Technical Writing

Lecture 2
Unit One: What is Technical Writing?

• Definition & Importance of Technical Writing

• Characteristics and Constraints

• Good technical writing style

• Skills Needed for Technical Writing

Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

Good Technical Writing Style

• Style Requirements of Good Technical Writing:

• Use an accepted report format.

• Choose concise words.
• Be unbiased and maintain a neutral, objective tone.
• Construct clear sentences of mixed length.
• Develop a balanced flow of paragraphs with clear and concise
topic sentences.
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

• Avoid the use of unfamiliar technical words.

• Avoid acronyms (abbreviations). Many readers may not know
what they mean.
• Adopt a positive style of writing, and write in the active voice.
• Avoid rewordings and words with contemporary meanings
that are different from dictionary meanings.
• Write with credibility; avoid the use of superlatives like
superior, fastest, and so forth that are often just unsupported
exaggerations.
• Avoid conversational writing in technical reports.
• Use topic headings to help organize the flow of paragraphs.
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

Points to keep in mind when writing the introduction are the

following:
• Write to the reader with the least technical background, but
do not state that you are writing “down.” This insults the
reader.
• Put in enough history, but do not sacrifice concision. Cite
references when appropriate.
• An introduction should be written so it can stand by itself.
• State the scope of your work in the introduction.
• The purpose of an investigation report is simply to present its
results. It is adequate to state this.
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?
• The objective of a study is the same as the goal of the work. It
is the final outcome and value of the work.
• The objective of a report may be different than the objective
of the study. If it is, state this.
• • The purpose of the report may be different from the
purpose of the study. If it is, state it.
• Choose a title very carefully. It is the ultimate abstract of the
report.
• • Decide on distribution (readership) before writing anything.
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

• Informal reports need background, purpose, and objective.

Sometimes these can be put in one sentence.
• Always tell the reader what is coming in the report. State the
format at the end of the introduction.
• Purpose is the same as intention.
• The introduction and conclusions/recommendations may be
the only part of a report that is read by managers. Write with
this in mind.
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

The following are some comments on the body of a technical

report:
• If you use standard tests in a study, reference them by number
in the procedure section but still describe them.
• Make the procedure repeatable; ask a coworker or general
acquaintance if they could repeat this test. Find out if you
omitted key details.
• The body must include procedure, results, and discussion.
• A result is not a conclusion. It is a statement of the outcome of
a test, study, design, or experiment.
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

Never mix procedure with results or results with discussion.

• List all the parameters that could affect the results of your
work. Check that you state test conditions for all these
parameters in your procedure.
• Result sections contain only results—no interpretation. Just
present results in a form that makes interpretation easy.
Describe your results in words, too.
• Interpretation and explanation of results is done in the
discussion section of a report.
• If you are reporting on an investigation, the purpose of the
report is to present the results of the investigation and no more.
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

The discussion is the place to compare your results with the

work of others.
• Results usually require graphics to assist the reader.
• Try to avoid the presentation of data in tabular form only. In
some cases, readers appreciate data presented in both tabular
and graphical form.
• Keep the procedure and results sections free of opinions.
These belong in the discussion.
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

• Negative words
• A mistake is almost always undesirable. An “oversight” and an
“accident” are similar to a “mistake”; all imply a negative
connotation.
• Many English words almost always evoke negative reactions:
• Lazy Ignorant
• Loud Impolite
• Indolent Rude
• Fat Terse
• Shiftless Crazy
• Boisterous Dumb
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

Wordy phrase Concise replacement

And so as a result Hence

Day to day routine Routine

On the rise Growing

On the basis of Based on

Not withholding the fact that But

Is knowledgeable about Knows

It is evident that Clearly

It is important to note Note

Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

Big word Concise replacement

Facilitate Help

Contact Call

Attempt Try

Additionally Also

Congregate Gather

Significantly Greatly

Springtime Spring

Therefore So

Utilization Use
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

• Meaningless or very misleading words:

• outstanding • biggest
• ultimate • optimize
• maximize • cheapest
• farthest • robust
• highest • friendliest
• fastest • lowest
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

• Same-Sounding Word and Wrong Usage

• A significant number of English words have the same
pronunciation but very different meanings, such as:
• Two, to, and too • Coarse and course
• Principal and principle • Loose and lose
• Plane and plain • Their and there
• See and sea • Affect and effect
• Brake and break
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

• The following are examples of action verbs to use in

recommendations:
• improve • study
• expand • continue
• create • reduce
• develop • purchase
• close • design
• move • install
• build • delay
• enforce • adopt
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?
The following are some guidelines for omitting items that
should be left out of the report background:
• Never use personal names (in fact, never use personal names
in a report except in referring to listed references or in an
acknowledgment).
• Never whine (We have been asking for this repair for three
years, etc.); state only facts.
• Never blame a person for a problem.
• Never include anything that could in any way cause litigation
against you or your company (write as if your report is to be
published in a newspaper).
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

General Notes:

Mixed Person

I have been conducting these tests for many years, and we feel that the drum test is

most appropriate.

