Reality check: There is no such thing as “foolproof” instructions. Some fool will always manage to reinterpret even the clearest directions.

The trick is to eliminate as many ways to go wrong as you possibly can.

It’s no use complaining that people don’t read carefully enough, or that there are too many fools in the world. They don’t, and there are. Deal with it.

Anyway, they may not be such fools after all.

• Maybe they’re busy people who are trying to accomplish something in five minutes between meetings.
• Maybe the baby is crying while they’re trying to figure out what you’re trying to get them to do.
• Maybe they have dyslexia, or English isn’t their first language.

It’s in your best interest to make it as easy as possible for people with limited ability – for whatever reason – to follow your instructions. After all, you do want them to complete the application, use the  tool, donate, volunteer, or whatever.

If they can’t, you are the one who will pay the price – in time spent answering questions, hounding people, revising their paperwork, and so on. In the worst-case scenario, you’ll lose donations, registrations, sales, or volunteers.

Making your instructions as airtight as possible is more than worth the time you spend. Here’s how.

1. Tell them exactly what you want them to do – and when.
Tell them up front, in one sentence: “Apply for this program by September 23.” You can give the details later.

2. Tell them WIIFM: What’s in it for me?
As I’ve said before (more than once), communication is about what the audience needs, not what the communicator needs. Readers need to know what they will gain – or what loss they will avoid – by following your directions.

3. Put both what and WIIFM up front, if possible.
An e-mail subject line, print headline, or memo header is the perfect way to start:

• Build your career by applying for our certification program.
• Donate now to support the programs you love. (I’m channeling public radio here.)
• Verify your dependents’ eligibility, or they will be dropped from your healthcare plan. (This one is too long for a headline, but it makes a good first line of text.)

4. What trumps WIIFM.
If you can’t get both “what you should do” and “what you’ll gain if you do it” into the first sentence, go with “what you should do.” True, people may not do what you want them to if they don’t understand why they should do it. However, if they don’t understand what to do, they are guaranteed not to do it.

5. Leave out or recast what’s in it for us.
Unless you can turn an advantage for the organization into an advantage for the reader, leave it out. “Donate now to support the programs you love” is a good example of recasting.

6. List the steps.
Numbered lists are great at helping readers track what to do in what order. For complicated instructions that run to half a page or more, use several numbered lists, with a heading and an introductory sentence for each one.

7. Place any explanation after the action step.
Long, complicated sets of instructions may need explanations. Knowing why steps come in a certain order helps people remember them. However, you should write the step first, and then write the reason for it.

8. Be succinct.
Use short words and short sentences. Give readers exactly as much information as they need in order to do what you want – and not one word more.

9. Use subjects and verbs.
Say who needs to do what. Avoid saying what should be done – that is, don’t use the passive voice. Write “Apply for this program by September 23,” not “Program applications must be submitted by September 23.”

What would you add? Do you have any great examples of mangled instructions that are impossible to follow?