Technical Communications Presentation
- 1. TECHNICAL COMMUNICATIONS Tips and Hints to Help with Technical Writing By: Connie Kimeu
- 2. In this presentation you will find 5 tips and tricks to writing professionally that anyone can use! These tips are meant to help a student or a professional hone their skills for technical writing. 5 TIPS AND TRICKS
- 3. USE OF A WRITING PYRAMID Identifying the main message or the “summary statement” will help your readers understand the context of why you are writing to them and will identify what point or points are most important in the document. After the main statement has been developed you insert the “background” information which leads up to the main point. Once the “background” has been laid then the facts need to be listed to support the main point and gives the readers the details of what the main point is about. Lastly the outcome or the results of the main point are established and serves as a close of the document.
- 4. COLON AND SEMICOLON USE Colon : Semicolon ; Colon use is indicated when there Semicolon use is indicated when will be a list, summary, or quote there are two separate clauses being used within a sentence. that are related to each other. Example: Example: There are only three kinds of people: The children cam home today; they the good, the bad, and the ugly. had been gone for over two weeks.
- 5. T Y P E S O F C O M PA R AT I V E A N A LY S I S R E P O RT S Objective Subjective In this type of comparative In this type of comparative analysis report the writer’s analysis report the writer’s opinions are spread throughout opinions are not expressed until the report to help the reader the very end of the report as understand what the writer’s part of the conclusion to the thoughts and feelings are about a report. particular topic.
- 6. T H E I M P O R TA N C E O F C I T I N G SOURCES It’s extremely important to cite Chicago your sources. Not citing sources is APA called plagiarism and is considered CSE “stealing”. There are several MLA different types of citations Turabian depending on the institution requiring a document.
- 7. WHEN TO CITE? Whenever you use a quote, paraphrase, summarize, or otherwise refer to the work of another person or entity, you are required to cite its source. You can do this by way of parentheses or by usage of a footnote. You must also develop a bibliography which lists the references completely with any identifying information.
- 8. E-MAIL SUBJECT LINES When using e-mail to communicate with others it is very important that you are using the subject lines properly. Try to keep the subject line meaningful and try to avoid overloading on attachments. Make sure you are proofreading the subject line before sending out the e-mail and try not to use all capital letters as is suggests “yelling”. Don’t assume that what you write will remain private. Always write as if you know the e-mail will be public knowledge.
- 9. REFERENCES Slide 3 Blicq, R., & Moretto, L. (2004). Technically Write! In R. Blicq, & L. Moretto, Sixth Edition (pp. 24-26). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall. Slide 4 Blue, T. (2000, August 17). Colons, Semicolons, and Bears! Retrieved September 12, 2011, from Grammartips.Homestead.com: http://grammartips.homestead.com/colons.html Unknown. (n.d.). Using Semicolons. Retrieved September 12, 2011, from Connect.MSBCollege.edu: Semicolons Presentation
- 10. REFERENCES Slide 5 Blicq, R., & Moretto, L. (2004). Technically Write! In R. Blicq, & L. Moretto, Sixth Edition (pp. 105-107. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall. Slide 6-7 Duke University Libraries. (n.d.). Citing Sources. Retrieved September 12, 2011, from Library.Duke.edu: Duke Library Citing Sources
- 11. REFERENCES Slide 8 Bauer, J., & Jerz, D. G. (2001, March 8). Writing Effective E-Mail: Top 10 Tips. Retrieved September 12, 2011, from Jerz's Literacy Webblog: http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/e-text/email/
Editor's Notes
- #4: Using a writing pyramid can help the writer to focus on the main topic. Development of the main topic should be interest-catching for the reader. After the main point has been established then the writer can go on to give the pertinent information that forms the background for the topic. Once the background has been laid out and the reader has an understanding of the circumstances surrounding the main point then the writer includes facts that support the main point. After the main point, the background information, and the facts have been added then the writer must conclude the document with the outcomes involved in the situation.
- #5: There are a list of websites that have useful information on the proper use of colons and semicolons. Often for students as well as professionals using these within sentences can be difficult as it is easy to confuse them. References for this slide can be found at the end of the presentation.
- #6: Sometimes it is hard to stay in one mode of writing whether it is objective or subjective. The type of report you want to compile will depend on whether or not your opinions will be “salted” throughout the report or only included as part of a “conclusion” paragraph at the very end of the report.
- #8: References used in slides 6 and 7 are found in the references slide at the end of the presentation.
- #9: References for this slide can be found at the end of the presentation.