Technical writing:

is an audience-centered means of communication that provides a reader with clear & easy access to info.

The technical writer and reader have a vis-à-vis relationship.

The writer identifies, respects, and addresses the importance of time in effective communication by providing
documents written in specific formats, using clear language.

In technical writing we don't use complex, hard language, we just write in a very clear, concise and simple language.

Formatting and Language: Formatting & appropriate language are the basic design elements of all technical documents.

A format of hierarchical structure & a coordinate structure of info leads the reader thorough text.

Using appropriate language is useful to know how the document relates to the reader’s needs, & what action is
expected of the reader.

A document may have one reader (the primary reader) or several readers (the secondary readers).

A primary reader: is the person who going to read the TW at the beginning or at the primary state. These readers read
the whole report.

Secondary readers: are those who will read only the specific part of the report or TW that relate to them, their jobs,
their departments, responsibilities, etc.

Academic writing V.S Technical writing:

The purpose of academic writer is to write an assignment, a story, a letter, etc. These works may or may not have a
reader.

Technical writing always has a definite purpose and will always have a reader.

Cultural Communication:

Technical writers need to be aware of the differences between the behaviour & the norms, beliefs & values of specific
cultural.

The unseen rules of a culture impact the acceptance of ideas, plans, & strategies.

Each culture operates according to its own rules.

The Cultural Iceberg illustrates patterns of world communication & showing indicators of: Institutional Culture (the
obvious behaviour of a culture), which can be clearly seen as the tip of the iceberg.

People Culture (the norms, beliefs and values of a culture), which cannot be seen & are the barriers to successful
communication.

Ethics: TW have to follow the ethics when writing reports.

They must use words that are reasonable, and avoid emotional words & phrases.

They must use logical references to support ideas and strategies, and avoid referencing non experts.
They must use accurate numbers to report data. Instead of reporting accurate info.

The many contexts of communicating technical information:

1. Technical Communication Can Take Many Forms: The most common & well known forms documents are memos &
emails, which are used in every type of business.

Technical communicators also create: instructions, graphs, charts, images, Videos

2. Technical Communication Serves a Practical Purpose: It is a real world activity It is employed in real world settings
for practical purposes. It is used for a myriad (ten thousand) of purposes.

3. Technical Communication Addresses Complex Audiences: Academic papers often addressed to a single individual or
a small group of peers with very similar experiences & expectations. Technical writing has practical & collaborative
nature.

4. Technical Communication is Collaborative: Technical communication documents require input or additional work
from several co-authors, depending on the complexity of document and the nature of the task with which it is dealing.

5. Technical Communication is Shaped by Conventions and Culture: A technical communicator’s style will change
depending on the social and organizational contexts that they are working within.

Basic assumptions and potential complications

Writing for Work and Writing for School, Education and Practicality, Relationships Between People, Teamwork,
Conventions and Culture, Your Company’s Style, Technology, Working in Teams, Use of Graphics (Tables, Charts,
Photographs, Graphs, Drawings, Symbols)

You have to be sensitive to the following language in a professional document:

Race and gender roles • Political accuracy • Generalizations • Cultural awareness • Religious symbols

Communication Constraints: Constraints are limits for documents set by the company or business.

Aspects that affect communication are: • Tone of voice • Use of abbreviations • Tables • Margins • Length of document.

Audience-Centered communication:

It is all about designing documents for clear & easy access to info. Provide your readers with clear & easy access to
needed info.

Types of Audiences:

Intended and Unintended Audience:

 Intended audiences are the people you are primarily writing to. It is the audience for which your document is
intended.

 Unintended audiences are those that come across your writing at any point in time. This includes any email,
memos or proposals produced in the course of business.

Complex Audience: In academic writing, there is a specific audience for most pieces of writing, such as an instructor,
teaching assistant, or a small group of peers.
Avoid using terminology that is too technical. This can become more difficult when writing for larger & more complex
audiences.

Specific Audience: When it comes to an employment document like a résumé or a cover letter there is nothing like “one
size fits all”.

Format

Info in reports needs a hierarchical structure.

The 1st heading is the title of the report.

After the 1st heading (Major Headings, Division of Major Headings, Sub Division of Major Headings, Sub-Sub Division of
Major Headings).

