Chapter 1 - Professional

Communications
[Writing]
IT 5105 Professional Issues in IT
Upekha Vandebona
upe.vand@gmail.com

Instructional Objectives
Prepare

and deliver an oral presentation for a

user audience.

Prepare

and deliver an oral presentation for a

management audience.

Write

a technical memo to management.

Create

user documentation for an IT system.

Create

a set of technical requirements for an IT

system.

Compare

and contrast technical writing and

expository writing.

Note
For the Chapter One, Im going out from
the provided content, as you have already
covered those in 1st Semester. So before
the exam go through those again.
Throughout this lecture series
for Chapter One, it is something more for
your professional life.

User Documentation
User manuals are written guides in either hard-copy
(paper) or electronic document (PDF or XPS) format
that provide instructions on how to do or use
something.
Reference - http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-User-Manual

What is?
Good

user manuals educate users about the

product's features while teaching them how to use
those features effectively and are laid out to be
easily read and referred to.

Most

Visible Documentations in the SDLC

Should
Keep

easy to understand; But yet precise

revise and up-to-date

User Manual is NOT a Recipe Book

People typically first use the
device/system and then read
the manual; the sections they
need to know.

Focus for the Audience; Our User

Getting Started!

Listing Product Features Grouped By

Function
Method 1

User

Function

Feature

Method 2

Function
Area

User

Function

Feature

Offer a Feature as Solution to a General Problem

If

the problem is a complex one, break it down

into smaller parts.

List

each part with the instructions on how to

solve or cope with it, and then follow with each
subsequent part in succession.

Troubleshooting

Tips

Graphic Images as Needed to Support the Text.

To explain

complex procedures where users need

to have visual confirmation that they're
performing the steps correctly.

Be

consistentwith graphic style

Readability
Font
Layout
header
page

/footer

numbers

margins

Binding

Other Important Components

Cover

and Title Page

Copyright
Terms

Table
if

Notice

and Conditions

of Contents

the manual exceeds 10 pages

Instructions
numbered

Glossaries
index

and begin with action verbs

and Indexes

can be omitted if the manual runs less than 20 pages

Expository Writing vs. Technical

Writing
Expository writing shares thoughts, opinions, and
fleshed-out concepts, while technical writing is
usually aimed to get someone to follow directions or
understand a procedure.

Expository Writing
Standard

academicanalyticalwriting that is used in a

lot of academic settings.

Persuading

someone to agree with a certain opinion or

to style an argument.

Emphasis

is on deriving how something works through

analysis, explanation, and exposition.

Essays;

focus on a single topic.

Have

strong coherent structure, facts arranged in a

logical order and details supporting the facts;

Primary

purpose is to communicate a conclusion based

on the facts, rather than the facts themselves.

Technical Writing
Efficient

and clear way of explaining a product or

technical aspect of production and how it works.

Although

the average many cannot understand this style

and all of the jargon involved in this genre, technical
writing is the preferred style by many industries.

Read

by a group of people with a shared, advanced

knowledge of a particular subject.

Focused

on explaining something or some process in an

industry, such as the product manufacturing procedure,
the testing protocols, and giving the facts of an industry
report.

Comparison - Differences
Expository Writing

Technical Writing

Constructing an argument to share facts. Proving an argument to be

true
Meant to be understood by a wider audience and is meant to convince
people that the opinion and analysis are qualitatively right and
logically sound.

Writers of this style have license to be creative.

Clearly and succinctly giving the data in an impersonal way.

Ridden with jargon and other vocabulary and is intended to be
understood by a smaller audience with a special knowledge base

Do not have license to be creative

Audience

Style
EW: communicating
moods, feelings,
atmosphere and stories
TW: communicating
technical concepts

Voice
EW: present
your a voice

EW: anyone interested in

the topic; for pleasure
TW: people who need to
complete a task, learn or
know how to do something

Format
EW:
Expository
Writing,
TW:
Technical
Writing

EW: fiction or
narrative

Examples
Expository Writing

Technical Writing

English Essay

Philosophical paper

Lab report

Analytical mathematics paper