Effective Business Writing and Communications

Archive for November, 2009

Some of the benefits of using graphic designs or visual elements in a technical document are to assist the reader in comprehension, a point of quick reference, to show differences quickly as well as adding to the overall design and attractiveness of the document.

Charts are used in technical documents to show comparisons such as, a bar chart: compares parts, and a pie chart goes a step further and shows the relationship of each part to the whole.

Line drawings can be incorporated in a technical document to assist with instructions and important features within the document.Icons used in technical documents will assist the reader with the writers meaning, as icons usually have a universal or conventional meaning.

Graphics tend to enhance the text given and enables the readers to be able to grasp the material being presented more easily. It also allows the reader to retain the information for a longer period of time. Graphs can show comparisons of different parts to each other. There are pictures which, as the proverb states, are worth a thousand words. Clip art can also be used to enhance certain parts of a technical writing to bring color and break the redundancy of a black and white document. Just adding graphs and pictures to a document does not always add to the documents appeal. It can also take away from a document appeal if not incorporated correctly. It takes a good writer to know not only when to use a graph or other visual aid but which type of graphic will best serve his or her purpose. A technical writer must consider the level of detail of the graphic, as well as, taking into consideration, the size and where to place the graphic on the page. Texture and colors should be used sparingly and should be limited to heading and or important information.

Every type of visuals has its beneficial role in designing a document. Therefore when using visual elements a technical writer should consider the purpose of each graph and when it should be used. Considering all graphs the benefits would be the ease of reading, comprehension and retention. Graphic design is extremely important, and usually readers are so impressed by the design alone that they would understand the document without reading the words.

Morally based consciousness used as a behavioral regulation mechanism is the best “shoot from the hip” definition of ethics that I can pull out of my little suitcase of words. As legalism is ruled by physical consequence, it is the social member that is aware of their own social quality that acts ethically. Society wide implications are at the core of one’s ethical presence in writing. The lifetime scope of a manuscripts audience is uncertain.

The utilitarian component of the ethically aware writer focuses on the macro social, post publication condition of the audience and future potential literate recipients. The motivations behind any publication that can be considered a “concern for the masses” would be utilitarian by ethical design.

The justice theories concentrate on social equality which is a good set of guidelines and principles that governs all social members. Wide spread social inclusiveness occupies the apex of this particular third slice of the ethical pie. I believe that political correctness would be a topic of thought and discussion for the justice theorist.

Honesty is an ethical principle that technical writers should adhere to and promote. It is the responsibility of the technical writer to give truthful and accurate information. The writer should not omit pertinent information that would change the audience’s perception of the information they are receiving.In technical writing it is important to not over emphasize or under emphasize facts to persuade a reader or an audience.  An example of this is omitting losses in earnings charts.  By omitting the information on years where the company did not realize profits, they could persuade investments that would not have been made if the facts were all present for review.. Honesty in technical writing is important to other ethical principles such as, legal and professional ethics. A technical writer has the obligation to research the laws both nationally and internationally and abide by those laws. Furthermore, a technical writer needs to understand moral ethics whether legal or not and communicate the information appropriately.

Confidentiality is one ethical principle that should be a guide in technical communications.  To divulge trade secrets, formula’s and confidential information about a company and it’s practices is unethical as long as the company is acting within moral and ethical boundaries and may also present legal issues.

The basic understanding of ethical principles help employees think about dilemmas on the job and make right decisions. Wherever the initiative comes, from you or higher instances, dishonesty is always a lie. When the employee is pressed to hide negative information or mislead by exaggerating or communicating the information in a way the product sounds better than it is, this leads to an unethical behavior.

A technical communicator has the obligation to help his organization treat its customers fairly, by providing safe and effective products or services. Fairness mean avoiding conflicts of interests that fit your own goals which are against the company ones. It’s also required to treat people equally regardless of their sex. religion, ethnicity, race, physical or mental ability.

Oatmeal & Uranium

There are two things that any writer needs to have (technical or otherwise) in order to be viable:

1. Something to write about
2. Someone to write it for.

Even if one were to write in a journal, it is written for somebody including one’s future self. A technically concise composition is the homogenization of content simplification and detail accentuation.

