EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: DISPLAYING

DATA

Figures

Drawings
Photographs
Charts
Graphs

Tables
Tabular compilation of data
Computational results

Equations
1

THINK ABOUT

Relevance

Citation

Should you use figures/tables/graphs for every data you

collected?

How do you explain to the reader?

Formatting

How do you format?

KEY POINTS:
Use topic sentences
Include references before figures and tables
If displayed on more than one page, use continued
Make sure the figures/tables make sense on their
own
Caption for figures below the figure
Caption for tables above the table

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: USING

CALLOUTS
Callouts: Textual elements describing the illustration
and connecting the drawing to the text it illustrates
Place outside the object
Avoid rotated or reversed
type
Keep spacing between
callouts of a drawing
consistent
Left align most callouts
4

PUNCTUATION OF CALLOUTS
LabelsCapital letter
followed by lower-case letters

(same style for

Legends/Notes)

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING: EQUATIONS

Centre the equation
Place the equation number in () on the right margin
Refer to it using Equation (number)
Numbering

Main body: Consecutive numbering; use section

numbers
Appendix: Consecutive numbering; use appendix
numbers
Use hyphens and periods (1.1) or (1-1)

EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL WRITING:

CONSISTENCY

Create consistency while you write

Add it later
Create a style guide and use it for a quality check

SAMPLE STYLE GUIDE: IEEE

CREATING A STYLE SHEET

Do audience analysis

Language
Structure
Design
Style
Get peer reviews