Which one is best?
Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 1:22 am
I'm at the point of attempting to figure out which “voice” to use for converting Steve's Authority of Scripture Lectures into text. In the lecture Steve sometimes uses a “we” voice and sometimes uses a “you” voice. I think there are advantages and disadvantages to all of these styles, but, whichever I eventually settle on, I think it would be best to use a consistent voice throughout.
I picked a non-theological topic in hopes of avoiding criticism of content. I'm just looking for style advice here.
Which do you guys like better?
Original transcript
The only reason to learn words that you don’t know is because it promotes an economy of effort in communication. If you know a concept and you can express it using a paragraph of words, well that’s fine. But if you know one word that conveys that whole paragraph of information, and your listener knows that word too, you can simply use that word and you don’t have to use the whole paragraph every time you want to talk about it. That’s the value of vocabulary. You can find, often, a word that, in itself, its definition is a paragraph long. But if everyone knows the word, you don’t have to read the whole definition of it every time you want to communicate the thought.
Colloquial “you”
A good vocabulary promotes an economy of effort in communication. That's the reason for learning new words. If you understand a concept and you can express it using a paragraph of words, that’s okay, but if you can discover a single word that conveys the same idea, and if your audience knows that word too, you can just use that word. You don’t have to use the whole paragraph every time. Often you can find just such a word. That’s the value of vocabulary. If everyone knows the word, you can use it to communicate better.
Colloquial “we”
A good vocabulary promotes an economy of effort in communication. That's the reason for learning new words. If we understand a concept and can express it using a paragraph of words, that’s okay, but if we can discover a single word that conveys the same idea, and if our audience knows that word too, we can just use that word. We don’t have to use the whole paragraph every time. Often we can find just such a word. That’s the value of vocabulary. If everyone knows the word, we can use it to better communicate.
More Formal
A good vocabulary promotes an economy of effort in communication. That's the reason for learning new words. If a concept can be expressed using a paragraph of words, that’s fine, but if a single world that conveys the same idea can be discovered, and if the audience knows that word, it's better to simply use that word. It's no longer necessary to use the whole paragraph. Often just such a word can be found. That’s the value of vocabulary. If everyone knows the word, it can be used to communicate more efficiently.
Most Formal
A good vocabulary promotes an economy of effort in communication. That is the reason for learning new words. If a concept can be expressed using a paragraph of words, yet a single word can be discovered that conveys the same idea, and if the audience knows that word, it is preferable to simply use it. It is no longer necessary to use the whole paragraph to convey the idea. Often just such a word can be discovered. That is the value of vocabulary. If everyone knows the word, its use facilitates communication.
Altogether better way that I haven't thought of
<you fill this one in>
I picked a non-theological topic in hopes of avoiding criticism of content. I'm just looking for style advice here.
Which do you guys like better?
Original transcript
The only reason to learn words that you don’t know is because it promotes an economy of effort in communication. If you know a concept and you can express it using a paragraph of words, well that’s fine. But if you know one word that conveys that whole paragraph of information, and your listener knows that word too, you can simply use that word and you don’t have to use the whole paragraph every time you want to talk about it. That’s the value of vocabulary. You can find, often, a word that, in itself, its definition is a paragraph long. But if everyone knows the word, you don’t have to read the whole definition of it every time you want to communicate the thought.
Colloquial “you”
A good vocabulary promotes an economy of effort in communication. That's the reason for learning new words. If you understand a concept and you can express it using a paragraph of words, that’s okay, but if you can discover a single word that conveys the same idea, and if your audience knows that word too, you can just use that word. You don’t have to use the whole paragraph every time. Often you can find just such a word. That’s the value of vocabulary. If everyone knows the word, you can use it to communicate better.
Colloquial “we”
A good vocabulary promotes an economy of effort in communication. That's the reason for learning new words. If we understand a concept and can express it using a paragraph of words, that’s okay, but if we can discover a single word that conveys the same idea, and if our audience knows that word too, we can just use that word. We don’t have to use the whole paragraph every time. Often we can find just such a word. That’s the value of vocabulary. If everyone knows the word, we can use it to better communicate.
More Formal
A good vocabulary promotes an economy of effort in communication. That's the reason for learning new words. If a concept can be expressed using a paragraph of words, that’s fine, but if a single world that conveys the same idea can be discovered, and if the audience knows that word, it's better to simply use that word. It's no longer necessary to use the whole paragraph. Often just such a word can be found. That’s the value of vocabulary. If everyone knows the word, it can be used to communicate more efficiently.
Most Formal
A good vocabulary promotes an economy of effort in communication. That is the reason for learning new words. If a concept can be expressed using a paragraph of words, yet a single word can be discovered that conveys the same idea, and if the audience knows that word, it is preferable to simply use it. It is no longer necessary to use the whole paragraph to convey the idea. Often just such a word can be discovered. That is the value of vocabulary. If everyone knows the word, its use facilitates communication.
Altogether better way that I haven't thought of
<you fill this one in>
