TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS Blay Whitby 2005 blayw@sussex.ac.uk

Technical Communication Skills By the end of the course You should be able to write a technical report which meets the requirements of commercial or academic organizations. You should be able to give a short presentation on technical subjects. 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

What is Technical Communication? A vital set of skills Required in every technical career Useful elsewhere A career opportunity 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

What is Technical Communication? Because these are skills: They can always be improved There are many approaches Practice is required 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

Technical Communication Skills Purpose To communicate technical information from one person (or group of persons) to another person (or group) 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

Technical Communication Skills Desirable Features Clarity Concision Freedom from Ambiguity 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

Technical Communication Skills The main trick Structure Structure can: Facilitate the writing process Make life easier for the reader 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

Technical Communication Skills The Guiding Principle Know Your Audience Different audiences have completely different requirements You are writing (or presenting) for the audience, not for yourself 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

Technical Communication Skills Suggested Structure Suggested Structure for Technical Reports N.B. This can and should be varied to meet differing needs See Turk and Kirkman (1989) Ch.'s 4, 5. Layout and Numbering of Sections There are several conventions:- The Decimal System Numbers/ Roman Numerals/ Letters The HMSO System 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

Technical Communication Skills The Decimal System 1. Abstract 2. Introduction 3. Recommendations 4. Main Text 4.1 The Design Process 4.2 Features of the Software Package 4.3 The Test Process 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

Technical Communication Skills The Decimal System 5. Conclusions 6. Appendices 6.1  Main Procedures 6.2  Code Versions 6.3  Code Libraries 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

Suggested Report Structure Title and Sub-Title This needs to be short, informative and interesting These features are rarely, if ever, compatible. 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

Technical Communication Skills Sub-titles Sub-titles facilitate the shortening of titles (within limits) consider: The Mind's I The Mind's I, Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul Effective Writing Effective Writing: Improving Scientific Business and Technical Communication 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

Abstract & Introduction Abstract (or Summary) A condensed version of the report or paper, usually in no more than 200 words. DO THIS LAST The reader (or audience) should be able to pick up the basic themes from this alone. Introduction Lead the reader in. What was the purpose or aim? Why should s/he read on? 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

Technical Communication Skills Recommendations These are not normally required, but could be very important in business or government. If you write a report including recommendations make sure they are Given pride of place. Short and to the point. Adequately justified in the main text of your report. 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

Technical Communication Skills The Main Text Choose a more interesting title ! This is usually the easiest part of the report to write. It is better to divide the text into short sections - these should be appropriate for the topic. The overall length of the main text can be adjusted by moving non-essential material to appendices. The Main Text should be readable. Assume most readers are going to read it all. This may not always be the case, but it is for reports made here. 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

Technical Communication Skills Conclusions These should follow logically from the main text. People will notice if you assert something that has not been demonstrated. There is no need for extensive repetition. Be honest! 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

Technical Communication Skills References An important aim of references is to let a researcher pursue the topic. (However, see also the University regulations on plagiarism) Conventions vary, so be sure to check Whatever convention you adopt the main rule is: Be consistent! The main convention in scientific and technical writing is known as the Author-date system 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

The Author-Date System In the text you might write something like: ....As several researchers (Brown 1986, Smith et al. 1990) have shown.....or:- Brown (1986) has demonstrated that.... In the references section you give (in alphabetical order) a full reference to each of the works that you have cited in the text Author, I. (DATE), TITLE, Publisher, Place. 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

Technical Communication Skills Example References For example: Susskind, R. (1987), Expert Systems in Law, Clarendon Press, Oxford. Two works by the same author, same year? Susskind, R. (1987a) Susskind, R. (1987b) Some titles may be shortened, some places are obvious. BE CONSISTENT 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

References to Web Sites An important new information source to which you will probably need to make references in the future. It is too new for there to be an established convention, but the same principles apply: Could an interested reader use your references to follow up or check your claims?? 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

References to Web Sites Since sites and pages appear and disappear very quickly it is probably best to give the URL and the date you visited eg: www.cs.bham.ac.uk/ dmp/Pages/jumpstation.html (up on 7.10.97) If other conventions emerge, over the next few years then please adopt them. Above all : BE CONSISTENT 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

Technical Communication Skills Bibliography A bibliography may not be required in industry or government. Usually is required in academic world. Follow exactly the same conventions as for references 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills

Technical Communication Skills Appendices These are the usual place for code and listings. Not an unstructured dump for code and stuff you don't know what else to do with. Each appendix should be required by some point in the main text. Version Numbers? Can someone just type in the code and run it? 5/5/2019 Technical Communication Skills