In procedures, you will frequently give the same information again and again. For example, most procedures describe how to remove or install components or parts. When you decide on a specific wording for a work step, use the same wording each time that type of step occurs. The reader will recognize the wording and will quickly know what to do. Different words and wordings can cause confusion, and be a waste of time.

Example:

These two sentences each give the same instruction and each correctly obeys the rules of STE.

Lubricate the two bolts with a small quantity of oil.

Apply a small quantity of oil to the threads of the two bolts.

If you use these two sentences in different procedural steps to give the same instruction, you do not help the reader. Select one sentence or sentence style and then use it again and again when the context (and meaning) is the same.

Non-STE:

1. Put the housing (8) in its installation position on the main body (9).

2. Lubricate the two bolts (10) with oil.

3. Install the two bolts (10) in the body (9).

4. Torque-tighten the two bolts to 4 Nm.

5. Put the transducer (11) on the body assembly (9).

6. Apply a small quantity of oil to the threads of the four bolts (12).

7. Attach the transducer (11) to the body assembly (9) with the four bolts (12).

STE:

1. Put the housing (8) in its installation position on the body assembly (9).

2. Apply a small quantity of oil to the threads of the two bolts (10).

3. Install the two bolts (10) in the body assembly (9).

4. Torque each of the two bolts to 4 Nm.

5. Put the transducer (11) on the body assembly (9).

6. Apply a small quantity of oil to the threads of the four bolts (12).

7. Attach the transducer (11) to the body assembly (9) with the four bolts (12).

8: Torque each of the four bolts (12) to 0.8 Nm.

In the non-STE example, you can see that there are different wordings:

- Different terms are given for item (9) (“main body”, “body”, and “body assembly”)

- Different wordings are used for tightening the bolts (“torque” and “torque-tighten”)

- Different sentences are used for the lubrication steps (“lubricate the XX bolts” and “apply a small quantity of oil to the threads of the XX bolts.”)

In the STE version, each time the same component is mentioned, it has the same name, and the same context always has the same wording. This makes the text much clearer to read. The reader reads the work steps one at a time and does the applicable task. To recognize the content quickly and do each work step correctly, it is important that the wording is not always new and different.

In descriptive writing, the reader must understand the text as a whole. Thus, it is important to structure the text logically and use different words, sentence lengths, and sentence constructions. The text is then easier to read and to remember.