The opening chapter of the course textbook is like many other textbook opening chapters, meaning that it is essentially an introduction to the course material: technical writing. The chapter covered the definition of technical communication, the global reach of the topic, the role of the topic in nearly all careers; also the major features included in technical writing, typical technical documents, and challenges that one may face through communication at work.
Technical communication allows us to interact with technology in our everyday lives, while also allowing us to solve problems which would otherwise be very challenging. As the world in which we live grows increasingly modern and technologically advanced, technical aspects are becoming ever more present in our day-to-day life. There increasing presence means that there is also an increasing need for information about how to run such devices or programs. This information needs to not only describe the technology thoroughly, but in an easy-to-understand matter. Several examples of everyday technical communication include: instructions, user manuals, reports, memos, and procedures.
Although it is quite clear that technical communication is very different than traditional writing, such as that found in novels, magazines, or newspapers, it still requires us to follow basic professional standards. Digital communication, in particular, calls for us to pay special attention to style and tone. Inappropriate tone, such as informal, a sense of humor, or an inaccurate message, would, for instance, be inappropriate for an office setting. And although technology in the workplace, such as email, or in general, makes communication much more convenient, it is still important to remember that digital communication never replaces human interaction. There are some questions that only the human mind can create, consider, and answer. Such questions may bring up the relevancy, accuracy, meaning or interpretation of the information.
One must also remember that as the world's economy is more and more linked, so is the information to describe it. This means that when addressing a global community through technical communication, one must write to a diverse audience, reflecting both global and intercultural diversity. Cultures differ in many ways, but any document written to be presented to a global audience must be careful to be sensitive of all differences, including, but not limited to, appropriate social behaviors, business relationships, negotiation of contracts, and communication in general.
In order to be connected globally, companies throughout the world must have some way of communicating over various continents and bodies of water-- the internet has largely been responsible for the recent growth in worldwide business, and the major component behind the internet is the computer. This means that most jobs nowadays, especially in global companies, require their employees to have some technical communication skills. Email is a major form of communication in most jobs, but technical documents that are also quite common include records, research, memos, evaluations, presentations, and press releases. Employers today also seeks skills considered portable, all of which pertain to forms of communication (writing, speaking, working on a team, flexibility, marketability, and pursuit of lifelong learning).
There are also careers that entail employees to be full-time technical communicators, which include a variety of writings depending on which field they are in. For example, a person that works in business or industry would prepare instructions, reports, proposals or scripts for business-related films. Full-time technical communicators do other work in addition to just writing, however. This means that they will edit their work and other oversee various projects. The types of fields most common for someone of this profession are publishing, magazine editing, managing a Web site, television production, or collegiate teaching.
All forms of technical writing will display three characteristic elements, which means the document will be centered around the reader, easy to access, and efficient in communicating the information. The document will also, in most cases, be produced by a given team and available in both paper and digital forms.
A reader-centered document allows the reader to know what they need to learn, do, and act upon. This also ties into the documents accessibility and efficiency, in that it will provide meaningful content in an easy to follow organizational style. The document will also include an appealing design and effective visuals, which make it clean and interesting to the reader. Also, in order for the document to supply the reader with the enough information, it will also be necessary that supplement instructions or documents are provided, including, but not limited to, an abstract, appendix, glossary, and linked pages. The validity and accuracy of the information is also important in case a legal object to the document is brought up. It would be quite unfortunate if the company were to find itself in a lawsuit because of a document you published due to some sort of sloppy presentation.
One of the main purposes of technical documents is to inform the reader of something that is important or essential to them. This means that the purposes of the document must be addressed (What questions will the document attempt to answer?), and the medium in which the document will be viewed must be considered (Will the document be in a print, PDF, podcast or online video?). Instructional documents also help people do something, while persuasive documents encourage a person to take a particular action.
Overall, an effective document is produced through good teamwork, an ethical presentation, persuasive reasoning, and the way in which the information is delivered.
Class Discussion Question: Which of the many mentioned elements of an effective technical document would you argue is the most essential to the purpose of such a document?
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