After doing the readings for this week, it seems that the two most important things to keep in mind while writing white papers are the audience (as with every other type of writing) and context. Writing a good white paper depends on the audience you are writing for. While one version may be good for one audience, it may not be so good for other audiences, such as those less knowledgeable about the topic. All of the criteria for a good white paper listed in "The Steak Behind the Sizzle" relate back to the audience. The reader wants to know how the product or technology can help them, they do not just want to hear how great and perfect the product is. The technical content can also turn a reader off. The reader wants a white paper that does not skim over important details, but they also need to be able to understand the information that they are being presented. Lastly, as in the instructions project, readers do not want to be talked down to, it just makes them feel dumb.
The two main forms of white papers are business and government papers. Government white papers are primarily written to lay out policy or actions on a topic of concern. These white papers can be used as somewhat of a preview to new legislation and offer background information to legislators who will have to make a decision on the topic. Marketing white papers, on the other hand, are primarily used as sales tools. They are used to reveal the benefits of a particular technology or product. They can be used to generate sales leads, make a business case, or educate consumers. Since these white papers are usually written by the company that developed the technology or product, favorable information is often highlighted while less appealing information is left off. Although these sources say that lopsided information happens frequently in marketing white papers, I feel like it probably happens in government white papers as well. When one group wants to pass new legislation, they will need the support of others. To gain this support, they may draft a white paper that shows lopsided information that supports their cause, and doesn't really reflect the whole truth of the situation. These types of documents could also be used to convince the residents of a country to vote one way or another on certain laws or even for the president. It seems like while these documents have a large capacity for getting information out to people, it also has a large capacity for skewed so that the reader will see things from the writers point of view.
More than two
I definitely agree with what you are saying in regards to writing the white paper for the correct audience. More than once I have stumbled upon a white paper that I was obviously not the target audience. Sort of like jumping in the ocean and realizing that you have no idea how to swim.
I feel that the way the prompt for this response was worded was very misleading. In my opinion there are more than just a business white paper and a government white paper. There are one's written that talk about research, one's written for consumers, one's that are more technical, less technical, etc. Basically I think that white papers can be written on any subject for any audience (making sure that the topic is targeted at the right audience). I feel that there could be a technical white paper (talks about the research at CERN) and a marketing white paper (talks about a company's product).
I also agree with what you said about white papers having the capacity to be skewed. This is why it is important to not only be as objective as possible, but I think that writing as a team will help as well.
Andy
You point out a good point,
You point out a good point, “readers do not want to be talked down to, it just makes them feel dumb.” The challenge I see in this though, is that a reader may also feel dumb if the document they are reading is over their head. Thus, we are presented with a real challenge. How can we craft a document to enable any and every reader who may utilize it to feel comfortable in doing so? I wonder if white papers are like instruction sets and multiple forms are a possibility. As with our instruction sets we had Novice and Expert type documents, maybe this is an option with white papers.
Thanks!
JFlitt
www.JFlitt.com
Not TWO white papers!
I like this point you made, JFlitt. Readers do not want to be felt talked down to, but at the same time they don't want the reading to be over their head. I do believe something like the instructions set could be applied, with a novice and expert white paper. However, that seems a bit troublesome and more work than needed (especially now, we don't want to have to do TWO white papers). To offset this challenge, what if the information in the white paper is presented in both ways, having some facts for the novice readers and other facts that the experts could understand. You could give the more technicial facts first, and then back them up with more easy to understand facts.
Something for everyone
This is a very interesting comment. Maybe the answer is not writing two white papers, but including parts in your white paper for all of your audiences.
If your paper has a good, scanable structure, readers will skip the parts they don't need. An Executive will read the executive summary and maybe piece through the details. An engineer might read the technical details carefully. A concerned observer may just scan the body for the main ideas.
With a white paper it might be hard to control who reads which one. And it seems a little bit much to have "White paper: click here if you are an executive, here if you are an engineer, and here if you are just curious."
Audiences and context
I think the key here is, again, context. It seems like white papers are usually written for a pretty specific audience: a business executive, a sales representative, a government official, etc. While we might not be able to discern their level of competency on the particular subject, we will probably have a pretty clear idea of the attitudes and technical capacities of our target readers. Our white papers should reflect these traits of our audience. The notion of multiple white papers for multiple audiences might not be a bad idea (in industry of course, not for this class). For example, a research lab looking for funding could prepare a white paper for investors and venture capitalists, and a separate white paper for governmental officials to consider federal funding. The two documents would be very dissimilar, as the attitudes and values of an investor and an elected official are probably very contrasting.