Writing Clearly

Writing Clearly

Help PMs write clear, concise prose for PM artifacts. Applies principles of plain language, structure, and scannability to make communications effective and easy to act on.

When to Use

• Writing or editing a PRD
• Drafting status updates or stakeholder comms
• Composing Slack posts or emails
• Creating documentation or runbooks
• When asked "help me make this clearer" or "tighten this up"

Process / Template

1. Identify the Artifact and Audience

• What are you writing? (PRD, update, post, doc)
• Who will read it? (engineers, leadership, customers)
• What do they need to do? (decide, build, understand, act)

2. Apply Clear Writing Principles

Lead with the main point

• Put the conclusion or ask first
• Don't bury the lead in the last paragraph

Use plain language

• Prefer short words over long (use vs. utilize, help vs. facilitate)
• Prefer active voice (we will ship vs. it will be shipped)
• Cut jargon unless the audience expects it

Be specific

• Use numbers, dates, names instead of "soon," "many," "several"
• Replace vague terms with concrete ones

Structure for scannability

• Use headers, bullets, and short paragraphs
• One idea per paragraph
• Front-load key info in each sentence

Cut ruthlessly

• Remove filler (e.g., "in order to" → "to")
• Remove redundancy
• If a sentence doesn't add value, cut it

3. Use the Right Format

| Artifact | Key Moves | |----------|-----------| | PRD | Clear problem statement, explicit requirements, scannable sections | | Status update | TL;DR first, bullets, metrics, explicit asks | | Slack/email | Short paragraphs, one ask per message | | Doc/runbook | Step-by-step, headers, examples |

4. Edit in Passes

• Pass 1 — Structure: does the order make sense?
• Pass 2 — Clarity: can a reader understand it in one pass?
• Pass 3 — Brevity: what can be cut?

5. Validate

• Can the reader answer: What? Why? What do I do?
• Would a busy executive get it in 2 minutes?
• Are there ambiguous pronouns or missing context?

Output

Clear, concise prose that:

• Communicates the intended message
• Is easy to scan and act on
• Respects the reader's time
• Fits the format (PRD, Slack, email, doc)

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: hardiktiwari
• Source: hardiktiwari/PM-operating-OS
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.