How does Workplace Affect What and How you Write Chapter 1

Reader Expectations As a student you would know what I would expect from an assignment. In workplace, you might or might not know. Your audience might be varied, individual or group and with different expectations. You will have to account for these differences in your document design.

Time & Budget Limitations You will have limited time to spend on a certain document or given assignment, much like in college. Time and budget limitations might affect your writing. As a professional, you will have to find out a systematic and effective strategy so that your writing output is of good quality.

Ethical Considerations You will have to be careful about the language or the information that you use as part of your writing. Example: How will you report the results of a new airbag design when the testing shows flawed design and re-designing the airbag would mean going back on the production cycle?

Collaborative Writing Planning a document with others. Writing as part of a team. Reviewing and revising documents. Each person is responsible for a particular section. One team member generally serves as a final editor. Team members write the document together – word by word.

What makes Technical Communication Effective? Addresses specific readers. Uses a clear, concise style. Uses a professional, accessible design. Includes accurate and complete information. Follows the conventions of grammar, punctuation, spelling, and usage.

Principle 1: Determine your purpose for writing What type of document are you writing? What is the purpose of the document?

Principle 2: Identify your readers? Who are your primary readers? Are there secondary readers? If so, who? Are your readers internal or external to the company? What do your readers know about the topic and its related field?

Principle 3: Determine your readers’ purpose, needs and preferences? What questions might your reader ask while reading your document? How and where will your readers use your document? What time constraints are your readers under? What style, format, design, and media do your readers prefer?

Principle 4: Analyze your readers’ attitudes? What are your readers’ attitudes toward the subject of your document? How will they react to your document? Why? Have your readers worked with you or your organization? Have the working relationships been positive or negative? What are your readers’ attitudes toward you and your organization?

Writing for Readers with Different Levels of Technical Expertise Divide the document into distinct sections so that readers can read only the sections that apply to them. Use devices that help readers find different information in the document. Put the definitions of technical words, explanations of technical information, and other technical details in footnotes, appendixes, or other special sections that readers can easily find. Direct the language and presentation of a single document for readers with the lowest level of technical expertise. This technique works especially well for instruction manuals. Write separate documents for each group of readers if you have the time and budget. Put the document online so you can compartmentalize it for readers with various levels of knowledge.

Brief Exercise Choose a small internet article of your choice. It might be a software or physical process manual, travel or company brochure, corporate website etc. Try and find out whether broadly speaking, the principles mentioned in the previous slides (that makes effective technical writing) has been complied with. We will complete a practice workshop in class.