1. INTRODUCTION TO TECHNICAL WRITING
Prelim - IT PRESENTATION

2. The Nature of Technical Writing

3. What is Technical Writing?
…writing about a technical topic
knowledge that is not widespread
topic that falls under the field of Science and Engineering
… delivery of technical information to readers

4. What is Technical Writing?
…method of communication which treats of subjects falling within the general field of engineering and science
…conveys specific information about a technical subject to a specific audience for a specific purpose

5. “End-Products” of Technical Writing
Technical Report
Business Letters
Articles for Technical Journals
Handbooks
Memoranda

6. Characteristics of Technical Writing
Follows format
Clear, Accurate and Concise
Comprehensive and Complete
Coherence and Unity
Authority and Dignity

7. Characteristics of Technical Writing
Control and Reader – pointedness
Veracity and tact
Ethicality

8. Technical Report

9. What is Technical Report?
a document designed to fulfill a need to tell and a need to know by communicating a set of ideas from a writer’s mind to a reader’s mind.
…provides useful information

10. A technical report is: Functional Informative Factual Efficient
Adheres to a preconceived design

11. Characteristics of a Technical Report
Graphics
Factual detail
Information sources
Documentation
Realistic audience and situation:

12. Characteristics of a Technical Report
Special Format
Production
Length
Technical content

13. Technical Report Checklist
Do you include all the required components in the required order?
Do you address your report to a real or realistic audience that has a genuine need for your report?
Does your report accomplish its purpose?

14. Technical Report Checklist
Does your report contain specific, factual detail focused on the purpose of the report and the needs of the audience and aimed at their level of understanding?
Does your report use information sources and do you properly document them?

15. Technical Report Checklist
Does your report use graphics and tables?
Does every new section (which starts with a first-level heading) start on a new page?
Does the introduction of your report include the elements necessary in good introductions, such as audience, overview, purpose?

16. Types of Technical Reports

17. Technical-Background Report
Typical Audience: Individual or Group in need of the information and is willing to pay
Typical Purpose: to inform

18. Instructions and User Manuals
Typical Audience: End-users, Clients
Typical Purpose: to inform

19. Feasibility, Recommendation, and Evaluation Reports
Definitions
Feasibility Report
Recommendation Report
Evaluation/Assessment Report
Typical Audience: Decision makers, organization heads
Typical Purpose: to inform, to convince

20. Primary Research Report
Typical Audience: Instructors, Teachers, Professors
Typical Purpose: to inform
Examples: Lab Reports, Experiment Reports

21. Technical Specification
Describe a new product design in terms of construction, materials, functions, features, and operations
Typical Audience: End-users, Clients
Typical Purpose: to inform, to convince

22. Business Prospectus
Describes the proposed business, explores the marketplace and competition, project revenues, and operation and output of the business
Typical Audience: Potential Investors
Typical Purpose: to inform, to convince

23. STEPS IN WRITING TECHNICAL REPORT

24. PLANNING Identify the real subject Pinpoint your purpose
Aim at an audience
Prepare a target statement
Plan a program

25. COLLECTING INFORMATION
Notes taken on books and journals
Questionnaire
Interview
Research

26. DESIGNING OUTLINING … major … secondary THE BASIC PATTERN
IDENTIFYING THE REPORT FORMAT

27. ROUGH DRAFTING
… how ideas work together
… writer’s model

28. REVISING … grammatical errors … spelling mistakes
… faults of punctuations

29. Five Principles of Good Technical Writing

30. Principle 1: Technical writing is audience-centered.
Know your audience.
What do they need?
Why do they need the information?
Assume your audience is intelligent, but uninformed.
Write from the viewpoint of your audience.

31. Principle 2: Technical writing has an objective.
Ask “Why am I writing?”
Ask “What am I trying to achieve?”
Every element of the report should contribute to the purpose.

32. Principle 3: Use Language that is simple, concrete, and familiar
Simple words vs. complex words
The concrete vs. the abstract
Familiar words vs. technical jargon

33. Simple Words vs. Complex Words
Simple Complex
show indicate
start initiate
spread proliferate

34. Familiar words vs. Technical Jargon
Jargon or Technical words refer to words or specific language of a particular occupation or group.
Examples:
Accounting Medicine Engineering
ledger ligation plate
debit appendectomy slide rule
credit hydraulic pressure T-square

35. Avoid Acronyms and Abbreviations
CRA
DPI
DTP
PMS SC
UGD
Meaning
Camera-ready Artwork
Dots Per Inch
Desktop Publishing
Paint Matching System
Spot Color
User Guide Documentation

36. Principle 4: First tell the reader what you’re going to tell him, then tell him, then tell him what you’ve told him.
Introduction
The Body
Summary and Conclusion

37. Principle 5: Technical writing is presentational.
Graphics are used to support text.
Proper layout and format are observed.
Consistency is evident.
Finished product is neatly packaged.

38. Developing Style in Technical Writing

39. What is Style? … the way in which things are done
… choice of words in a sentence
… arrangement of sentences in a paragraph
… grouping of paragraphs in a composition

40. Technical Writing Style
…choice of words
… arrangement of sentences in a
paragraph
… ability to adapt to reader’s
knowledge and language proficiency

41. The Word

42. Abstract vs. Concrete
Abstract words are words that do not appeal imaginatively to the reader’s senses.
… love, fear, anger, hunger,
emotions

43. Abstract vs. Concrete
Concrete words stimulate some kind of sensory response in the reader.
… tree, building, candy bar,
rain, ice cube

44. Abstract vs. Concrete
Abstract "Telling" Even a large male gorilla, unaccustomed to tourists, is frightened by people.   
Concrete "Showing" "A four-hundred-pound male [gorilla], unaccustomed to tourists, will bolt into the forest, trailing a stream of diarrhea, at the mere sight of a person."

45. General vs. Specific Words
“The dog jumped on top of the
car.”
“The Saint Bernard jumped on
top of the red crosswind.”

46. General     
heavy precipitation during the period
excessive heat
select the appropriate key
Specific
  four inches of rain in 48 hours
120 degrees Fahrenheit
press Alt-B

47. Picture is worth a thousand words.
… you can paint pictures in your reader’s mind.
The old man walked to the beach.
When I watched Paul Newman, I got excited.
He was ugly.
His face was covered with warts, and when he smiled he revealed a mouthful of broken, yellow teeth.

48. Right Words, not the Almost-Right
"The difference between the almost-right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning."
—Mark Twain

49. … specific verbs
… specific nouns
avoid the use of adverbs and adjectives.
"very" is a word to avoid
“I was very happy.”
“I was overjoyed.”
“I was very scared.”
“I was terrified.”