Tone And Style

• Style signifies mechanical and technical aspects of writing

specific to the subject or topic
• Style refers to how you use language : your sentence structures
and word choices.
• Tone means attitude conveyed through writing:
Formal
Informal
Subjective
Objective
• Tone is the sum of the elements in your writing
that reveals your attitude to the readers.
• Many different elements affect the tone of a paper,
including whether active or passive voice is used,
how technical the vocabulary is, whether sections
are started and ended abruptly or with transitions,
and what kind of word choice is used overall.
• Tone in a research write-up should be
professional, succinct, and detached, no matter
which voice is used.
 Technical Writing
It is a specific form of writing
It is written with an objective - gives direction,
instruction or explanation
It is meant for target readership
Tone and style vary according to genres (types)
of writing; eg. An email and a lab report differ
Tone and style in Technical Writing must be
edited and revised before final submission
 How to make technical Writing Better?
Step 1
Revision must be done for Conciseness
• A Concise sentence is a short, direct statement.
• Each Concise sentence conveys only a single thought or
information
• Eg. “The deadline of this project has been extended up to next
month”.( Concise) ( Correct)
• “The deadline of this project has been extended up to next
month along with the postponement of shipping goods and
curtailing the retirement benefits of the company”. ( Not
concise but confusing)( Incorrect)
 What to Avoid?
• Avoid using Redundant( repetitive phrases)
• Eg. each and every ( and every is repetitive)
• end result ( result itself means that which
comes at the end)
• Absolutely essential ( essential means
absolute)
• Completely eliminate ( eliminate means
complete)
 TASK TO BE DONE BY STUDENTS
• Select the concise words from the following
list of redundant words:
1) Enter into
2) Fellow teammate
3) Final conclusion
4) Cancel out
5) The month of May
What to Avoid in Technical Writing
• Avoid words like basically, stuffs, sorts, kind of
things etc.
• Avoid Wordy Phrases and replace it with a
single word
• Eg. Make an adjustment- adjust
• Make a decision- decide
• Provide assistance- assist
 Task for Students
• Write a single word against the phrases below:
1) A large number of
2) In the present time
3) Due to the fact that
4) In order to
5) In the near future
6) Prior to the start of
 Making Concise sentences
Some Examples
• 1) Keep this information on file for future
reference. ( Not concise)
Ans: File this information.( Concise)
2) Ideally, it would be best to place the billing
ticket just below the monitor and above the
key board. ( Not concise)
Ans: Place the billing ticket between the monitor
and the key board. ( Concise)
 Task for students
• Convert the following into concise sentences:
• 1) We need to act on the suggestions that the
supervisors offer us.
• 2) Due to the fact that we reduced the weight
of the AEV, we used less energy.
• 3) There is a danger of poor communication
causing a bad outcome in the team project.
 Revise for Clarity in a Sentence
• A sentence should convey exact meaning. It
must not be ambiguous ( confusing)
• Eg. No managers are not required to submit
their reports.( Not clear)
• Managers are all not required to submit their
reports( Not clear)
• Ans- All managers are not required to submit
their reports.( Clear)
 Avoid Ambiguous Pronouns
• Eg. Jack hates his assistant because he is
competitive.( who is competitive? Jack or his
assistant?)
• Ans- i) Jack is competitive, and that is why, he
dislikes his assistant.
• ii) Jack hates his assistant because the
latter( assistant) is competitive.
 Avoid Telegraphic Writing
• Eg. The reactor operator told the management
several times he expected accident.

• Ans- The reactor operator had told the

management several times that he expected
an accident.
 Avoid Ambiguous Modifiers
• Eg. Only press the red button in case of
emergency.( keep pressing the red button?)
• Press only the red button in case of
emergency.( there are other coloured buttons
too?)
• Ans- Press the red button in case of
emergency only.( specific purpose is given)
 Use Passive Voice
• Eg. You have not paid the bills.
• Ans- The bills have not been paid.

• Identity of a person should be Revealed

• Eg. It was decided to hire him.
• Ans- Our company CEO decided to hire Mr. X.
 Use Nouns Carefully
• Eg. The police conducted an investigation into
the matter.
• Ans- The police investigated the matter.
Avoid sentence with ‘ there’ and ‘if’.
Eg. There is a need for further study of this
program.
Ans- This program needs further study.
• Eg. If teams cooperate, the project will be successful.
• Ans- The project will be successful if teams cooperate
with each other.
Avoid Redundancy
Eg. During that period of time, the membrane area
became pink in color and shiny in appearance.
Ans- During that time, the membrane became pink and
shiny.
 Check for Coherence
• Coherence means:
i) Ideas should flow from one sentence to the
next
ii) Each meaningful sentence includes both old
and new information
iii) Start with a topic sentence and elaborate on
it
iv) Place key word at the end of a sentence
• Eg. In a business relationship trust is a vital
element.( trust is the keyword in this
sentence)
Avoid ‘it’ opener in a sentence
- It was his bad attitude that got him fired.
Ans- He was fired for his bad attitude.
 Things to be Deleted in a Sentence

• Delete unwanted prefaces( opening):

Eg. I am writing this letter because I wish to
apply for the post of an editor.( This is a bad
opening)
Delete weak verbs: eg. please take into
consideration my case.
Ans- Please consider my case.
• Delete ‘to be’ constructions
- This product seems to be superior.
Ans- This product is superior.
Delete too many prepositions in a sentence
Delete needless qualifiers:
- It seems that I have made an error.
Ans- I have made an error.
 Make negative sentences into positive

- Although James has graduated from excellent

management school and is highly resourceful,
he has no experience.( Negative)
- Although James has no experience, he has
graduated from excellent management school
and is highly resourceful.( Positive)
 Use correct parallel structure
• The President traveled to several cities meeting voters, to
give speeches, and ask for campaign funds. (wrong)
• The President traveled to several
cities meeting voters, giving speeches, and asking for
campaign funds.
• The CEO expected his consultants to present their ideas at the
board meeting, to explain their plan of action, and that
questions would be asked by other board members. (wrong)
• The CEO expected his consultants to present their ideas at the
board meeting, to explain their plan of action, and to answer
questions asked by other board members.
 Tone
• Formal Tone is used for formal writing( official, business,
academic writing)
• Informal tone is meant informal writing( writing to
friend or relatives)
• Use familiar words ( do not use bombastic words)
• Avoid jargons( cool headed, dumb)
• Avoid racist references( negro, red Indian etc.)
• Gender references must be avoided in general- eg. Use ‘
Chairperson’ instead of ‘Chairman’, Use ‘Actor’ instead
of ‘Actress’etc.
 Tasks
1. Being so well known in the computer industry, I would appreciate your advice.
2. Labour costs for this project was underestimated by me.
3. Care should be taken with the dynamite.
4. Fred reminded Joe of the contract he had signed.
5. Sarah’s job involves fault analysis systems troubleshooting handbook preparation.
6. Our test results will be sent to you as soon as verification is completed.
7. It is necessary to complete both sides of the form.
8. There is sensitive equipment required for this procedure.
9. As far as artificial intelligence is concerned the technology is only in its infancy.
10. My recommendation is for a larger budget.
11. Give consideration to the possibility of a career change.
12. Do not distribute the memo to employees who have not received a security
clearance.
13. My diagnosis was not inaccurate.
14. I am writing this memo to spell out evacuation procedures.
15. Seedlings will be planted to stabilize streambanks, to provide forage for wildlife,
and for improving aesthetics.