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Hype just doesn't work for skeptical IT managers,
cynical journalists, or cautious analysts. Hype is especially inappropriate in a white paper,
where readers are looking for precise technical background and real-world business benefits.
If you give them hype, you can likely kiss your good name goodbye.
That's why I believe one of the top priorities for any white paper writer
must be to seek out and destroy hype.
But what is hype, and how do we recognize it?
Hype is short for "hyperbole." From the ancient Greek, this literally means
"excess" and "to throw over." Think "over the top" and you're on the right track.
Hype appears in many guises:
overblown claims
extravagant exaggerations
over-excited tone
excessive punctuation, à la Tom Wolfe!!!
As one of my colleagues says, "Nothing screams hype
like an exclamation mark!"
Here are some examples that should have your own personal
"hype detector" sounding a red alert:
▶ "Our best-selling network analyzer..."
from a company that only sells two different network analyzers.
▶ "A vast majority of IT managers prefer commercial software
over Open Source."
But where is the actual statistic, the survey methodology, and the name of the study's
sponsor? Could this research possibly be sponsored by some company that perceives
Open Source as a major competitive threat?
▶ "Now shipping! Our most comprehensive update ever!
Complete with 99 new and improved features!"
But does that number include the long-advertised features that for the first work properly
because you finally got around to fixing the bugs?
If hype is so unpersuasive, why is it so common?
I believe that most hype springs from two sources:
inexperience and arrogance.
Inexperience is perhaps excusable in a new writer
doing his or her first-ever white paper. An unseasoned writer will most likely ask
what an engineer or manager thinks and simply drop whatever they say into their document.
With no objective outsider to challenge any basic assumptions,
a white paper can get caught in an endless loop of self-referential logic.
This is where a seasoned editor can question these assumptions and find evidence to support them.
Arrogance is tougher to root out.
Many technology companies are driven by what the founders feel is a genuine
technical breakthrough. They may spend years proselytizing for their technology.
They naturally attract a team of people that parrot this belief.
For instance, Steve Jobs is notorious for his "Reality Distortion Field":
his total disregard for practical limitations or market forces as he pursues his latest
inspiration.
In the extreme, this can develop into a form of "groupthink" where everyone
assumes their technology is superior, with no need for any proof. This becomes an article of
faith and a badge of loyalty.
But simply stating that something is so does not make it so...
particularly for someone outside your company.
Making this point to your management or client may be painful.
But you owe it to them (and to yourself) to challenge any articles of faith and groupthink,
and be sure they don't find their way into your white paper.
What's the alternative to hype?
I believe that an effective white paper presents useful information
in a persuasive context based on:
concrete evidence
inarguable facts
impeccable figures
comments from recognized experts
stories from actual customers.
Your goal should be to think like a lawyer
and write like a journalist. Gather all the evidence you need
to make your case, then write so clearly that no one can
misunderstand what you're saying.
If you do that, no hype will survive for
long in your white paper.
Written by Gordon Graham, this article appeared in the Spring 2005 edition of the
WhitePaperSource Newsletter.
To repost this article on your Web site, please email a request to
Gordon@ThatWhitePaperGuy.com.
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