading and skimming. Craft captions that guide readers to the conclusions
Determine your writing objectives.
Avoid one-sentence paragraphs unless you want to you want them to reach about the chart or figure.
Understand what your readers want to see in your place spotlight on the paragraph. Place lengthy technical excerpts such as large code
text and how they want to see it.
Delete paragraphs that don’t significantly contribute fragments into an appendix.
Keep your message or document as short and simple to the flow or meaning of your text.
as possible to achieve the goals of both parties. Refer to every figure and appendix section from your
Make sure the sentences in the paragraph support main text.
Use terminology and tone appropriate for the the paragraph’s objective.
audience. Make sure the headers and footers include the right
Tips for Email Messages notices (copyright, confidential, page number, etc.).
Craft your text with the understanding that some
readers will merely skim it. Try to keep your message shorter than 3 paragraphs. Formatting Guidelines
Enable spelling and grammar-checking tools. Lead with the strongest statement to grab attention. Err on the side of simplicity when selecting a visual
Assume the recipient will read only the first 2 style for your document or message.
Don’t plagiarize. Err on the side of caution. When in
sentences. Use italics or boldface, not both, when emphasizing.
doubt, attribute anyway.
Use the Subject line to get your main point across. Know the difference between em dashes and
Carefully read your text before finalizing it.
Keep the message personally-relevant to the reader. hyphens, and use them accordingly.
Seek others’ feedback on the structure, look, words,
Don’t respond in the heat of the moment. Take time Avoid breaking short lists or paragraphs across pages.
and content of your writing.
to reflect. Insert a single space, not 2, between sentences.
Improve your writing skills through deliberate efforts.
Recognize that these tips are just guidelines. There Be specific about what action you’d like the reader to Keep font size and typeface consistent throughout
are always exceptions. take or which conclusion the reader should reach. your document.
Consider whether email is the best medium for your Avoid unnecessary capitalization.
Advice for Writing Sentences message.
Delete words whose absence doesn’t significantly Crop and size screenshots to ensure readability.
deter from the meaning of the sentence. Tips for Longer Reports Tips for Text Chats
Keep your sentences short. Use a consistent, generally-accepted style for Skip the period after your message if you want.
capitalizing words in a title.
Be consistent regarding the Oxford comma. Use emoticons to add non-verbal clues that might
Pick a title that’ll catch the reader’s attention while exist in a verbal chat.
Avoid passive voice, which often leads to ambiguity also setting their expectations.
and confusion. Avoid emoticons and abbreviations that the recipient
Create a strong executive summary that stands on its might not understand.
When feeling the need to use a semicolon, own even if the reader ignores the rest of the report.
parenthesis or an em dash, consider breaking the Watch out for the errors introduced by autocorrect.
thought into separate sentences. Split the report into multiple sections to logically
group and separate contents. Training to Improve Your Writing
Maintain structural and stylistic parallelism across Lenny Zeltser, the author of this cheat sheet, created
your headings and list elements. Strive for a simple structure, avoiding deep nesting of
headings and lists. a writing course for cybersecurity professionals,
Know the difference between such as and like and which you can take from SANS Institute.
use them accordingly.

Created by Lenny Zeltser, who’s been writing as an information technology and security consultant, product manager, author and instructor for many years. This cheat sheet, version 1.1, is released
under the Creative Commons v3 “Attribution” License. For additional information security and technology tips and cheat sheets, visit zeltser.com/cheat-sheets.