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Technical Writing

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Cut out extra words that are redundant. Language Use Tips. Distinguish facts from opinions ... Choose your words carefully. Avoid using words like 'always' and ' ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Technical Writing


1
Technical Writing
Part 1
The link for good workplace/professional
communication
2
  • Technical or Business writing is very
    different from Academic writing. Each has its
    unique purpose and format to follow.

3
Technical writing is done in the workplace and
centers around technical topics. Technical
writing has unique characteristics and has
specific audiences.
4
Why the Differences?
  • Time management
  • Variety of Readers
  • Reading for different reasons

5
Differences
Business leaders dont have the time in their day
to sift through many pages, searching for the
information they need to know and
6
Technical writing will have many different
readers, reading different parts of the work. -
a project manager, financial officer, CEO, and
supervisor might all read parts that pertain to
their jobs, then discuss as a team the merits of
the proposal.
Differences
7
  • This PowerPoint will
  • Explore the differences between academic and
    technical writing
  • Explain the components and style of technical
    writing

8
Technical vs. Academic Writing
9
Technical versus Academic
  • Knowledge
  • You are the expert
  • Knowledge
  • You are still a learner

10
Technical versus Academic
  • Audience
  • Technical background, professionals in the field
  • Audience
  • Wide range of academics and general audiences

11
Technical versus Academic
  • Criteria for Evaluation
  • Clear and simple organization,
  • Visually appealing and easy to follow.
  • Criteria for Evaluation
  • Depth, logic, clarity, unity and grammar

12
Technical versus Academic
  • Graphics, charts, and numbers are used very
    frequently to support conclusions
  • Graphics, charts, and numbers are sometimes used
    to help explain and demonstrate knowledge

13
Characteristics of Technical Writing
  • Clear, Concise and simply organized.
  • Repetitive in nature.
  • Highly defined structure/format.
  • Examples Lab reports, memos, business letters,
    technical reports, and proposals

14
Compare These Statements
  • Looking into
  • the azure blue sky
  • one could see the
  • golden orb of sun
  • slip gently beneath
  • the western sky.
  • The sun set in the west.

15
The left-side description of the sun setting is
an example of academic writing and the right-side
description is an example of technical writing.
16
Notice that the technical description is clear,
concise, and coherent. These three Cs are
trademarks of technical writing.
17
Assignment
  • Find an article out of a Popular Mechanics
    magazine. Compare the first two or three
    paragraphs of that article with a passage from
    one of your favorite novels using the following
    categories
  • Content, Organization, Layout, Intended Audience,
    Purpose, Tone.
  • You should notice a distinct difference in each
    of the categories, leading to how each is
    distinct in its clarity, coherence, and
    conciseness.

18
Style
19
Style in Technical Writing
  • Writers have unique characteristics.
  • Sentence structure, word length word choice, and
    word order these are choices we make without
    being conscious of it. These decisions shape the
    way we express ourselves
  • Style is personal choice, there is no right or
    wrong here

20
Tone- Expression of an underlying attitude that
can be
  • Casual
  • Objective
  • Persuasive
  • Enthusiastic
  • Serious
  • Authoritative
  • Friendly

Always present your material in a positive
light. Never let the negative be presented.
21
Clarity and Cohesion
The following tips lend themselves to better
clarity and cohesion in technical writing.
22
Sentence Tips
  • Place the main point at the beginning of the
    sentence
  • Dont make the
  • reader work to
  • find it.

23
Sentence Tips
  • Use one main clause in each sentence
  • more becomes
  • Confusing.

24
Sentence Tips
  • Examine your copy to make sure you vary the
    sentence length but aim for 15-20 words per
    sentence. If you use the same length sentences,
    the text becomes tedious to read

25
Conciseness Tips
  • Avoid the repeated use of pronouns, this confuses
    the reader. Only use a pronoun immediately
    following the noun it represents. Try to use
    specific nouns such as the persons name, or the
    specific piece of equipment, etc. In place of
    abstract nouns

26
Abstract Nouns
  • Assessment of-
  • Classification of-
  • Computation of-
  • Development of-
  • Elimination of-
  • Requirement of-

27
Conciseness TipsFocus on strong verbs!
  • Assess
  • Classify
  • Compute
  • Develop
  • Eliminate
  • Require

28
Conciseness Tips
  • Shorten wordy phrases
  • Replace long words with short ones
  • Leave out clichés
  • Cut out extra words that are redundant

29
Language Use Tips
  • Distinguish facts from opinions
  • Include supportive statements when necessary
  • Choose your words carefully
  • Avoid using words like always and neverthese
    box the writer in and create finality

30
Active Voice
  • Active voiceemphasizes the doer or the subject
  • Joe delivered the pizza within the specified
    time frame.
  • Active voice uses one verb delivered compared
    to passive voice which uses a form of the verb
    to be the verb---was delivered
  • Almost all technical writing should be done in
    the active voice, except lab reports.

31
Active Voice helps
  • Create less wordy sentences
  • Places emphasis on the subjecte.g. company or
    persons name

32
Passive Voice
  • Passive voiceemphasizes the recipient of the
    action
  • Verbs with the to be form
  • Emphasize the receiver of the action
  • Avoid repetitious use of I and names

Is it the roses or the receiver of the roses that
is important to the giver?
33
Examples of editing for conciseness
34
  • the passage of the levy was accomplished through
    long and hard negotiations, and door to door
    canvassing.
  • Revised
  • The levy pass through long and hard work.

35
  • Confirmation of the voting results occurred
    yesterday.
  • Revised
  • The voting results were confirmed yesterday.

36
Technical Writing
  • Provides clear communication in the workplace
  • Has unique formats and a specific style of
    writing
  • Creates clarity, conciseness and coherency in
    writing

37
Closure
  • Welcome to a new style of writing. Hopefully the
    handouts that accompany these Presentations will
    help you take your first steps to become a
    Technical Writer.
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