Introduction to technical communication
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Room: DO 210
Module Name: Technical Writing
Course code:I3762VW
Introduction to technical communication
What is technical communication· · ·
▶ When you hear the term “technical communication” What comes to your
mind?
Introduction to technical communication
What is technical communication 1
▶ scientific reports,
▶ specifications,
▶ instructions,
▶ software documentation, or
▶ technical manuals. And you are correct.
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Introduction to technical communication
What is technical communication 2
▶ Technical communication is so much more than that.
▶ Technical Writing is a genre of non-fiction writing that encompasses not
only technical materials such as manuals, instructions, specifications,
and software documentation, but it also includes writing produced in
day-to-day business operations such as correspondence, proposals,
internal communications, media releases, and many kinds of reports.
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What is technical communication 3
▶ It includes the communication of specialized technical information,
whether relating to
▶ computers and scientific instruments, or
▶ the intricacies (a quality of being complex or elaborately detailed) of
meditation.
▶ And because oral and visual presentations are such an important part of
professional life, technical communication also encompasses these as
well.
▶ We might define technical communication, then, as using various modes
(oral, written, visual) of communication to manage technical information
to analyze a problem, find and evaluate evidence, and draw conclusions
in a way that allows people to take action.
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What is technical communication?
▶ The audience includes technical readers, managerial readers, or even,
at times, general readers.
▶ The purpose is to inform, instruct, describe, explain, or otherwise
document scientific or industrial processes and mechanisms.
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What is technical communication?
▶ When you produce technical communication you use the four basic
communication skills
▶ listening
▶ speaking
▶ reading, and
▶ writing
▶ to analyze a problem,
▶ find and evaluate evidence, and
▶ draw conclusions.
▶ These are the same skills and processes you use when you write in
college, and the principles you have studied in your earlier writing
courses apply to technical communication.
▶ The biggest difference between technical communication and the other
kinds of writing you have done is that technical communication has a
somewhat different focus on audience and purpose.
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What is technical communication?
▶ In most of your previous academic writing,
▶ your audience has been your instructor,
▶ your purpose has been to show your instructor that you have
mastered some body of information or skill.
▶ you have not tried to create new knowledge or
▶ motivate the reader to take a particular action— except to give you
an “A” for that assignment.
▶ By contrast, in technical communication
▶ your audience will likely include peers and supervisors in your
company
▶ as well as people outside your company
▶ Your purpose will likely be to reinforce or
▶ change their attitudes toward the subject you are writing about,
▶ to motivate them to take particular actions, or
▶ to help them carry out their own work-related tasks.
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7
What is technical communication?
▶ Example, suppose you are a public-health scientist
▶ You and your colleagues just completed a study showing that, for
most adults, moderate exercise provides as much health benefit as
strenuous (requiring or using great effort) exercise.
▶ After participating in numerous meetings with your colleagues and after
drafting, critiquing, and revising many drafts, you produce four different
documents:
▶ a journal article for other scientists
▶ a press release to distribute to popular print and online publications
▶ a blog post and podcast for your agency’s website
In each of these documents, you present the key information in a different
way to meet the needs of a particular audience.
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Producing Technical Communication 8
▶ The Challenges of Producing Technical Communication
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Producing Technical Communication 9
Most people in the working world don’t look forward to producing technical
communication. Why? Because it’s hard to do.
▶ Example, your supervisor has finally approved your request to buy a
scanning-electron microscope (SEM) for your department and given you
a budget for buying it.
▶ It would be nice if all you had to do now was list the important
features you need in an SEM,
▶ read a couple of articles about SEMs, check off the ones that have
those features, and then
▶ buy the best one that fits your budget.
▶ Unfortunately, life is not that simple, and neither is technical
communication.
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Producing Technical Communication (TC) 10
▶ TC is challenging, and not because SEMs are complex devices.
▶ TC is challenging because people are complicated, and collaborating
with people is at the heart of the process.
