Do present documents in the first or third person?

I

Icarus

Registered User
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174
I always try and keep them in the third person, "ABC Window Breakers ltd have an established reputation for skillfully breaking windows of all sizes," as oppossed to "We have an established reputation for...." At the moment I'm writing a particularly long document as an introduction to a big new client and the temptation is there to slip into the first person sometimes just to break the repitition. I'd be interested to hear how others feel about this.
 
ClubMan would recommend picking one one style and sticking to it. I think anything else would look amateurish.
 
NorfBank said:
If you can't say anything useful...!
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He gave his personal opinion and made a point of giving an example of it. I'd consider that a useful post.

Fully agree with CMs opinion on it. It makes a document horrible to read if it jumps from 1st to 3rd and back again.
If you really wish/need to break it up a little I've frequently come across the use of quotes to go from 3rd to 1st, but even that can fragment it a little too much depending on the type of document (it also may not be relevant to include quotes in some/most documents).
 
If you had to pick one for the type of document outlined above, which would you prefer? I normally prefer the third person but it gets difficult over a long document and I'm wonderng if having it in the first person makes it more immediate and honest, although it is perhaps too personal sounding for an important document.
 
Third person would be the more standard way to go.

But, IMHO, depends on the type of document and what you wish to get across.
Icarus said:
At the moment I'm writing a particularly long document as an introduction to a big new client
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Is this a perspective client or just new to the company? Do you want to put across a professional feel or would making it more personal be advantageous (develop the client relationship)?
 

It's a prospective client, and a large, institutionalized, old fashioned one at that.
 
Then I would definatly error on the side of safety and go with 3rd person (and be sure to check the document to ensure consistancy throughout the whole thing).

They aren't looking for a document to be "fun" or "interesting". They want to make sure they get a supplier/company that will do the job they want at a standard beyond reproach. (As a first introduction to the company this document should be of a similiar standard to the work you intend on doing for them, so trebel check it for any/all errors)

You can still be (slightly) creative with how you word it to avoid starting every other line with "ABC Windows.... ", but I would avoid the I's and We's.
 
Satanta said:
You can still be (slightly) creative with how you word it to avoid starting every other line with "ABC Windows.... ", but I would avoid the I's and We's.
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I agree. You should write a first draft using 1st and 3rd person so that you can get all your points down. The second draft should be to get the structure correct (paragraphs, links into the next point etc). The third draft should be to put everything into the third person.
 
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