Reading Response

We seem to be making progress after this week. Our team has come up with a detailed plan on what the white paper will look like as well as delegated sections to each of the team members. All sections have been assigned with the exception of the executive summary, which we will write together once the main part of the paper is completed. E-mail has been the best way to get a hold of each other, although I feel that my group may be frustrated with my lack of connectivity, which is inconsistent.

I was unaware on how to write a white paper until I read these sample articles. They really helped me learned how to write white papers. They obviously need to have very good structure. They have a title page, an executive summary, and introduction, a body, a conclusion, references, and appendices. In ME 263 they taught us that the executive summary should be a one-page version of your entire project. It is more than just an introduction or a conclusion, it basically states all of the necessary and important information into one page.

White papers are documents used primarily to educate and inform the reader about an intended subject. They inform a reader without persuading or adding biases, and traditionally, white papers are not marketing tools used to persuade the reader, although white papers are constantly punctuated with biases and opinions of the writers.

White papers are a low-cost way for companies to promote their products and gain an advantage on their competition. They provide unbiased information to any individual within the company. A white paper developed for a professional business should always educate prospects before they talk to a salesperson, generate new leads, reach a wide audience, and most importantly…educate employees. With all that being said, writing a white paper may seem intimidating and challenging, but there a few key points to remember. Always consider your readers when writing.

Based on the information I have read about white papers, I would say that a white paper should be designed and created in a process similar to the following.

Another reading assignment full of help and guidance in writing our next project. I especially liked the last article, WhyWhitePapersDontWork.pdf. This article was simple, and to the point, just how I like it. It is especially helpful to know that writing the paper in a comprehensive manner and avoiding all the nerdy tech talk can make or break the paper. I will definitely refer back to the readings when writing the paper.

From the assigned readings for the week and doing some extra research on my own, I have learned several more things about white papers than what I had already known. An overall definition of a white paper would be that it is a document geared for the professional audience that provides and states information on a specific topic. The white paper should have no bias and should appear to be purely informative.

Before I started this course I had never heard of a white paper. After reading the articles and sample papers I have a better understanding of what a white paper is and what it is used for. White papers are usually written by a company or organization and present information on a particular subject. They should present the information in an unbiased tone and without extra "fluff".

For a while now, I have still been a little unclear as to how exactly a white paper is supposed to be written. After reading these sample white papers, I have a much better idea of what they should look like, and the type of information that should be included. From this, I have come up with a list of some important things to note when writing a white paper.

After reading these articles it was apparent to me that there is an endless amount of information on the subject of writing a white paper. I find that the more I read, the more intrigued I get by the idea of writing a white paper for an organization that could have a profound impact. I found the article titled “why you’re white papers don’t work” was extremely influential because it details what types of issues the writers should avid at all costs. For me personally, this is an awesome portrayal of what I probably would end up doing.