Practical Strategies for Technical Communication

Fourth Edition

Publication Date: February 01, 2022

Paperback ISBN: 9781319466992

Pages: 544

Proven advice, best practices, new technologies

A condensed version of the more comprehensive Technical Communication textbook, Practical Strategies is full of clear, practical advice and real-world examples preparing students to write in a variety of workplace settings and contexts across a range of media. A consistent focus...
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Preface for Instructors
Introduction for Writers

   Part 1   Working in the Technical-Communication Environment
1     Introduction to Technical Communication
What Is Technical Communication?
Understanding Purpose
Understanding Audience
   
Why Technical Communication Skills Are Important in Your Career
The Challenges of Producing Technical Communication
Audience-Related Factors
Purpose-Related Factors 
Setting-Related Factors  
Document-Related Factors                    
Process-Related Factors
 
Thinking Visually: Characteristics of a Technical Document
Thinking Visually: Measures of Excellence in Technical Documents
Skills and Qualities Shared by Successful Workplace Communicators
Guidelines: Communicating Professionally
Focus on Process: Writing Technical Documents
A Look at Three Technical Documents
Exercises
Case 1: Using the Measures of Excellence in Evaluating a Résumé
2     Understanding Ethical and Legal Obligations
A Brief Introduction to Ethics
Obligations to Your Employer
Obligations to the Public
Obligations to the Environment

Your Legal Obligations
Copyright Law
Guidelines: Determining Fair Use
Guidelines: Dealing with Copyright Questions
Ethics Note: Distinguishing Plagiarism from Acceptable Reuse of Information
The Role of Corporate Culture in Ethical and Legal Conduct
Understanding Ethical and Legal Issues Related to Social Media
Guidelines: Using Social Media Ethically and Legally
Communicating Ethically Across Cultures
Communicating with Cultures with Different Ethical Beliefs
Document Analysis Activity: Presenting Guidelines for Using Social Media
Communicating in Countries with Different Laws
Thinking Visually: Principles for Ethical Communication
Writer’s Checklist
Exercises
Case 2: The Ethics of Requiring Students to Subsidize a Plagiarism-Detection Service
3     Writing Collaboratively
Thinking Visually: Advantages and Disadvantages of Collaboration
Managing Projects
Guidelines: Managing Your Project
Conducting Meetings
Listening Effectively
Guidelines: Listening Effectively
Setting Your Team’s Agenda
Guidelines: Setting Your Team’s Agenda
Ethics Note: Pulling Your Weight on Collaborative Projects
Conducting Efficient Meetings
Communicating Diplomatically
Critiquing a Team Member’s Work

Guidelines: Communicating Diplomatically
Guidelines: Critiquing a Colleague’s Work
Document Analysis Activity: Critiquing a Draft Clearly and Diplomatically
Using Electronic Tools in Collaboration
Word-Processing Tools
Messaging Technologies
Videoconferencing

Guidelines: Participating in a Videoconference
Wikis and Shared Document Workspaces
Crowdsourcing Platforms
Strategies for Online Communication: Jenny Gilbert on Crowdsourcing Data and Information
Ethics Note: Maintaining a Professional Presence Online
Gender and Collaboration
Culture and Collaboration
Writer’s Checklist
Exercises
Case 3: Accommodating a Team Member’s Scheduling Problems

 

   Part 2   Planning and Drafting the Document
4     Analyzing Your Audience and Purpose
Understanding Audience and Purpose
Using an Audience Profile Sheet
Choices and Strategies: Responding to Readers’ Attitudes
Techniques for Learning About Your Audience
Determining What You Already Know About Your Audience
Interviewing People
Reading About Your Audience Online
Searching Social Media for Documents Your Audience Has Written
Analyzing Social-Media Data

Thinking Visually: Determining the Important Characteristics of Your Audience
Communicating Across Cultures
Understanding the Cultural Variables “on the Surface”
Understanding the Cultural Variables “Beneath the Surface”
Considering Cultural Variables as You Write

Guidelines: Writing for Readers from Other Cultures
Using Graphics and Design for Multicultural Readers
Applying What You Have Learned About Your Audience
Document Analysis Activity: Examining Cultural Variables in a Business Letter
■ Ethics Note: Meeting Your Readers’ Needs Responsibly
Writing for Multiple Audiences
Determining Your Purpose
Writer’s Checklist
Exercises
Case 4: Focusing on an Audience’s Needs and Interests

5     Researching Your Subject
Understanding the Research Process
Guidelines: Planning for the Research Process
Guidelines: Researching a Topic
Choosing Appropriate Research Methods
Choices and Strategies: Research Questions and Methods
Conducting Secondary Research
Understanding Research Tools
Types of SEcondary Research Sources
Using Social Media and Other Interactive Resources      
Evaluating the Information

Guidelines: Evaluating Print and Online Sources
Conducting Primary Research
Analysis of Social-Media Data
Document Analysis Activity: Evaluating Information from Internet Sources
Observations and Demonstrations
Inspections
Experiments
Field Research
Interviews

