11.1 General guidelines for technical communication

Question 1

What are the basic tenets of effective communication for writing reports and giving oral presentations?

Answer 1

The basic elements of effective communication that apply to writing reports and giving oral presentations are:

1. Know your purpose.
2. Know your audience.
3. Choose and organize the content around your purpose and your audience.
4. Write precisely and clearly.
5. Design your pages well.
6. Think visually.
7. Write ethically!

Question 2

In addition to understanding what the artifact must be and do, what else must we understand?

Answer 2

We must know our purpose. Just as we want to understand what the designed object, must be and must do, we need to understand the goals of a report or presentation.

Question 3

What must a design team consider when structuring documentation materials?

Answer 3

When documenting a design, it is essential that a design team structure its materials to its targeted audience.

Question 4

What are two questions to consider as a part of knowing your audience?

Answer 4

Two crucial questions about the audience must be considered:

• What is the technical level of the target audience?
• What is their interest in the design being presented?

Question 5

Once you know your audience, what must be done?

Answer 5

Choose and organize the content around your purpose and your audience.

Question 6

How do you best reach an audience?

Answer 6

Select and organize the content around your purpose and your audience, so that it will reach its intended target. The key element is to structure the presentation to best reach the audience.

Question 7

What are some options for organizing information for an audience?

Answer 7

Different ways to organize information include:

• going from general concepts to specific details (analogous to deduction in logic)
• going from specific details to general concepts (analogous to induction or inference)
• describing devices or systems

Question 8

What is key to do once an organization pattern is chosen for communicating content to an audience?

Answer 8

Once an organizational pattern is chosen, no matter which form is used, the design team should translate the organizational pattern into a written outline.

Question 9

What is necessary to avoid when communicating content to an audience?

Answer 9

Avoid unnecessary repetition. The team should develop a unified, coherent document or presentation while avoiding needless repetition.

Question 10

What three elements allow a reader to understand directly what is being said or done?

Answer 10

The following three elements allow a reader to understand directly what is being said or done:

• effective use of short paragraphs that have a single common thesis or topic
• short, direct sentences that contain a subject and a verb
• active voice and action verbs

Question 11

What is a consideration for writing precisely and clearly regarding opinion and viewpoints?

Answer 11

Opinions or viewpoints should be clearly identified as such.

Question 12

How might writers support the organizational structure of a report?

Answer 12

Writers should judiciously use headings and subheadings, often identified by different fonts and underlining, to support the organizational structure of the report.

Question 13

How does the separation of long sections into several subsections enhance the reader’s experience?

Answer 13

A long section divided into several subsections helps readers to understand where the long section is going, and it sustains their interest over the journey.

Question 14

How might the writer guide the reader’s eye to key elements on the page?

Answer 14

Selecting fonts to highlight key elements or to indicate different types of information (i.e., new, important terms) guides the reader’s eye to key elements on the page.

Question 15

As what features do designs often begin?

Answer 15

Designs often start as sketches.

Question 16

As what features do analyses often begin?

Answer 16

Analyses often begin with either:

• free-body
• circuit diagrams

Question 17

What features do plans for realizing a design involve?

Answer 17

Plans for realizing a design involve graphics such as:

• objectives trees
• work breakdown structures

Question 18

What manner of presentation is most helpful for audiences in processing information?

Answer 18

Just as designers often find that visual approaches are helpful to them, audiences are helped by judicious use of visual representation of information.

Question 19

By what measures to designers often invest themselves in the design choices that they make?

Answer 19

Designers often invest themselves in the design choices they make in terms of:

• time
• effort
• values

Question 20

What are some unethical temptations in writing? What causes them?

Answer 20

Because designers often invest themselves in the design choices they make (in time, effort, and even values), it is, therefore, not surprising that there are temptations to present designs or other technical results in ways that not only show what is favorable, but that also suppress unfavorable data or issues.

Question 21

How do ethical designers present information?

Answer 21

Ethical designers:

• resist the temptation to present designs/results that are favorable and suppress the unfavorable.
• present facts
  
  • fully
  • accurately
  • honestly
• present all results or test outcomes
  
  • even those that are not favorable, are presented and discussed.
• describe limitations of a design
  
  • honestly
  • directly
• give credit where credit is due
  
  • (e.g. authors, previous researchers)