Personally I have a pet

JeevesBond — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:09:01 +0000

Personally I have a pet peeve with introductions, every time someone says: 'Hi, I'm X and am here to talk to you about my really cheesy Web application!' It always reminds me of Troy McClure. That's probably a cultural thing though, I've noticed even news readers introduce themselves on US/Canadian TV, so many people are used to it.

But I do agree that the corporate way is lame too, worse than the Troy McClure approach. You can be personal without being chatty, professional without being faceless.

Overall: try to strike a balance, and adapt your style according to your audience.

Postscript: Abhi's advice on editing is good too.

I think the personal

Megan — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:24:27 +0000

I think the personal approach is usually better. Unless your target audience is more conservative for some reason.

Liam and I have this debate about how we should write articles on A Padded Cell. I prefer a more personal approach (Next, you do this, or you can easily ...) while he prefers to avoid the use of any personal pronouns.

I prefer the tone to be

Abhishek Reddy — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:51:25 +0000

I prefer the tone to be informal, conversational but flowing, but the editing to be formal and professional.

Most important is the sound editing. You may want to record narration in a second pass, so you get fewer interruptions, interjections and delays. I can't stand screencasts in which the narrator is constantly umm-ing and aah-ing or making annoying sounds that in passing conversation would be ignorable, but are amplified in recorded tracks.