“Use this file, remove those slides, then save it in the usual place.” The instruction makes sense while someone points at a screen. It is much less helpful the next morning.
To turn verbal instructions into a written guide, name the starting materials, put actions in order, and show how to check the result. Resolve words such as “this,” “those,” and “usual” before asking another person to follow the guide.
This approach is for ordinary tasks such as preparing documents or presentation materials. Safety-critical procedures need the relevant expert review and controls.
Write the finish line and starting point first
Before numbering steps, answer two questions: what should the reader have at the end, and what must they have at the start?
“Prepare the slides” is too broad. “Place a checked PDF review copy of the workshop deck in the Review folder” names an output and a destination. The starting materials might include the original deck, folder access, and a list of slides to remove.
Ask for anything the demonstrator had ready before the walkthrough began. An already-open file or a preselected setting is easy to miss in spoken notes.
Example: from a spoken explanation to usable steps
This workshop-slide example is fictional.
“Start with the deck I marked for review. Make a copy. Take out the exercise-answer slides, export a PDF, and check the diagrams aren't clipped. Put it in the Review folder using our usual file name.”
Three details need confirmation: which deck, which slides, and what file name. Ask for those details and the folder location before calling the guide ready. The draft can show those questions explicitly.
Once the materials are identified, the procedure can read:
- Duplicate the identified workshop deck. Check that you are editing the copy, not the original.
- Remove the identified exercise-answer slides from the copy. Compare the slide list with the demonstrator's confirmation.
- Export the edited copy as a PDF. Open the exported file.
- Check the PDF. Confirm that the answer slides are absent and every diagram is readable. If a diagram is clipped, fix the copy, export again, and repeat this check.
- Give the PDF its confirmed file name and place it in the Review folder. Open it from that folder to confirm that the intended version is there.
If the naming rule is still unanswered, keep the final step pending. Do not substitute a plausible name just to complete the draft.
The explanation did not identify an application, so these steps do not invent menu names. If the reader needs exact export controls, confirm the application and version, then observe and document those controls.
Edit the explanation, not just the sentences
A speaker may correct an earlier instruction, describe an optional step, or mention last month's process. Keep the corrected action; place conditions next to the step they affect. Leave unrelated stories out.
Google's procedure-writing guidance recommends giving needed context before the steps and generally using one action per step. That is useful when a spoken sentence contains several operations.
For each draft step, check:
- Location: Can the reader find where to act?
- Action: Is it clear what to do and to which item?
- Result: Can the reader recognize success?
- Exception: What should happen if the expected result does not appear?
Keep a source reference in your working notes so you can return to a disputed instruction. Audio may recover a sentence but still leave “click here” unresolved; ask for the visual context.
Have someone follow the draft without your hints
Give a colleague the stated materials and the draft. Watch where they ask “which file?”, “where?”, or “is this right?” Add the missing information to the relevant step, then check that step again.
If you have to explain a hidden prerequisite, the document has not passed that check yet. Record who checked it, when, and in which application or setup. Keep unresolved instructions labelled as a draft.
A task assignment belongs elsewhere: “Taylor will prepare the PDF on Friday” says who and when, not how. Use a separate action item for that commitment.
Keep the guide findable after the walkthrough
Give it a task-based title, retain a link to the source notes, and name someone to update it when the process changes. A shared meeting knowledge base can connect the guide to the discussion that produced it.
The final test is practical: can the next reader start, complete the task, and recognize the correct result without needing the demonstrator beside them?
Edited by Recolx Editorial. Updated September 17, 2026.