Guidelines: Conducting an Interview
Inquiries
Questionnaires

Choices and Strategies: Choosing Types of Questions for Questionnaires
Ethics Note: Reporting and Analyzing Data Honestly
Writer’s Checklist
Exercises

Case 5: Revising a Questionnaire
6     Writing for Your Readers
Presenting Yourself Effectively
Guidelines: Creating a Professional Persona
Using Conventional Patterns of Organization
■ Choices and Strategies: Choosing Effective Organizational Patterns
Writing Clear, Informative Titles
Writing Clear, Informative Headings
Guidelines: Revising Headings
Writing Clear, Informative Paragraphs
Structure Paragraphs Clearly
Ethics Note: Avoiding Burying Bad News in Paragraphs
Guidelines: Dividing Long Paragraphs
Use Coherence Devices Within and Between Paragraphs
Writing Grammatically Correct Sentences
Avoid Sentence Fragments
Avoid Comma Splices
Avoid Run-On Sentences

Avoid Ambiguous Pronoun References
Compare Items Clearly
Use Adjectives Clearly
Maintain Subject-Verb Agreement
Maintain Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
Use Tenses Correctly

Structuring Effective Sentences
Emphasize New and Important Information
Write Effective Sentence Lists

Guidelines: Creating Effective Lists
Choose an Appropriate Sentence Length
Focus on the “Real” Subject
Focus on the “Real” Verb
Use Parallel Structure
Use Modifiers Effectively

Choosing the Right Words and Phrases
Select an Appropriate Level of Formality
Be Clear     
Use Active and Passive Voice Appropriately

Ethics Note: Euphemisms and Truth Telling
Be Concise
Document Analysis Activity: Revising for Conciseness and Simplicity
Use Inoffensive Language
Guidelines: Avoiding Sexist Language
Guidelines: Using the People-First Approach
Writer’s Checklist
Exercises

Case 6: Emphasizing Important Information in a Technical Description

 

   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
Guidelines: Planning Your Design
Understanding Design Principles
Designing Print Documents
Navigation Aids
Choices and Strategies: Creating Navigation Aids
Page Layout
Guidelines: Understanding Learning Theory and Page Design
Typography
Tech Tip: Why and How To Format Columns
Ethics Note: Using Type Sizes Responsibly
Titles and Headings
Other Design Features

Tech Tip: Why and How To Create Borders and Screens
Designing Online Documents
Use Design To Emphasize Important Information
Document Analysis Activity: Analyzing a Page Design
Create Informative Headers and Footers
Help Readers Navigate the Document

Guidelines: Making Your Document Easy To Navigate
Include Extra Features Your Readers Might Need
Help Readers Connect with Others
Consider Matters of Accessibility

Guidelines: Designing Accessible Websites
Design for Multicultural Audiences
Ethics Note: Designing Legal and Honest Online Documents
Aim for Simplicity
Guidelines: Designing Simple, Clear Web Pages
Make the Text Easy to Read and Understand
Guidelines: Designing Easy-to-Read Text
Create Clear, Informative Links
■ Guidelines: Writing Clear, Informative Links
         Combining Print and Online Documents
STRATEGIES FOR ONLINE COMMUNICATION: Calvin Jones on Using Multiple Modalities
Writer’s Checklist
Exercises
Case 7: Designing a Flyer

8     Creating Graphics
The Functions of Graphics
Thinking Visually: Characteristics of an Effective Graphic
Ethics Note: Creating Honest Graphics
Understanding the Process of Creating Graphics
Planning Graphics
Producing Graphics

Tech Tip: Why and How To Insert and Modify Graphics
Revising Graphics
Citing Sources of Graphics

Using Color Effectively
Choosing the Appropriate Kind of Graphic
Choices and Strategies: Choosing the Appropriate Kind of Graphic
Illustrating Numerical Information
Guidelines: Creating Effective Tables
Guidelines: Creating Effective Bar Graphs
Guidelines: Creating Effective Infographics
Tech Tip: Why and How To Use Drawing Tools
Guidelines: Creating Effective Line Graphs
Guidelines: Creating Effective Pie Charts
Illustrating Logical Relationships
Document Analysis Activity: Analyzing a Graphic
Illustrating Process Descriptions and Instructions
Illustrating Visual and Spatial Characteristics

Guidelines: Presenting Photographs Effectively
Tech Tip: Why and How To Create and Insert Screen Shots
Creating Effective Graphics for Multicultural Readers
Writer’s Checklist
Exercises

Case 8: Creating Appropriate Graphics To Accompany a Report

 

   Part 4   Learning Important Applications
9     Corresponding in Print and Online
Understanding the Process of Writing Correspondence
Focus on Process: 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

Ethics Note: Writing Honest Business Correspondence
Writing Letters
Elements of a Letter
Common Types of Letters
Writing Memos
Guidelines: Organizing a Memo
Writing Emails
Tech Tip: Why and How To Use Email for Business Correspondence
Guidelines: Following Netiquette
Writing Microblogs
Document Analysis Activity: Following Netiquette in an Email Message
Guidelines: Representing Your Organization on a Microblog
Writing Correspondence to Multicultural Readers
Writer’s Checklist
Exercises
Case 9: Writing a Memo

