Table of Contents

Preface

1. Thinking about Audience, Purpose, and Genre

What is technical communication?
How does it differ from other types of writing?
Creative vs. technical writing
Who are these “users”?
How do you learn about your users?
Reaching your primary users
Why are you writing?
What is genre?

2. Leading and Misleading the Reader: Ethical Issues of Technical Communication

Ethics at work
Ethics for students
How is ethics related to technical communication?
Writing ethically
Using visuals ethically to communicate effectively
Visuals that confuse or mislead

3. Researching Technical Subjects

Primary research: Interviewing
Primary research: Conducting surveys
Secondary research: Finding print and online sources
Citing and paraphrasing researched sources

4. Writing Technical Prose

What is style?
Sentence composition
Figurative language
Analysing prose
Analysing style
Argumentation: Constructing a persuasive case
Defining, describing, and explaining

5. Designing Documents and Page Layout

What is document design?
What are the elements of document design?
Strategic solutions: Four design principles
Designing a layout grid

6. Writing Winning Proposals

Why write proposals?
What kinds of proposals are there?
What is a proposal?
When should you decline to write a proposal?
How do proposals get evaluated?
Who is the audience for a proposal?
How do you analyze a RFP?
Sample RFP analysis
What are the components of an argument?
How do you organize a proposal?
What is the standard generic format for a proposal?

7. Reporting Technical Information

Status or progress reports
White papers or information reports
What information do you put in a white paper?
How do you reach the audience for a white paper?
What are some useful strategies that will increase the effectiveness of your white paper?
One expert’s helpful hint
Usability test your white paper
The laboratory report
Recommendation reports

8. Writing How-To Documents: Instructions, Procedures, and Manuals

What makes instructional documents good?

9. Testing and Reporting Document Usability

What is usability?
Why test for usability?
What is a usability test?
What is the purpose of a usability test?
Planning the test
Designing the test
Conducting the test
Reporting your results
Rhetorical challenges of writing a usability report
Acting on your plans for revision

10. Taking Technical Communication Online: Sharing Documents Electronically and Writing Online Documents

What is structured documentation?
Converting documents to portable document file (PDF) format
Sharing documents electronically
Shared folders and documents posted online
Writing online documents

11. Presenting Technical Information Orally

Common speaking occasions
Guidelines for preparing presentations
Guidelines for giving presentations

References