To: Nancy Myers

From: Dylan Sacksteder

Date: September 27, 2022
Subject: APLED 121-Chapter 4 Summary

CHAPTER 4
OBJECTIVES IN TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION

Achieving Clarity in Technical Communication

 Provide Specific Detail-Quantify your information instead of being vague. Unclear
communications can lead to missed deadlines, damaged equipment etc.
 Answer Reporter’s Questions-Answer the questions: who, what, when, where, why.
 Use Easily Understandable Words: Avoid obscure words:
Use know instead of cognizant
Use pay instead of remittance
Use get instead of obtain
Simplifying Words, Sentences and Paragraphs for Conciseness
 Conciseness Saves Time-Other people’s time is valuable. Your audience cannot nor should they
spend too much time reading your emails, texts, etc.
 Technology Demands Conciseness-The size of your device may determine how big of a message
you can send.
 Conciseness Improves Readability-Write like you are writing to a high-schooler not a college
graduate.
 Limit Word Length for Conciseness-Long words that you find in a dictionary are not a good idea
 Limit Sentence Length for Conciseness-Delete “Be” verbs, “shun” words, use active instead of
passive voice, and delete the Expletive Pattern.
 Limit Paragraph Length for Conciseness-In a long paragraph, you force the reader to wade
through many words and digest large and unnecessary information. This will hinder
comprehension.
Achieving Accuracy in Technical Communication
 Proofreading Tips
1. Let someone else read it
2. Let it sit
3. Print it out
4. Use technology
5. Read it out loud
Organizing Technical Communication
 Analysis-Analyzing a topic helps you focus on the smaller pieces that make up a whole
 Spatial Organization-Spatial Organization is useful when providing physical descriptions of
products or perhaps reporting on work-related accidents or events.
 Chronology-Chronology is mandatory if you are discussing the steps in a procedure. Using a
chronological order also can help your audience follow trends.
  Importance-If you organize your text by importance, you can tell your readers what parts of the
discussion is more important, and which are less important.
 Comparison/Contrast-One way to make decisions is by comparing and contrasting options. By
doing this, you can help your audience see the pros and cons or the choices available.
 Problem/Solution-Another way to organize your content is focus on the problems and solutions
for them. For example, if you work in customer service, you might have to respond to consumer
complaints.
 Cause and Effect-Another way of organizing your draft, this method of organization is useful in
writing reports.
The Writing Process at Work
 Prewriting-creating a brainstorm list is helpful for getting an idea for what you are going to be
talking about.
 Writing-Conciseness is important but make sure it describes enough.
 Rewriting-Going over what you wrote or having someone else proofread it is useful.