10   Applying for a Job
Establishing Your Professional Brand
Guidelines: Building the Foundation of Your Professional Brand
Crafting Your Professional Brand
Guidelines: Presenting Your Professional Brand
Ethics Note: Writing Honest Job-Application Materials
Finding the Right Position
Understanding Job Search Strategies
Guidelines: Using LinkedIn’s Employment Features
Writing Résumés
Elements of the Chronological Résumé
Guidelines: Elaborating on Your Education
Elements of the Skills Résumé
Preparing a Plain-Text Résumé
Guidelines: Formatting a Plain-Text Résumé
Document Analysis Activity: Preparing a Résumé
Considering Nontraditional Résumés
Guidelines: Planning a Nontraditional Résumé
Writing Job-Application Letters
Preparing for a Job Interview   
  ■ Guidelines: Preparing for a Job Interview
  ■ Guidelines: Preparing for an Online Job Interview
Writing Follow-up Letters or Emails After an Interview
Writer’s Checklist
Exercises
Case 10: Writing a Cover Letter

11   Writing Proposals
The Logistics of Proposals
Focus on Process: Writing 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

Guidelines: Demonstrating Your Professionalism in a Proposal
Ethics Note: Writing Honest Proposals
The Structure of the Proposal
Summary
Introduction

Guidelines: Introducing a Proposal
Proposed Program
Qualifications and Experience

Document Analysis Activity: Writing the Proposed Program
Budget
Appendixes
Task Schedule
   
Tech Tip: Why and How To Create a Gantt Chart
Description of Evaluation Techniques       
Sample Internal Proposal
Writer’s Checklist
Exercises
Case 11: Revising An Introduction for a Proposal

12   Writing Informational Reports
Focus on Process: Writing Informational Reports
Writing Directives
Document Analysis Activity: Writing a Persuasive Directive
Writing Field Reports
Guidelines: Responding to Readers’ Questions in a Field Report
Writing Progress and Status Reports
Ethics Note: Reporting Your Progress Honestly
Organizing Progress and Status Reports
Concluding Progress and Status Reports

Guidelines: Projecting an Appropriate Tone in a Progress or Status Report
Sample Progress Report
Writing Incident Reports
Writing Meeting Minutes
Writer’s Checklist
Exercises
Case 12: Writing a Directive

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
Ethics Note: Presenting Honest Recommendations
Writing Recommendation Reports
Writing the Body of the Report
Guidelines: Writing Recommendations
Writing the Front Matter
Tech Tip: Why and How To Make a Long Report Navigable
Guidelines: Writing an Executive Summary
Writing the Back Matter
Document Analysis Activity: Analyzing an Executive Summary
Sample Recommendation Report
Writer’s Checklist
Exercises
Case 13: Writing a Recommendation

14   Writing Definitions, Descriptions, and Instructions
Focus on Process: Writing Definitions, Descriptions, and Instructions
Writing Definitions
Analyzing the Writing Situation for Definitions
Choices and Strategies: Choosing the Appropriate Type of Definition
Writing Sentence Definitions
Guidelines: Writing Effective 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
   
Guidelines: Providing Appropriate Detail in Descriptions
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

Guidelines: Designing Clear, Attractive Pages
Planning for Safety
Ethics Note: Ensuring Your Readers’ Safety
Drafting Effective Instructions
Guidelines: Drafting Introductions for Instructions
Guidelines: Drafting Steps in Instructions
Guidelines: Testing Instructions for Usability
Revising, Editing, and Proofreading Instructions
A Look at Several Sample Sets of Instructions

Writing Manuals
Document Analysis Activity: Presenting Clear Instructions
Writer’s Checklist
Exercises
Case 14: Writing Instructions

15   Making Oral Presentations
Understanding the Role of Oral Presentations
Preparing the Presentation
■ Focus on Process: Oral Presentations
Analyzing the Speaking Situation
Organizing and Developing the Presentation

Guidelines: Introducing the Presentation
Guidelines: Concluding the Presentation
Preparing Presentation Graphics
Tech Tip: Why and How To Create a Presentation Template
Tech Tip: Why and How To Set List Items To Appear and Dim During a Presentation
Choosing Effective Language
Document Analysis Activity: Integrating Graphics and Text on a Presentation Slide
Guidelines: Using Memorable Language in Oral Presentations
Rehearsing the Presentation
Thinking Visually: Delivering the Presentation
Presenting to All Audiences
Answering Questions After a Presentation
Ethics Note: Answering Questions Honestly
Speaker’s Checklist
Exercises
Case 15: Writing an Oral Presentation


   Appendix: Reference Handbook

A    Documenting Your Sources
Note Taking
APA Style
IEEE Style
MLA Style
B    Editing and Proofreading Your Documents
Punctuation
Mechanics
Proofreading Symbols and Their Meanings
References
Index
Index of Features

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Mike Markel; Stuart A. Selber | Fourth Edition | ©2022 | ISBN:9781319441722

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