Practical Strategies for Technical Communication

List of contents

Part 1 Working in the Technical-Communication Environment

1 Introduction to Technical Communication

• What Is Technical Communication?


• Why Technical Communication Skills Are Important in Your Career


• The Challenges of Producing Technical Communication


• Thinking Visually: Characteristics of a Technical Document


• Thinking Visually: Measures of Excellence in Technical Documents


• Skills and Qualities Shared by Successful Workplace Communicators


• A Look at Three Technical Documents


• Exercises

2 Understanding Ethical and Legal Obligations

• A Brief Introduction to Ethics


• Your Legal Obligations


• The Role of Corporate Culture in Ethical and Legal Conduct


• Understanding Ethical and Legal Issues Related to Social Media


• Communicating Ethically Across Cultures


• Thinking Visually: Principles for Ethical Communication


• Writer's Checklist


• Exercises

3 Writing Collaboratively

• Thinking Visually: Advantages and Disadvantages of Collaboration


• Managing Projects


• Conducting Meetings


• Using Electronic Tools in Collaboration


• Strategies for Online Communication: Jenny Gilbert on Crowdsourcing Data and Information


• Gender and Collaboration


• Culture and Collaboration


• Writer's Checklist


• Exercises

Part 2 Planning and Drafting the Document

4 Analyzing Your Audience and Purpose

• Understanding Audience and Purpose


• Using an Audience Profile Sheet


• Techniques for Learning About Your Audience


• Thinking Visually: Determining the Important Characteristics of Your Audience


• Communicating Across Cultures


• Applying What You Have Learned About Your Audience


• Writing for Multiple Audiences


• Determining Your Purpose


• Writer's Checklist


• Exercises

5 Researching Your Subject

• Understanding the Research Process


• Choosing Appropriate Research Methods


• Choices and Strategies: Research Questions and Methods


• Conducting Secondary Research


• Using AI Chatbots


• Conducting Primary Research


• Choices and Strategies: Choosing Types of Questions for Questionnaires


• Writer's Checklist


• Exercises

6 Writing for Your Readers

• Presenting Yourself Effectively


• Using Conventional Patterns of Organization


• Choices and Strategies: Choosing Effective Organizational Patterns


• Writing Clear, Informative Titles


• Writing Clear, Informative Headings


• Writing Clear, Informative Paragraphs


• Writing Grammatically Correct Sentences


• Structuring Effective Sentences


• Choosing the Right Words and Phrases


• Use Inoffensive Language


• Writer's Checklist


• Exercises

Part 3 Designing User-Friendly Documents and Websites

7 Designing Print and Online Documents

• Goals of Document Design


• Planning the Design of Print and Online Documents


• Understanding Design Principles


• Designing Print Documents


• Designing Digital Documents


• Consider Matters of Accessibility


• Design for Multicultural Audiences


• Combining Print and Digital Documents


• Strategies for Online Communication: Calvin Jones on Using Multiple Modalities


• Writer's Checklist


• Exercises

8 Creating Graphics

• The Functions of Graphics


• Thinking Visually: Characteristics of an Effective Graphic


• Understanding the Process of Creating Graphics


• Using Color Effectively


• Choosing the Appropriate Kind of Graphic


• Choices and Strategies: Choosing the Appropriate Kind of Graphic


• Illustrating Numerical Information


• Illustrating Logical Relationships


• Illustrating Process Descriptions and Instructions


• Illustrating Visual and Spatial Characteristics


• Creating Effective Graphics for Multicultural Readers


• Writer's Checklist


• Exercises

Part 4 Learning Important Applications

9 Corresponding in Print and Online

• Understanding the Process of Writing Correspondence


• Choices and Strategies: Choosing a Type of Correspondence


• Presenting Yourself Effectively in Correspondence


• Use the Appropriate Level of Formality


• Communicate Correctly


• Project the "You Attitude"


