Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.1
Technical Communication: Process and Product
6th Edition
Steven M. Gerson
Sharon J. Gerson
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.2
Chapter 3: The Goals of Technical Communication
This chapter discusses the following:
• Clarity• Conciseness• Accuracy• Organization• Ethics
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.3
Clarity
To achieve clarity:
• Provide Specific Detail
• Answer the Reporters’ Questions
• Use Easily Understandable Words
• Use Verbs in the Active Voice Versus the Passive Voice
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.4
Clarity—Provide Specific Detail
BAD:
“Put enough air in your tires.”
(How much air is “enough”?)
GOOD:
“Fill your tires to 32 pounds per square inch.”
Specific detail
Vague word
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.5
Clarity—Answer Reporter’s Questions
Reporter’s Questions = who, what, when, where, why, and how
BAD:“We bought a new machine to solve the problem.”
• Who is “we”? • What is the “new machine”? • When was the purchase made? • Where was the machine located? • Why was the purchase made—what was the problem? • How much did the machine cost?
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.6
Clarity—Answer Reporter’s Questions (cont.)
GOOD:“The marketing department bought anew AABco laser printer ($595) on June 10 for our production room.This printer will produce double-side,color copies unlike our prior printer. ”
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.7
Clarity—Use Easily Understandable Words
BAD:
“We are cognizant of your
need for issuance of citations
pursuant to code 18-B1 CPR
violations.”
NOTE:
Write to express, not to impress! Use words that
are easy to understand.
NOTE:
Write to express, not to impress! Use words that
are easy to understand.
Define abbreviations like “CPR.”
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.8
Clarity—Use Easily Understandable Words (cont.)
GOOD:
“We know you need to send citations because of code 18-B1 Continuing Property Record violations. ”
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.9
Clarity—Use Verbs in the Active Voice vs. the Passive Voice
Avoid Passive Voice:
“It has been determined
that the machine was
broken by John.”
Use Active Voice:
“John broke the
machine. ”
NOTE:
Active voice sentences are less wordy and
more direct than passive voice constructions.
NOTE:
Active voice sentences are less wordy and
more direct than passive voice constructions.
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.10
Practice
• Use the end-of-chapter activities to practice writing clearly.
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.11
Conciseness
To achieve conciseness:
• Write to “fit the box”• Limit paragraph
length• Limit sentence length• Limit word length
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.12
Conciseness—Write to “fit the box”
• Technical communication often “fits in a box.”– An automobile’s user manual must fit in the glove
compartment.– Instructions for baking brownies must fit on the
back of the brownie box.• Due to technological advancements, the box
is shrinking. Consider the monitor size of: – Cell phones– PDAs – E-mail screens– PowerPoint slides
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.13
Conciseness—Write to “fit the box” (cont.)
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.14
Conciseness—Write to “fit the box” (cont.)
The size of this e-mail box limits the size of your correspondence.
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.15
Conciseness—Write to “fit the box” (cont.)
Boxes within boxes within boxes
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.16
Conciseness—Limit Paragraph Length
• To write concisely, limit paragraph length to approximately:– 4-6 lines of text– 50 words per paragraph
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.17
Conciseness—Limit Paragraph Length (cont.)
BAD
Please prepare to supply a readout of your findings and recommendations to the officer of the Southwest Groupat the completion of your study period. As we discussed,the undertaking of this project implies no currently knownincidences of impropriety in the Southwest Group, nor isit designed to find any. Rather, it is to assure ourselves of sufficient caution, control, and impartiality when dealing with an area laden with such potentialvulnerability. I am confident that we will be better served as a company as a result of this effort.
NOTE:Long
paragraphs are hard to
read.
NOTE:Long
paragraphs are hard to
read.
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.18
Conciseness—Limit Paragraph Length (cont.)
BETTERPlease prepare to supply a readout of your findings and recommendations to the officer of the Southwest Groupat the completion of your study period.
As we discussed, the undertaking of this project implies no currently known incidences of impropriety in the Southwest Group, nor is it designed to find any. Rather, it is to assure ourselves of sufficient caution, control, and impartiality when dealing with an area laden with such potential vulnerability.
I am confident that we will be better served as a company as a result of this effort.
NOTE:Shorter paragraphs are easier to read.
Spacing gives readers a chance to stop, breathe, and digest the information.
These paragraphs are still hard to read, due to the sentence and word length.
NOTE:Shorter paragraphs are easier to read.
Spacing gives readers a chance to stop, breathe, and digest the information.
These paragraphs are still hard to read, due to the sentence and word length.
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.19
Conciseness—Limit Sentence Length
• To write concisely, limit sentence length to:– 10-15 words (average)
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.20
Conciseness—Limit Word Length
• To write concisely, limit word length to:– 1-2 syllables (average)
NOTE:All words cannot be 1-2 syllables! You cannot shorten words like “telecommunications,” “engineer,” “accountant,” or “trinitrolulene” (TNT).
Change the words you can; leave other words alone.
NOTE:All words cannot be 1-2 syllables! You cannot shorten words like “telecommunications,” “engineer,” “accountant,” or “trinitrolulene” (TNT).
Change the words you can; leave other words alone.
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.21
Conciseness—Limiting Word and Sentence Length (cont.)
BAD
“During the month of July, I
made a decision to positively
impact my writing inabilities
by having a meeting with an instructional
advisor.”
NOTE:This sentence is 23 words long, and it uses five words over two syllables (underlined).
NOTE:This sentence is 23 words long, and it uses five words over two syllables (underlined).
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.22
Conciseness—Limiting Word and Sentence Length (cont.)
GOOD
“In July, I decided to improve
my writing by meeting with a
teacher.”NOTE:
This sentence is 13 words long, and it uses one word over two syllables (underlined).
NOTE:This sentence is 13 words long, and it uses one word over two syllables (underlined).
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.23
Practice
• Use the end-of-chapter activities to practice writing concisely.
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.24
Accuracy
• Errors in your writing make you look unprofessional.
• Proofread to catch and correct errors.
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.25
Organization
• Use appropriate organizational modes to help readers understand your content:– Spatial (good for technical specifications)– Chronological (good for instructions)– Importance (good for focusing your reader’s
attention on the key ideas in any type of writing)
– Comparison/Contrast (good for showing alternatives in any type of writing)
– Problem/Solution (good for proposals)
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.26
Practice
• Use the end-of-chapter activities to practice different organizational modes.
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.27
Ethics
• Post Enron, IMclone, and Adelphia, ethics in communication have never been more important.
• Effective technical communication must focus on:– Legalities– Practicalities– Ethicalities
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.28
Ethics (cont.)
• Follow the Society for Technical Communication’s (STC) six guidelines for writing ethically, as follows:
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.29
Ethics (cont.)
1. Use language and visuals with precision. (Clarity)
2. Prefer simple, direct expressions of ideas. (Conciseness)
3. Satisfy the audience’s need for information, not your own need for self expression. (Clarity and Conciseness)
Gerson: Technical Communication, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.30
Ethics (cont.)
4. Hold yourself responsible for how well the audience understands the message. (Clarity)
5. Respect the work of colleagues. (Focusing on Confidentiality, Courtesy, and Copyright laws)
6. Strive continually to improve your professional competence. Promote a climate that encourages the exercise of professional judgment.
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