Five Traits of

Technical Writing
BSE-ENGLISH 2-1
Objectives: To be able to
differentiate the five
traits of technical writing
To learn and understand
the importance of the
five traits of technical
writing
CLARITY
Clarity means making your content easy to
understand to avoid confusion and
misunderstanding.
•The most important criteria for effective technical writing.

•Technical writing must be clear and easy to understand.

•Unclear technical writing can be also dangerous.
 Write for clarity...
▪️Provide specific details
Examples
BAD: “Put enough air in your tires.”

GOOD: “Fill your tires to 32 pounds per square

inch.”
 Answers Reporter’s Questions
(who, what, when, where, why, and how)

Examples
BAD:
Examples
GOOD:
 Write for clarity...
▪️Use Easily Understandable words
Examples
BAD: “We are cognizant of your need for issuance of
citations pursuant to code 18-B1 CPR violations.
GOOD: “We know your need to send citations because
of code 18-B1 Continuing Property Record (CPB)
violations.
NOTE: WRITE TO EXPRESS
NOT TO IMPRESS
CONCISENESS
- Conciseness is defined as giving
information in a brief but
comprehensive manner.
- This trait of technical writing is often
neglected as people think their readers
will be impressed if big and flowery
words are used
 Remember K.I.S.S.
Keep it Short and Simple.
Tips on how to write concisely:
1. Avoid obvious statements
WORDY
Philippine telecommunication is
dominated by two leading
companies: SMART Communications
and Globe Telecom. These two
telecommunication companies are
threatened by the rise of fiber-optic
connections.
CONCISE
Philippine telecommunication is
dominated by SMART
Communications and Globe Telecom,
both are threatened by the rise of
fiber-optic services.
Tips on how to write concisely:
2. Avoid wordy phrases

WORDY
I would like to excuse myself for not
being able to attend your class today,
for the reason that my allergic
rhinitis is kicking in.
CONCISE
Please excuse me for being absent
today because my allergic rhinitis is
kicking in
Tips on how to write concisely:
3. Avoid unnecessary prepositional phrases

WORDY
The increase in the number of
students in the BSE-English program
at Pangasinan State University
suggests that the new students in
that program think it is good.
CONCISE
The increased enrollment in
Pangasinan State University’s BSE-
English program suggests that
Freshmen consider it good.
Tips on how to write concisely:
4. Avoid Fancy Words

WORDY CONCISE
The utilization of a database The use of a database program will
program will enhance our record- help us maintain our records.
maintenance capabilities
ACCESIBILITY
- Accessibility can be viewed as the
“ability to success”.
- Refers to the ability for users to
search, acquire, download, and
understand
complex communications.
Importance of Accessibility
The aim of effective documentation is to
be understood without difficulties:
accessibility is a key aspect in our
authoring process to create user-friendly
texts.
Guidelines to create more accessible texts:

1. Table and Images 2. Text

considered to be visual elements Screen readers cannot vocalize
but they are fundamental text inserted into images as part of
parts in the document structure. graphics itself.
Guidelines to create more accessible texts:

3. Alignment 4. Text and documents

Screen readers move across a file formatting
like a cursor or our eyes do: Formatting is both aesthetic and
left-to-right and functional because it allows us to
top-to-bottom. correctly
understand the document
structure.
Guidelines to create more accessible texts:

5. Titles and headings 6. Colours

It should be clearly visible and Technical documentation
spaced so that they can be accessibility is determined by
distinguished from paragraph colour choices as well.
texts.
 AUDIENCE
RECOGNITION
 Audience Recognition:

1. Who is your reader?

2. What is his/her level of understanding?
3. What is his/her position in relation to
your job title?
Audience profiles:
A. High tech Audience
B. Low Tech Audience
C. Lay Audience
D. Multiple Audiences
 A. High tech Audience

• High tech readers work in your field of expertise.

• They work directly with you in your department.
• They share their educational background and
knowledge with you.
• They share jargon and acronyms.
 B. Low Tech Audience

•Low tech audience include your co-workers

in other departments.

• Low tech readers also might include your

bosses your subordinates or your colleagues
who work in other companies.
 C. Lay Audience
• Lay readers are unfamiliar with your subject matter.
-They do not understand your technology therefore you
should write simply.
• You achieve clarity through precise word usage, depth
of detail, and a simple graph.
• Avoid jargon, abbreviations, or acronyms.
• Lay reader will need background knowledge.
 D. Multiple Audiences
• Correspondence is not always sent to just one type of
audience.
• Sometimes correspondence has multiple audiences.
• Some multiple readers are not familiar with the
subject matter
• The audience will be a mixed audience, with high tech,
low tech, or lay audience and they will have diverse
understanding.
ACCURACY
 ACCURACY
•It is about how presented data must be factually
correct and written appropriately.
•In order for technical writing to be effectively
accurate, the utilization of proper grammar skills
and the most accurate facts for the study are a
must and are very important.
•It is important in writing to avoid
miscommunication and misunderstanding.
 Importance of Accuracy

1. It is to make sure proper 2. Makes acquisition of

dissemination of information
occurs without interferences
from errors or anything that
may be able to cause damage
to information that is being
disseminated.
information on the readers’
part a lot better without
worries of acquiring false
knowledge by the corruption
of information caused by
inaccuracy.

 How to be Accurate in Technical Writing

• Only use the most accurate facts. Must be scientifically
proven or proven by actual real-world studies or
happenings.
• Properly use grammar, make statements concise as
much as possible; Being wordy only makes the main idea
less incomprehensive.
• Have a wide array of vocabulary words (preferably
formal ones) that can be utilized for writing.
• Learn about proper usage of commas and punctuations.
Master the basics in writing.
 Tips for Accurate Writing

1. Make sure to write what you mean.

2. Use simple words.
3. Avoid ambiguity.
4. Vocabulary precision.
5. Proofreading.
Thank you for
listening!

BSE ENGLISH II-1