Let’s act as if we were to write a technical handbook on the process of cooking oatmeal. As a fictional oatmeal expert, all of the compositional subject matter is swimming around in our (the writers) heads. My potential recipient audience sits at the opposing side of a metaphorical valley.

The goal of the writer is to bridge this gap through organized phraseology.
Realizing the needs and expectations of the audience is another critical point for the technical writer at large. Most writings are scripted in order to inform, inspire or entertain. The technical script is a superficial informer. However, seasoning one’s stereo instructions with a little entertaining spice will help the critical information to  “stick” to the reader.

Back to oats. The process of cooking oatmeal is saturated with steps that need no explanations (washing dishes, opening containers and using serving bowls just to name a few). It is important for us to weed out the  secondary information from the specialized information. Details like cooking times, salt induction and stirring frequency are vital points to be made in our oats manual.
Let’s now make a small jump from oats to uranium. The process of creating synthetic divisions of atomic nuclei is complicated to say the least and I say this as an enthusiast, not an expert. Within the nuclear engineering community, items like feed water valves or reactor core levels are commonplace. Critical mass for the nuclear physicist is as familiar to them as a rolling boil is to the oatmeal chef.

The relational nature of the audience is critical when writing of technicalities. A cook will know what to do to achieve a rolling boil without the concentrated details of holding a pot, filling it with water, putting it on the burner, being specified in the oatmeal instructional manual. In this case, it seems that is not only what one writes, but also what one does not write as well.

A successful technical writer’s skill begins with the ability to write clearly and concisely, has good organizational skills, and the ability to persuade. A technical writer may write reports, manuals, or other company documents, that may contain complex information, and a successful writer has the ability to analyze his or her audience and is able to convey the information clearly with proper tone and logic.

A successful technical writing should posses a wide array of tools to convey his point of view. One important tool is a writer’s diction or vocabulary, well placed words can be very helpful and descriptive. Another key facet to a writer’s arsenal is proper punctuation and format. These things will help any writer push the envelope. In certain technical writings there is a need for an active imagination as well. This is important to a writers versatility

Attention to detail, information gathering and the ability to write clearly would be vital to becoming a successful technical writer. As a technical writer, there are ethical and legal obligations that a writer will encounter, and having these responsibilities, a technical writer will need to have a clear understanding of laws, as well as an understanding of morale ethics. A technical writer should also possess strong skills in using tools such as page layout programs, word processors and publishing tools.

Should Christians support the death penalty? The answer to that question is controversial. Many Christians feel that the Bible has spoken to the issue, but others believe that the New Testament ethic of love replaces the Old Testament law.
Old Testament Examples
Throughout the Old Testament we find many cases in which God commands the use of capital punishment. We see this first with the acts of God Himself. God was involved, either directly or indirectly, in the taking of life as a punishment for the nation of Israel or for those who threatened or harmed Israel.

One example is the flood of Noah in Genesis 6-8. God destroyed all human and animal life except that which was on the ark. Another example is Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18-19), where God destroyed the two cities because of the heinous sin of the inhabitants. In the time of Moses, God took the lives of the Egyptians’ first-born sons (Exod. 11) and destroyed the Egyptian army in the Red Sea (Exod. 14). There were also punishments such as the punishment at Kadesh-Barnea (Num. 13-14) or the rebellion of Korah (Num. 16) against the Jews wandering in the wilderness.

The Old Testament is replete with references and examples of God taking life. In a sense, God used capital punishment to deal with Israel’s sins and the sins of the nations surrounding Israel.

The Old Testament also teaches that God instituted capital punishment in the Jewish law code. In fact, the principle of capital punishment even precedes the Old Testament law code. According to Genesis 9:6, capital punishment is based upon a belief in the sanctity of life. It says, “Whoever sheds man’s blood by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God, He made man.”

Document design is concerned with creating text such as books, pamphlets, or posters that integrate words and pictures in ways that help people to achieve their specific goals for using texts at home, school, work, etc.. It is the bringing together of graphics (including illustrations and photography) for purposes of instruction, information or persuasion.  Remember that reader needs must ultimately drive the design. Document design is the act of writing and designing along with the skillful selection, structuring and emphasis of content with the reader’s needs in focus.

