Technical Writing

and
Communication Skills

EE 20200–First Semester 2019/2020

‫” واعلـم أـن الهندسـة تفيـد صـاحبها إضاء ًةـ فـي عقل ِهـ واسـتقام ًة فـي ِفكر ِهـ‪ ..‬ألـن براهينها‬
‫يكاد الغل ُطـيدخـل أقيسـتها لترتيبها وانتظامها‪..‬‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫بيّنـة االنتظا ِمـ جليـة الترتي ِبـ ‪..‬ال‬
‫كلهـا ِ‬
‫الفكر بممارستها عن الخطأ‪ ..‬وينشأ لصاحبها عقل على ذلك المهيع‪.‬‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫فيبعد‬
‫ُ‬
‫وقـد زعموا أنـه كان مكتوبا ً علـى باب أفالطون‪ " :‬مـن لـم يكـن مهند ًسـا‪ ،‬فال يدخلن‬
‫منزلنا"‪.‬‬
‫وكان شيوخنـا رحمهـم اللـه يقولون‪ :‬ممارسـة علـم الهندسـة للفكـر‪ ،‬بمثابـة الصابون‬
‫للثوب الذي يغسل منه األقذار وينقيه من األوصار واألدران‪.‬‬
‫ابن خلدون‪.‬‬
Why Technical Writing?
• Technical Writing is extremely important for successful engineers and scientists.
It is an essential component for the engineering community as well as business
and industry.
• Technical Writing focuses on products and services and how to manufacture,
market, manage, deliver, and use.
• Professional engineers spend 20%-40% of time in writing for supervisors,
colleagues, vendors, government, media and customers.
A Typical Daily Schedule of an Engineer
Professional Write a Variety of Documents
Engineers Are Good Writers
•Bad writing may cost money and causalities.
•Successful engineers must be able to write and speak effectively.
•They require strong writing skills:
oWrite what must be understood easily and quickly.
oTechnical background is not the sole factor in success.
oLeaves an impression.
•Strong writing skills can be learned, like any other task.
•Engineers should continually practice to be a good rewriters.
Five Components of Writing
• Development: Use examples, proof, data, research.
• Grammar: It is important!
• Organization: Provide an introduction, body, and conclusion.
• Style: Uses short sentences; and short paragraphs.
• Document Design: Uses highlighting techniques, such as graphics, headings,
subheadings, various fonts, white space, bullets, etc.
Noise in Communication Process
• Anything in writing that makes a reader uncertain and/or frustrated.
• Noise in written communication:
• Syntactic (grammar).
• Semantic (word meanings).
• Organizational
• Noise may cause anything from momentary confusion to inability to understand
the message.
•More importantly, TIME and MONEY!
Sources of Noise
• Punctuation, grammar, usage errors
• Wordiness and lack of emphasis
• Word-choice problems
• Audience-adaptation problems
• Failure to achieve document’s purpose
Noise in Communication Process
Controlling The Writing System