Every report doesn't need four headings.

Chunking & white space are used to make info more accessible.

Markers can be bullets, numbers, underlining, bold font, italics, etc.

Chunking creates small sections of info, surrounded by white space.

White space is empty space that separates sections of text.

When using bullets to mark several items, be sure to chunk items into groups.

Design Concepts: Here are ways that show a good design

 Good design helps readers understand your info.

 Good page design helps readers locate info quickly.

 Good design helps readers notice important content.

Design Elements of a Communication: Text, Headings and titles, Graphics, White space, Headers and footers, Physical
features.

Creating Graphics: Planning, Selecting, Designing, using color, integrating with the Text, addressing an International
Audience, Using Graphics Ethically

Language and Tone

Avoiding Confusing Terms: To communicate clearly, to provide easy access to information, and to show respect to the
reader, avoid the followings:

1. Avoid jargon: Technical jargon is used if the writer is communicating with readers.

2. Avoid double talk: Double talk is empty language.

3. Avoid sexist language: Sexist language is neither respectful nor politically correct.

4. Avoid biased language: use objective language.

5. Avoid a negative tone: Using words or phrases with negative connotations.

7. Avoid idioms: Idioms are words or phrases specify to a particular culture.

8. Be tactful: encourages readers to think the writer’s position or request. Use a collegial tone.

Legal issues: You have to be sensitive to the following language in a professional document: Race / gender roles, Political
correctness, Generalizations, Cultural awareness, Religious symbols

Communication Constraints: Constraints are limits for documents set by the company.

Aspects that affect communication are: Tone of voice, Use of abbreviations, Tables, Margins, Length of documents.

Style Constraints:

There should be no idioms in documents.

Don’t use “compound” sentences (and, or, nor, but, however, yet).

Don't be use Jokes.

Use parallel structure: Parallel structure fixed when words in a sentence are combined by consistent use of grammatical
forms.

How can awkward wording be corrected? Look for missing words or phrases. Look at word order after editing. Look for
misplaced modifiers. Look at subject-verb order.

Visuals: Are used to complement text in documents. Visuals are classified according to Tables or Figures.

Table is used to organize data in volumes and rows using numbers and words. Tables present a logical representation of
data. Tables are used to show comparison data.

Figures: explain all other types of data.

Figures include (pie charts, line graphs, bar graphs, layouts, photographs, drawings and photographs.)

Pie Charts: show parts that compare percentages of a whole.

Horizontal Bar Graphs: show comparisons of similar units.

Vertical Bar Graphs: explain timelines.

Line graphs: show the relationship between two or more variables.

Photographs: are representations of items.

Technical Report Writing:

Data Presentation: Most technical reports rely on figures & tables for the presentation of data, Use figures and tables
that add the value of your report.

Figures: The figures used in technical reports are 3 types: Graphs, Drawings, Photographs.

Tables: They are included in technical reports to present data in a highly deep form. When you use tables, make them as
brief and simple as possible.
 The value of Visual Instructions

They clarify a concept that is difficult to explain

They are used to show how something looks, how something is done or made

It shows trends or relationships

Add liveliness to the project or simply organize information.

They are useful in instructions because people can see what they need to complete.

Web sites

Written communication is an important part of technical writing. As a technical writer it is your responsibility to know
the accepted structure & format of different types of methods of written communication.

Website Design:

Goals: Before designing a website, set goals.

Some common website goals are: Sales, Marketing, Update info, generate leads, increasing sales, distribute info,
Expanding the audience, Connecting other businesses or other parts of the company, General communication.

Design Message: It is the image that organization wants to draw to the reader. This can also be called the brand. When
create the look of the website you must think logos, colours, fonts, and images.

Recognizing Your Audience: Knowing your audience will help you to make better decisions when it comes to deciding
which browsers to support and which new technologies to support.

Common site types: Academic and scientific sites, Consumer audience websites, A controlled environment, Gaming
websites.

Testing Your Site: Test your website on different browsers.

Content: Content is one of the most important reasons for creating a website in the first place. A website with no
content has no purpose. A website with no purpose is wasted space on the internet.

Creating a Home Page: This is the most visited page on your website.

Home page may not always have what your viewers are looking for.