Technical Writing Is Communication Written For and About Business and Industry
Technical Writing Is Communication Written For and About Business and Industry
Technical Writing Is Communication Written For and About Business and Industry
focusing on products and services: how to manufacture them, market them, manage them,
deliver them, and use them. It is a broad term that encompasses a wide variety of documents in
science, engineering, and the skilled trades. It is also the resum that helps get a job and the web
page that promotes a company. Technical writing can be an instructional manual for repairing
machinery, a memo listing meeting agendas, a letter from a vendor to a client, a recommendation
report proposing a new computer system. Thats why technical writing is so important.
Five Traits of Technical Writing
1. Clarity
It is the most important criteria for effective technical writing. It is achieved through
specificity.
2. Conciseness
It has unique importance in technical writing. It is achieved through short
words/sentences by avoiding redundancy, prepositional phrases, and passive voice.
3. Accessible Document Design
Wall-to-wall words turn off readers. Highlighting techniques make the text open, airy,
and inviting!
4. Audience Recognition
Who is writing to whom? What does the audience know, need to know, and want to
know? When your audience fails to understand the text, you have failed to communicate!
Thus,
5. Accuracy
Effective technical writing must be correct, whether grammatically, mathematically,
electronically, etc. Errors in technical writing make the company and the employee look
bad. More importantly, errors can lead to damages, injuries, lawsuits, or just
embarrassment and misunderstandings