1. TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Blay Whitby 2005

2. 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.
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3. What is Technical Communication?
A vital set of skills
Required in every technical career
Useful elsewhere
A career opportunity
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4. What is Technical Communication?
Because these are skills:
They can always be improved
There are many approaches
Practice is required
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5. Technical Communication Skills
Purpose
To communicate technical information from one person (or group of persons) to another person (or group)
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6. Technical Communication Skills
Desirable Features
Clarity
Concision
Freedom from Ambiguity
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7. Technical Communication Skills
The main trick
Structure
Structure can:
Facilitate the writing process
Make life easier for the reader
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8. 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
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9. 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
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10. 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
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11. Technical Communication Skills
The Decimal System
5. Conclusions
6. Appendices
6.1  Main Procedures
6.2  Code Versions
6.3  Code Libraries
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12. Suggested Report Structure
Title and Sub-Title
This needs to be short, informative and interesting
These features are rarely, if ever, compatible.
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13. 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
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14. 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?
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15. 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.
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16. 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.
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17. 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!
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18. 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
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19. 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.
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20. 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
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21. 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??
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22. 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:
dmp/Pages/jumpstation.html (up on )
If other conventions emerge, over the next few years then please adopt them.
Above all : BE CONSISTENT
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23. 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
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24. 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?
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