Person Agreement

I have been conducting these tests for many years, and I feel that the drum test is most

appropriate.
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

Mixed Tense

We completed the project, and we will dispose of the test samples.

Tense Agreement

We completed the project and disposed of the test samples.

Examples (P40-47)
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

• Why Is Your Audience Reading Your Document?

For each of your most important readers, consider why he or

she is reading your document. Some writers find it helpful to
classify readers into categories — such as primary, secondary . . .
each of which identifies a reader’s distance from the writer.
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

• How Will Your Readers Use Your Document?

• In thinking about how your reader will use your document,
consider the following three factors:
• 1. The way your reader will read your document. Will he or
she
• — file it?
• — skim it?
• — read only a portion of it?
• — study it carefully?
• — modify it and submit it to another reader?
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

• 2. Your reader’s reading skill. Consider whether you should be

writing at all, or whether it would be better to do an oral
presentation or use computer based training.

• 3. The physical environment in which your reader will read

your document. Often, technical documents are formatted in
a special way or constructed of special materials to improve
their effectiveness.
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

• Communicating Across Cultures

Our society and our workforce are becoming increasingly
diverse, both culturally and linguistically, and businesses are
exporting more and more goods and services. As a result,
technical communicators and technical professionals often
communicate with nonnative speakers of English in the United
States and abroad and with speakers of other languages who
read texts translated from English into their own languages.
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

• Understanding the Cultural Variables “on the Surface”

Communicating effectively with people from another culture
requires understanding a number of cultural variables that lie on
the surface. You need to know, first, what language or languages
to use. You also need to be aware of political, social, religious,
and economic factors that can affect how readers will interpret
your documents. Understanding these factors is not an exact
science, but it does require that you learn as much as you can
about the culture of those you are addressing.
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

• In International Technical Communication, Nancy L. Hoft

(1995) describes seven major categories of cultural variables
that lie on the surface:
• 1. Political.
• 2. Economic.
• 3. Social.
• 4. Religious.
• 5. Educational.
• 6. Technological.
• 7. Linguistic.
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

• Guidelines for writing for readers from other cultures

• The following eight suggestions will help you communicate
more effectively with multicultural readers.
• Limit your vocabulary. Every word should have only one
meaning, as called for in Simplified English and in other basic-
English languages.
• Keep sentences short. There is no magic number, but try for an
average length of no more than 20 words.
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

• Define abbreviations and acronyms in a glossary. Don’t

assume that your readers know what a GFI (ground fault
interrupter) is, because the abbreviation is derived from
English vocabulary and word order.
• • Avoid jargon unless you know your readers are familiar with
it.
• • Avoid idioms and slang. These terms are culture specific. If
you tell your Japanese readers that your company plans to put
on a “full-court press,” most likely they will be confused.
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

• Use the active voice whenever possible. The active voice is

easier for nonnative speakers of English to understand than
the passive voice.
• • Be careful with graphics. The garbage-can icon on the
Macintosh computer does not translate well, because garbage
cans have different shapes and can be made of different
materials in other countries.
• Be sure someone from the culture reviews your document.
Even if you have had help in planning the document, have it
reviewed before you publish and distribute it.
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

• Determining Your Purpose

Once you have identified and analyzed your audience, it is time

to examine your purpose. Ask yourself this: “What do I want this
document to accomplish?” When your readers have finished
reading what you have written, what do you want them to know
or believe? What do you want them to do? Your writing should
help your readers understand a concept, hold a particular belief,
or carry out a task.
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?

Communicating verbs Convincing verbs

authorize assess

define evaluate

describe forecast

explain propose

illustrate recommend

inform request

outline present
review summarize
Unit One
What is Technical Writing?
• This classification is not absolute. For example, review could in
some cases be a convincing verb rather than a communicating
verb: one writer’s review of a complicated situation might be
very different from another’s.
• Here are a few examples of how you can use these verbs to
clarify the purpose of your document (the verbs are
italicized).
• This wiki presents the draft of our policies on professional
use of social media within the organization.
• This letter authorizes the purchase of six new laptops for the
Jenkintown facility.
• This memo recommends that we revise the Web site as soon
as possible.
Thank You For Listening