chapter 1

What Is Technical Communication? (1 of 2)

• Technical communication is the exchange of information that helps people interact with technology and solve complex problems.

• To interact with technology in so many ways, we need information that is not only technically accurate but also easy to understand and use.

What Is Technical Communication? (2 of 2)

• Technical communication serves various needs in various settings.

Typical Kinds of Technical Communication • Instructions for assembling a lawn mower

• User Manual for operating a piece of medical equipment • Report analyzing a problem or issue
• Memo answering questions about a project's progress
• Procedures for complying with government regulations

Technical Communication Is a Digital and a Human Activity

People make information meaningful by thinking critically and addressing such questions as:

• Which information is relevant to this situation? • Can I verify the accuracy of this source?
• What does this information mean?
• What action does it suggest?

• How does this information affect me or my colleagues?

• With whom should I share it?

• How might others interpret this information?
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Technical Communication Reaches a Global Audience

Electronically linked, our global community shares social, political, and financial interests.
To connect with all readers, technical documents need to reflect global and intercultural diversity.
Cultures differ over which behaviors seem appropriate for social interaction, business relationships, contract negotiation, and communication practices.
– An effective communication style in one culture may be offensive elsewhere.

Technical Communication Is Part of Most Careers

Whatever your job description, expect to be evaluated, at least in part, on your communication skills.
Most professionals serve as part-time technical communicators.
Technical communication skills—such as the ability to write and speak effectively, research information, work with teams, and be persuasive—are portable.

Technical Communicators Play Many Roles

Full-time technical communicators serve many roles, such as:

Producing newsletters, pamphlets, journals, and public relations material.
Preparing instructional material, reports, proposals, and scripts for industrial films.
Preparing sales literature, publicity releases, handbooks, catalogs, brochures, Web pages, intranet content, articles, speeches, and oral and multimedia presentations.

Main Features of Technical Communication

Technical communication is:

• Reader-centered
• Accessible and efficient
• Often produced by teams
• Delivered in paper and digital versions

Main Features of Technical Communication

• Reader-Centered:

– Focus on reader, not the writer.
– Reader-centered documents focus on what people need to learn, do, or decide.
– What readers expect.
• Accessible and Efficient:

– Make documents easy to navigate and understand.
– Instead of long technical passages, the content is presented in short chunks, answering the main question readers will ask.

Main Features of Technical Communication

• Accessible and Efficient:
– An accessible and efficient technical document includes following

elements:

§ worthwhile content—includes all (and only) the information readers need.
§ sensible organization—guides the reader and emphasizes important material.
§ readable style—promotes fluid reading and accurate understanding.
§ effective visuals—clarify concepts and relationships, and substitute for
words whenever possible
§ effective page design—provides heads, lists, type styles, white space, and other aids to navigation
§ supplements (abstract, appendix, glossary, linked pages, and so on)—allow readers to focus on the specific parts of a long document that are relevant to their purpose

Main Features of Technical Communication

• Often Produced by Teams:

– Prepare for teamwork.

– The teams might be situated at one site or location or distributed across different job sites, time zones, and countries.

• Delivered in Paper and Digital versions:

– Technical documents can be delivered in a variety of media such as print (hard copy), CDs, Web pages, PDF documents, ebooks, podcasts, and online videos.

Purposes of Technical Communication

Technical communication serves three purposes that sometimes overlap:

• To inform: Anticipate and answer your readers’ questions. • To instruct: Enable your readers to perform certain tasks. • To persuade: Motivate your readers.

Preparing Effective Technical Documents (1 of 2)

• The main question you must answer:“HowdoIpreparetheright document for this group of readers and this particular situation?”

• The four basic tasks of an effective technical communicatorare: – Deliver information readers canuse:

§ because different people in different situations have different information needs.

– Usepersuasivereasoning:
§ because people often disagree about what the information means and what

action should be taken.

– Weigh the ethical issues:
§ because unethical communication lacks credibility and could alienate readers.

– Practice good teamwork:
§ because working in teams is how roughly 90 percent of U.S. workers spend

some part of their day

Preparing Effective Technical Documents (2 of 2)

• This graphic illustrates the four tasks:

Summary

• The main point in this chapter is that

– All professional writing is done for specific readers in specific situations, to communicate information that readers will use.
– The writer’s purpose is to shape that information for the particular uses of a specific audience.
– In this sense, the notion of “user-friendliness” applies not only to computer hardware, software, and documentation but also to any document written for its readers’ instrumental use.