• I love FAQs. They’re popular these days thanks to the Internet and they represent a good training vehicle if you have a complicated topic or comprehensive subject and you need to make sure people get a whole lot of material in a fairly painless package.

Plus the question-and-answer format goes back to the old Socratic method. Many people learn best when they participate in asking and/or answering questions.

From time to time, I am asked to write these for clients. Sometimes I am given some attempts made by the client to prepare the FAQs without benefit of writer. Most of the time, these documents are jerky and convoluted, redudant on clear points and evasive on complex points, and generally leave the reader not only as confused as when he started–but somewhat aggravated besides.

By the way–although FAQ stands for frequently asked questions–I sometimes am asked to write these for training programs, product launches, or employees before any questions get asked.

Let me share how to do killer FAQs. But I must warn you in advance–this, like much writerly work–is harder than it looks and could require you to turn off your cell phone for a few minutes.

1. I never saw an FAQ set yet that did not have at least one big hairy nasty question to answer. There is probably at least one (and maybe a dozen) truly difficult points that you are going to have to get across. Not only should you not avoid them, you want to get them out on the table right now. What are the big questions and tough answers that you are going to have to include?
2. What questions do you anticipate? If you’ve just done a product launh for your client, the FAQs are there to clean up open questions, unanswered points, or maybe even some difficult nuances of the launch. If you’re doing FAQs for a customer support base, you may have the benefit of a list of the most commonly asked questions. But whatever you do, anticipate the kind of questions that are going to come up.
3. Build your FAQ document like a how-to. Don’t just open with the question you want to do. Literally walk them through the procedure. It might start out with “What is all this talk about a new sales commission structure?” if your FAQs are going to address a new form of compensation for your sales team. If you’re writing FAQs about a new dialysis machine, then you could start, “What are the key elements in the launch of our new dialysis machine?” While some people write FAQs as isolated entities, I like to write mine like a full document. I expect people to actually read the whole thing (if I do it right). Now if you’re doing FAQs for tech support, that may not apply–but why not? Start that kind of FAQ with something like, “How am I going to find my answer in this stupid list of questions?” Now what reader wouldn’t immediately start reading the answer to that question!
4. The Q&A format is pretty intimate, so adjust your writing. Even if I’m writing for formal-type clients (you know, the kind that want their writing to be super-bland), I still recommend that the FAQs be written in the “voice in the reader’s head.” For example, “What is the significance of the new rotor switch?” is boring. “Why should I care about this new rotor switch?” is better. Answers should be in second person. “This new rotor switch is going to solve some of the overheating problems your unit might have experienced.”
5. When I was a kid, I had a toy that consisted of a barrel of plastic monkeys with big, outstretched, loopy arms. The game involved linking the little monkeys together by these arms into a chain. That’s how you build your FAQs–every new question must link directly to the previous question. The biggest mistake in amateur FAQs are random questions that come out of nowhere. (This is also why it’s very hard to revise FAQs. You can’t just toss in some new subject into the middle of the document. You have to build up to it, linking question to question.) Let me give you an example. Let’s say I am writing for a drug company that has to report a sudden spike in reporting of adverse events with a certain drug. The big question is naturally: “Why are there suddenly so many adverse events reported?” But I would never start there. I would warm up to the topic. I’d do questions like this: “What is an adverse event?” and “How are adverse events reported?” and then “Are there different ways for companies to report adverse events?” and then you’re primed for “Why are there suddenly so many adverse events reported?” Of course, you link thematically in the questions. The FAQs get super slick when the end of each answer almost naturally folds into the next question. For example: “What is an adverse event?” “An adverse event is a negative consequence from any cause that occurs during a clinical trial or other event that gets reported.” Then you have the word “reported” and you have a natural seque into “How are adverse events reported?” You answer and say, “They are reported by the patient or his family or observed by the physician or staff and logged into records which are then analyzed by the drug company. In order to analyze them, companies prepare reports which are studied by experts inside and outside of the company.” Then you’re set up for this: “Are there different ways to report adverse events?” It’s like a cascade of questons with very specific (almost word-specific) hooks from previous answer to next question.
6. Always, always, always give the reason why. It’s not just a matter of telling people what’s going on (that’s reporting) but it’s a matter of explaining openly what is actually occurring and why it is occurring. If you’re cutting sales commissions, be prepared to state why. Do this honestly. Now I’ve never written FAQs for companies or clients where the “reason why” was something illegal, unethical, or sinister. If a company is cutting sales commissions, there is probably a reason. Maybe the company is doing poorly and needs to trim commissions to stay in business. Maybe it’s bringing its commissions into alignment with the rest of the industry in an effort to stay competitive. Maybe it’s launching a new sales structure and sales reps are going mostly on salary. Whatever it is, you need to find out the reasons why and make them sound very compelling.
7. Anticipate the objections of the readers. You need to get inside the head of the reader and figure out what he is most likely to ask or take exception to. In the case of decreasing sales commission, the reader might very well ask: “Are the executives taking a salary cut, too?” You’re going to have to address that. Your answer might be, “No salaries are being changed except for sales rep salaries, which are being increased by a median 28% across the board.”
8. Figure out the factoids and their related questions that your reader is most likely not to ask or even wonder about … but which could make him feel better or understand things in a new way. You need to dig up facts, figures, statistics, information, background, and all of that stuff to put things in perspective. For instance, maybe the new drug your company is producing has a sudden spike in adverse events, but even at the highest point, those adverse events are no worse than the adverse events of other common drugs in that category that are widely used and considered safe. Structure a question to point that out. In the case of the FAQs about sale reps having their commissions slashed, you may need to put pen to paper. Is it possible that a savvy rep in this new structure would actually make more? Figure out salary changes, commission changes, even taxes or other points and see if you can build a case.
9. Use as much in the way of statistics, facts, numbers, and data as you possibly can. Avoid quotes and platitudes. While the FAQ structure is admittedly a bit soft (it’s a “what do I do?” “here’s what you do” type format), the content should be as hard as you can make it.
10. Spin a bit, if you have to. For instance, maybe the new drug is causing a lot of adverse events, but precautions are being exercised in the study, everything is under very tight scrutiny, and these adverse events are providing valuable information about the drug’s mechanism of action.

