Technical Communication

Questionnaire

What are the different modes of communication?

What is a memo?
Name any 5 types of business letters
What is mind mapping?
What is the process of technical writing?
What is a flyer/flier?
How is a flyer/flier different from a brochure?
What is brainstorming?
Email writing is an informal mode of communication? True/False
Emails are more commonly used in business organizations over letters? True/False?
What is redundancy in writing?
What are the types of GDs?
How many types of reports are there in TC?
Name any two oral channels of communication in TC?
 Communication

A process of sharing information

 Aninteractive process
 Sender and Receiver are needed

 Multi-dimensional in nature
 Use of common sets of signs and symbols
 Seeks a suitable response

Components of Communication-
Listening, Reading, Writing & Speaking
 Definition

Technical communication is a oral and written

communication for and about business.
TC focuses on products and services, to:
 Manufacture
 Market
 Manage
 Deliver
 Use
 Used for communication by

Supervisors
Colleagues
Sub-ordinates
Vendors
Customers
 Roles as a Technical Communicator

The writer of the document

The member of a team
The information resource for others
 Importance in Career

Companies say communication skills are essential

for success at workplace
Strong communication skills make you more
valuable in organization
 Difference in General and Technical Communication

General Communication Technical Communication

Contains general message Contains formal and

professional message
Informal in style and Mostly formal and objective
approach Follows a set pattern
No set pattern Mostly both oral and written
Mostly oral Always for a specific
Not always for a specific audience
audience Frequently involves jargon
Does not usually involves and graphics
jargon and graphics
 Objective / Goals of TC

1) Clarity

2) Conciseness

3) Accuracy

4) Organization

5) Ethics
 How to achieve Clarity

 “Put enough air in your tires”

Mention specific details

 “Fill your tires to 32 pounds per square”

Avoid- vague words: some, recently, latest,etc…

 Tasks

The basket ball player was really tall.

I will be home as soon as possible
The computer has lots of money

Correct way
The basket ball player is 6 foot seven inches tall
I will be home by 11.00 pm
The computer has 16 GB RAM
We bought a new machine
Reporter’s Questionnaire: Who , what, when, where,
why, and how
“ The marketing department bought a new AABco
laser printer (Rs- 12,000) on June 10 for our
production room. This printer will produce double-
side color copies unlike our prior printer.”
“We are cognizant of your need for issuance of
citations pursuant to code 18-b1 CPR violations”

Simple language
“we know you need to send citations because of code
18-B1 Continuing Property Record violations”
 Task- Give simple substitutes

Aforementioned
Initial
Attached herewith
Ascertain

Already discussed
First
Attached
Find out
“It has been determined that the machine has been
broken by John”

Use active voice

“John broke the machine”

 Task- change to active voice

It is my decision to run for office

There are sixteen people who tried out for basketball
team
The window was broken by the staff

I decided to run for office

Sixteen people tried out for the basket ball team
The staff broke the window
 How to be Concise

Limit:
 word length
 sentence length
 paragraph length

Came to the conclusion ------ concluded

Make an adjustment-------------- adjust
Make revisions---------------------- revise
We collaborated together on the project
Redundancy

We collaborated on the project

 Task- remove redundancy

This is a brand new innovation

The other alternative is to eat soup

This is an innovation
The alternative is to eat soup
He drove at a rapid rate

Avoid prepositional phrases

He drove rapidly
 Task- avoid prepositional phrase

I will see you in the near future

I am in receipt of your email requesting an increase
in pay

I will see you soon

I received your email requesting a pay raise
 Make it concise

During the course of this semester, students in TC will

write three major assignments and three minor
assignments. They consist of a resume and letter of
application. Following that students will write a problem
solving report, followed by the Mini-Business plan
assignment. Minor assignment include writing a letter of
complaint and a process analysis
 Concise

Students in TC will complete following major

assignments:
 Resume and Letter of Application
 Problem Solving Report – Mini Business Plan

Minor writing assignments include:

 Letter of Complaint

 Process Analysis
 Accuracy- Proofreading

Let someone else read it

Let it sit
Print it out
Use technology
Read it loud
Read it backwards
 Organization

Spatial
Chronological
Importance
Comparison and contrast
Cause and effect
Problem and solution
 Ethics

Avoid plagiarism
Ghost writing
References
 Process of Letter Writing

Pre-
Writing Editing
writing
•Purpose Identification •Revise, Edit and
•Organizing the
•Audience Analysis Evaluate
matter
•Selecting the channel •Collaborative evaluation
•Formatting
•Scope determination • Test for usability
•Analysis of action •Sentence structure,
desired grammar, punctuations
•To analyze whether the
purpose is achieved
 Pre- writing

Purpose: Internal or External

Goal: inform, persuade, promote, direct, etc.
Identifying audience:
 Internal/ external
 Expert/ layman
 Senior /junior
Channel: oral/ written, email/letter/memo, report/
PPT presentation
 Writing

Organization:
 Spatial
 Chronological
 comparison contrast, etc.
Formatting:
 ease of access
 highlight key points
 chunking
 document design
 Editing/ Re-writing

Collaborative evaluations
 Other’s perspective
 Larger knowledge base

Usability of testing
 Retrievability
 Readability
 Accuracy
 User-satisfaction
Revision techniques
 Add any missing detail for clarity
 Delete dead words and phrases for conciseness
 Simplify complex words and phrases
 Reorganize to ensure reader friendly ease of access
 Enhance the tone and style of text
 Correct errors in grammar and content