▶ As soon as you have decided you need an SEM that can detect signals
for secondary electrons, for instance, someone on your team argues
▶ you also need to detect signals for back-scattered electrons and
characteristic X-rays.
▶ Another disagrees, arguing that an SEM that detects those
additional signals costs an additional N$ 15, 000, putting it beyond
your budget, and that on those rare occasions when you need
those functions you can send the samples out for analysis.
▶ Another asks if you’re aware that, next year, SEM
manufacturers are expected to release products with
improved signal-detection functions.
▶ The team might want to wait until those new models are released.
▶ You realize that with the complications your colleagues have
presented, you won’t be purchasing an SEM any time soon.
▶ You do more research, keeping their concerns in mind..
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Producing Technical Communication (TC) 11
No matter what document you produce or contribute to, you need to begin by
▶ Audience-related factors.
▶ Does your audience know enough about your subject to understand a
detailed discussion, or do you need to limit the scope, the amount of
technical detail, or the type of graphics you use?
▶ Does your audience already have certain attitudes or expectations about
your subject that you wish to reinforce or change?
▶ Will the ways in which your audience uses your document, or the
physical environment in which they use it, affect how you write?
▶ Does your audience speak English well, or should you present the
information in several languages?
▶ Does your audience share your cultural assumptions about such matters
as the need to spell out details or how to organize the document, or
▶ do you need to adjust your writing style to match a different set of
assumptions?
▶ Does your audience include people with disabilities (of vision, hearing,
movement, or cognitive ability) who have needs you want to meet?
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Producing Technical Communication (TC) 12
▶ Purpose-related factors.
▶ Determine your purpose: what do you want your audience to know or
believe or do after having read your document?
▶ Although much technical communication is intended to help people
perform tasks, such as installing a portable hard drive for a computer,
many organizations large and small devote significant communication
resources to branding: creating an image that helps customers
distinguish the company from competitors.
▶ Most companies now employ community specialists to coordinate the
organization’s day-to-day online presence and its social-media
campaigns.
▶ These specialists publicize new products and initiatives and respond to
new developments and incidents.
▶ They also oversee all of the organization’s documents—from tweets to
blog posts to Facebook fan pages and company-sponsored discussion
boards.
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Producing Technical Communication (TC) 13
▶ Document-related factors. Does your budget limit the number of
people you can enlist to help you or limit the size or shape of the
document?
▶ Does your schedule limit how much information you can include in the
document?
▶ Does your subject dictate what kind of document (such as a report or a
blog post) you choose to write?
▶ Does the application call for a particular writing style or level of
formality? (For the sake of convenience,
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Characteristics of a Technical Document14
▶ Characteristics of a Technical Document
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Producing Technical Communication (TC) 15
▶ It addresses particular readers.
1) Know the readers, what they understand about the subject,
2) how well they speak English, & how they will use the document will
help you decide what kind of document to write,
3) how to structure it, how much detail to include, & what sentence style
and vocabulary to use
▶ It helps readers solve problems.
1) might produce a video that explains to company’s employees how to
select their employee benefits,or
2) a document spelling out the company’s policy on using social media
in the workplace.
▶ It reflects the organization’s goals and culture.
Example: 1) UNAM oversees Engineering programs submits an annual
report to the state in an effort to secure continued funding,
2) Submit a lot of technical information to the public in an effort to
educate its audience.
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Producing Technical Communication (TC) 16
▶ It is produced collaboratively. 1) No one person has all the
information, skills,
2) or time to create a large document.
3)You will work with subject-matter experts—the various technical
professionals—to create a better document
▶ It uses design to increase readability. 1) use design features—such
as typography, spacing, and color to make a document attractive so that
it creates a positive impression.
▶ It consists of words or images or both. 1) Images—both static and
moving can make a document more interesting and appealing to
readers and
2) help the writer communicate and reinforce difficult concepts,
2) communicate instructions and descriptions of objects and processes,
3) communicate large amounts of quantifiable data, and 4)
communicate with nonnative speakers.
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