One thing that happens a lot with FAQs is that they get pretty long. To really and truly sit down with another person and walk them through a complex subject, responding fully and candidly to their questions and anticipating (and fielding) their objections is a lengthy process. When they’re done well, even long FAQs will be read by those interested in the subject.

Some things to avoid in writing your FAQs:

• Avoid redundancy. I’m a big fan of redundancy in training materials and brochures, but never in FAQs. If you covered it once, that’s it, move on.
• Don’t change subjects abruptly. Start at the beginning and then “lead” the reader through all of the points you want to cover.
• Don’t use abbreviations, jargon, or any confusing terms until you define them. It’s fine to use them then. For instance you might want to do FAQs for doctors about PAF but make sure you spell out you’re talking about “paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF)” first. Even well-known abbreviations or jargon can be misunderstood by experts.
• Don’t pull punches. When you have to answer a tough question, answer it. Answer it honestly and as thoroughly as you can but make sure you do it well, that is, that you defend “your side” of the issue.
• Avoid platitudes, sayings, sentimentality, quotations, or motivational speeches. They’re all useful but not in FAQs. (This rule does not apply if you’re writing FAQs about those things!)
• If your FAQs get revised, do not let them get produced until you, as writer, can re-work them. Most non-writers will just slam questions in any old place and destroy the nice flow of things you’ve created. That’s because most non-writers know something sounds good but don’t know why it’s good (90% of the time, it’s strucutre).  It can take hours to restore revised FAQs. Your clients should know that upfront.
• Do not outline your FAQs in advance. I’ve had people want me to write FAQs about an upcoming event (the outcome of which was unknown) and want to see an outline of the questions prior to the event. The natural flow of the content should dictate the structure of your FAQs.
• Avoid titles or headings in your FAQs. Good FAQs are like an interview or dialog with a person. You wouldn’t interrupt a conversation with a person to show some flashcards with titles like ”Intro/Hello,” “Small Talk about Family,” “Discussion of Serious Matter,” “Small Joke,” and “Goodbye/Vague Invitation to Future Lunch.”  That’s what headers in your FAQs do–they interrupt the conversational stream you’re trying to create with the jarring and harsh reality of the fact that you’re orchestrating, scripting, even manipulating the discussion! Granted, you are taking the lead in the conversation with FAQs, but you don’t need to remind the reader about that.

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