Willem Popp
Readable technology writing
Who am I?
I am a native English speaker who has spent an entire career writing better technology documents.
I trained as a professional journalist, so learned the craft of storytelling in the simplest, most efficient way.
I also have a Master of Applied Science (Innovation and Service Management) and understand how technology is used in a modern business context.
I have applied this knowledge over the past 20 years working in a range of technology roles across the full software development lifecycle.
I am now bringing this experience and my unique skills to create better technology copy for Australian companies as a “technology wordsmith”.
My technology life
I was a senior IT manager with over 20 years of experience across a range of industries.
- I have been a business analyst, project manager, enterprise architect, service delivery manager and management consultant.
- My projects have spanned from strategy and requirements gathering to design and build, plus implementation and operational support.
- I have worked in small and large organisations in the private and public sectors.
I’ve come across every type of technology document, from business cases, through solution designs and test plans, to 100-page vendor contracts.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to fix the English in these documents to make them more readable, let alone understandable.
My writing pedigree
Before all this technology stuff, I worked as a professional journalist for 10 years. I did my journalism cadetship with The West Australian before cutting my teeth in the field on the Kalgoorlie Miner for two years.
This was followed by seven years in a variety of professional editing roles in south-east Asia (Vietnam Economic Review and Bangkok Post) and various newswires and trade publishers in London (National News, Press Association, United Business Media).
What I do
I re-write technology documents with a fresh set of eyes and an understanding of natural English writing honed over many years.
I make them as readable as possible by:
- Correcting spelling and grammar errors
- Replacing complex jargon with simple words everyone can understand
- Removing excess words
- Eliminating contradictions
- Explaining complex ideas
But above and beyond, I ensure the document tells the story it set out to do as simply and efficiently as possible.
My writing style
Plain English is best. I use common words as simply as I can to explain an idea. No flowery language – Shakespeare is for the stage.
- Remove excess words – people are time-poor; get to the point!
- No complex terminology (spell out acronyms, etc.).
- Every document is a narrative; it needs to tell a story.
- Have you brought your audience with you? How?
Companies I have worked for
News media I have written for