• Avoid Correspondence Clichés


• Communicate Honestly


• Elements of a Letter


• Common Types of Letters


• Writing Memos


• Writer's Checklist


• Exercises

10 Applying for a Job

• Establishing Your Professional Brand


• Understanding Job Search Strategies


• Elements of the Chronological Résumé


• Elements of the Skills Résumé


• Preparing a Plain-Text Résumé


• Writing Job-Application Letters


• Preparing for a Job Interview


• Writing Follow-up Letters or Emails After an Interview


• Writer's Checklist


• Exercises

11 Writing Proposals

• The Logistics of Proposals


• Internal and External Proposals


• Solicited and Unsolicited Proposals


• The "Deliverables" of Proposals


• Research Proposals


• Goods and Services Proposals


• Persuasion and Proposals


• Understanding Contexts


• Describing What You Plan To Do


• Demonstrating Your Professionalism


• The Structure of the Proposal


• Summary


• Introduction


• Proposed Program


• Qualifications and Experience


• Budget


• Appendixes


• Task Schedule


• Description of Evaluation Techniques


• Sample Internal Proposal


• Writer's Checklist


• Exercises

12 Writing Informational Reports

• Organizing Progress and Status Reports


• Concluding Progress and Status Reports


• Sample Progress Report


• Writing Incident Reports


• Writing Meeting Minutes


• Writer's Checklist


• Exercises

13 Writing Recommendation Reports

• Understanding the Role of Recommendation Reports


• Using a Problem-Solving Model for Preparing Recommendation Reports


• Identify the Problem or Opportunity


• Establish Criteria for Responding to the Problem or Opportunity


• Determine the Options


• Study Each Option According to the Criteria


• Draw Conclusions About Each Option


• Formulate Recommendations Based on the Conclusions


• Writing Recommendation Reports


• Writing the Body of the Report


• Writing the Front Matter


• Writing the Back Matter


• Sample Recommendation Report


• Writer's Checklist


• Exercises

14 Writing Definitions, Descriptions, and Instructions

• Writing Definitions


• Analyzing the Writing Situation for Definitions


• Writing Sentence Definitions


• Writing Extended Definitions


• Writing Descriptions


• Analyzing the Writing Situation for Descriptions


• Indicating Clearly the Nature and Scope of the Description


• Introducing the Description Clearly


• Providing Appropriate Detail


• Ending the Description with a Brief Conclusion


• A Look at Several Sample Descriptions


• Writing Instructions


• Strategies for Online Communication: Suzanne Barnhill on Moderating User Forums


• Understanding the Role of Instructional Videos


• Designing a Set of Instructions


• Drafting Effective Instructions


• Revising, Editing, and Proofreading Instructions


• A Look at Several Sample Sets of Instructions


• Writing Manuals


• Writer's Checklist


• Exercises

15 Making Oral Presentations

• Understanding the Role of Oral Presentations


• Preparing the Presentation


• Analyzing the Speaking Situation


• Organizing and Developing the Presentation


• Preparing Presentation Graphics


• During a Presentation


• Choosing Effective Language


• Rehearsing the Presentation


• Thinking Visually: Delivering the Presentation


• Presenting to All Audiences


• Answering Questions After a Presentation


• Speaker's Checklist


• Exercises

Appendix: Reference Handbook

A Documenting Your Sources

• APA Style


• IEEE Style


• MLA Style

B Editing and Proofreading Your Documents

Product details

• Authors: Mike Markel, Markel Mike, Stuart A. Selber, Selber Stuart
• Publisher: Macmillan International Higher Education
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.02.2025
• EAN: 9781319589776
• ISBN: 978-1-319-58977-6
• No. of pages: 544
• Dimensions: 201 mm x 230 mm x 18 mm
• Weight: 454 g
• Subjects: Guides > Law, job, finance > Training, job, career; Humanities, art, music > Education > Education system; BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Business Writing, Business communication & presentation, Writing & editing guides, Writing and editing guides, Business communication, etiquette and presentation