Use document design to help readers locate information and understand the structure and meaning of your material. Remember that the design of a document has both an informational and a physical aspect format and layout. Format refers to the arrangement of the document’s content into standard subject areas such as introduction, theory, method and results, discussion, and conclusions sections. Format also refers to the general design of standard document elements such as tables and figures, as well as citations. Format conventions are usually widely followed but may vary from field to field.

Technical Writing departments in their infancy seem to have great difficulty producing documentation that is well designed and consistent in appearance throughout all documents. As the department matures, it attempts to “consistify” the format of the documentation, but, unless there is an experienced template designer on board, this is often a drawn-out process involving focus groups and much squabbling.

A writer needs to consider the visual presentation of their document before writing in order to present the information in a way that increases the readability and understanding of the document.The four areas a writer is concerned with when writing a document are:

• Organization

• Order

• Access

• Variety

The organization of a document and its design is accomplished by breaking up the information into chunks (chunking). This is done effectively by creating headings and using white space correctly.

When the writer orders the ideas with different font sizes, font types and heading positioning, the queuing can make the priority of the information easier to understand.

Access of information can be accomplished by using bullets, numbering, boldface or caps to emphasize keywords. The document design can include underlining and font color too. When using headings with color the meaning of the paragraph stands out but over use of color or underlining can make the document harder to read.

Variety of the other areas used effectively uses white space and columns or gutter widths to break up the text and be more appealing to the reader.

There are ways to give your audience easy access to the information that they want. Indenting a new block of text is like opening a door and inviting the reader in. Bullets emphasize important items within the text. Numbering allows for easy access by showing sequence or importance. Boldface draws attention to key words or phrases and all caps highlights a danger or warning. Underlining, italics and highlighting can all be used similarly as highlighting techniques.

Pre writing does not consist of a single method. In fact, pre writing involves several techniques that can help you plan and write a far better paper than if you simply dove right in. Most people find that some pre writing strategies work better for them than others. Bubbling, like freewriting , is a great technique when you have not yet developed a clear idea of where you are going with your topic.

Determining one’s audience is the most critical part of prewriting. All the other techniques depend on who the audience is. The audience is the one thing that is pre-determined and not in your control.
To do this I would use the prewriting technique “Answering the Reporter’s Questions; who, what, when, where, why, and how.”
Once these are answered, the writer can start to build on the other four prewriting objectives:

1.Examine your purposes
2.Determine your goals
3.Gather your data
4.Determine how the content will be provided

By identifying the audience first you can make sure you gather the correct information more quickly and easily. You can focus on gathering data and performing research that is pertinent to the audience. In this manner, you don’t waste time or materials gathering data that you will not use. If your audience is high-tech, you need not define everything you would have to for a lay audience.

Selecting the audience helps to determine whether the data collected has any value. The determined goals are another consideration while evaluating the data. Determining how the content will be provided would follow the other steps. The writing process and each of the steps builds on one another. In order to retain the integrity and foundation of the goal and purpose of the document all steps should be completed and are equally important.

Instead of just turning on the computer and writing until you have the number of pages required for the assignment, you may want to try break the writing process down into small chunks. For example, set aside a specific block of time in your day (20 minutes or so) to brainstorm ideas for your paper. Once you have completed this step, take a break. Next, develop an outline that summarizes the main points you want to cover in your paper. After this step is finished, you may then begin to jot down some ideas that could be considered for a thesis statement. This whole process could take place within an hour, or you could spread it out over a day or two if you prefer.

The  pre-writing you do for your essay or manual can have big benefits. One major focus is that it will help you to find the focus of the paper. To find the focus you need to write a thesis statement. To decide on an organizational pattern, you need to consider a method of development. You need to consider several things simultaneously : Thesis, outline, and method of development. The thesis helps you shape your view or opinion on the subject, the outline helps you organize your presentation of the ideas, and the method of development helps you see the shape that your paper will take.