Most of us have read documents where we get to the end and think, “Why am I reading this?” or “What is it that I’m supposed to do with this document?” I call this the “and” factor, as in “ And I’m supposed to do what/think what about this document?” In technical and scientific writing, this is crucial, as readers don’t want to spend a lot of time trying to figure out what they’re supposed to do with the document.

To ensure that our readers don’t have “and” moments, as writers we need to have a concrete goal in terms of what we want our reader to do with the document and what it is we’re trying to achieve. To put it simply, always focus on the action we want our readers to take, and make it evident right away in whatever you’re writing.