Chapter 8. Organizing Your Information © 2004 by Bedford/St. Martin's1 Three Principles to Keep in Mind as You Organize Your Information: Analyze your audience and purpose. Use conventional patterns of organization. Display your organizational pattern prominently in the document.

Chapter 8. Organizing Your Information © 2004 by Bedford/St. Martin's2 Displaying your arrangement prominently involves three main steps: Creating a detailed table of contents. Using headings liberally. Using topic sentences at the beginnings of your paragraphs.

Chapter 8. Organizing Your Information © 2004 by Bedford/St. Martin's3 Study Documents Written by People from the Culture You Are Addressing Does the text follow expected organizational patterns? Do the introductions and conclusions present the kind of information you would expect? Does the text use headings? If so, does it use more than one level?

Chapter 8. Organizing Your Information © 2004 by Bedford/St. Martin's4 Guidelines for Organizing Anderson, Technical Communication A Reader-Centered Approach, Fifth Edition  Begin by announcing your topic.  Present generalizations before details.  Top-down vs. bottom-up  Exception: when the generalization is likely to provoke a negative reaction.  Move from most important to least important.  Reveal your organization.  Forecasting statements  Transitions  Headings  Visual arrangement  Use conventional strategies.  Consider your readers’ cultural background.

Chapter 8. Organizing Your Information © 2004 by Bedford/St. Martin's5 Top-down vs. bottom-up processing  The procedure is actually quite simple. First you arrange things into different groups. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities, that is the next step; otherwise you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. In the short run this may not seem important but complications can easily arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. At first the whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another facet of life…. After the procedure is completed, one arranges the materials into different groups again. Then they can be put into their appropriate places. Eventually they will be used once more and the whole cycle will then have to be repeated. However, that is part of life.

Chapter 8. Organizing Your Information © 2004 by Bedford/St. Martin's6 When Organizing Information From More Important to Less Important: Explain why one point is more important than another. Consider using graphics to complement the text.