A Concise Guide to Technical Communication

Heather Graves, Roger Graves

• Publisher: Broadview Press
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781460407141

This compact but complete guide shows that less is more—with fewer extraneous details getting in the way of students trying to learn on the run, it allows them to focus on the most important principles of effective technical communication. The Concise Guide takes a rhetorical approach to technical communication; instead of setting up a list of rules that should be applied uniformly to all writing situations, it introduces students to the bigger picture of how the words they write can affect the people intended to read them. Assignments and exercises are integrated throughout to reinforce and test knowledge.

CHAPTER ONE

Audience, Purpose, Genre, and Medium

WHAT IS TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION?

Technical communication refers to the activity of preparing and publishing specialized information in a way that allows non-specialists to understand and use the information to accomplish some task. While the information can be presented verbally in an oral presentation, a class, or even over the phone, it most often takes a written or visual form. Although it was founded relatively recently (in 2005), YouTube^® has become a main outlet for video of all kinds. Over one billion people use YouTube—one out of every two Internet users. Today’s technical communicators have YouTube and many other online mediums for delivering content. Effective technical communication in 2020 demands multimedia approaches to communication, an understanding and ability to use social media, and fundamental rhetorical awareness of who you are communicating with (audience), what you are trying to communicate (message), why you are trying to communicate this message to this audience (purpose), how you propose to get the message across (genre), and what medium will best accomplish your purpose.

Here are some examples of technical communication:

■ online manuals (print or PDF versions as well as help screens)

■ assembly instructions for appliances, equipment, furniture, toys, and games

■ research articles that present scientific or technological discoveries

■ magazine articles that explain how to complete a process—preparing yellow chicken curry or a dovetail joint

■ training videos that demonstrate a process

■ instructions on how to register online or create an online account

■ online communities of users that exchange and/or continuously update technical information or document processes

In most cases, readers of technical communication come to the information to learn or to do something that otherwise they could not do. If effective, the technical communication should make it possible—and even easy—to comprehend the information and to act on it to perform the task. Technical documents generally share this main purpose: to inform.

HOW DOES TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION DIFFER FROM OTHER TYPES OF COMMUNICATION?

All writing takes place in a specific context, and all writing involves these elements: a writer/speaker, a message, and a reader/listener. Two of the main differences between technical communication and other types of communication are that 1) its subject matter usually requires some type of specialized knowledge and 2) it provides a bridge for the non-specialist reader to complete an action successfully. It also incorporates visual elements where they help readers more easily accomplish the task. Some people call technical communication “instrumental” because it works as an instrument or tool for people to get something done.

FIGURE 1.1

Kinneavy’s communication triangle.

Source: James L. Kinneavy, A Theory of Discourse (New York: Norton, 1971), 61. Reprinted with permission.

Figure 1.1 shows one way to think about the relationship between writer, reader, and text in any kind of writing. In this diagram, reality forms a third point on the triangle, which shapes the relationship between the writer (encoder), the reader (decoder), and the text or document (signal). In technical communication, the text represents a version of reality prepared by the writer for the reader. Each type of writing focuses on a different aspect of the triangle. For example, writing that focuses on the writer/speaker is called “expressive,” and examples include personal letters, diaries, and journals. Writing that focuses on the reader/listener is called “persuasive,” and examples include advertising and editorials in newspapers. Writing with a central focus on the text itself (the words) is “literary”; examples include the kinds of literature studied in English classes: poetry, fiction, and drama. Finally, writing that focuses on “reality” is technical and scientific and includes textbooks, user instructions, and reports.

One major flaw in this model is the omission of context. We could add it to the model as a rectangle around the triangle. While important in any writing, context is crucial in technical and professional communication because it affects how users understand texts. Ignoring context guarantees that your writing is unsuccessful: for example, you might create a short instructional video for operating a chainsaw but the operators’ context for viewing the video is outdoors with no place to set the device down and, and when the chainsaw is running, an environment too loud to hear any voiceover. A rectangular card, laminated in plastic, is a more usable format for this instructional information, one that recognizes the context for its use by the chainsaw operator and responds to this need.

FIGURE 1.2

Beale’s model of communication.

Source: Walter H. Beale, A Pragmatic Theory of Rhetoric (Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1987), 114. Reprinted with permission.

How can the communication triangle help you to evaluate the writing situation for particular documents? Gather and analyze some sample documents to find out. Focus on aspects that make it easier to think about the different angles of the communication situation as well as on those features that the triangle does not allow you to think about.

A second drawback to the communication triangle is that it encourages us to think that these different angles (writer, reader, text, and reality) are separate—that, for example, newspaper reports describe reality but do not try to persuade readers to adopt a perspective on the topic. The point is that rhetorical genres often—maybe always—overlap. A better way to show this overlapping is demonstrated in Figure 1.2.

You will notice that Beale’s categories for writing differ from those of the communication triangle. He discusses the purpose or aim of different types of writing. He focuses on aim to highlight the relationships created between the writer, the reader, reality, and the text in each type of writing. For example, poetic writing (or discourse) relates to the writer and enables the writer’s self-expression or self-exploration. Readers read poetic (or literary) discourse to explore writers’ personal visions. In contrast, writers of instrumental discourse link readers and reality: they provide information to help readers perform a particular action. This type of document becomes a tool to accomplish an action. Writers of rhetorical discourse aim to persuade readers—to change their minds about a particular issue or belief (or at least prompt them to consider the writer’s viewpoint, even briefly). And, finally, writers of scientific discourse seek to relate readers to reality differently from writers of instrumental discourse, by informing and educating readers about complex technical ideas.

Notice the arrows on Beale’s diagram: they indicate that a text—a newspaper report, for example—can sometimes have dual aims. It may inform you about some event while also trying to persuade you to condemn or applaud those events. In fact, some people argue that it is impossible for a piece of writing to have only one function. This view raises the possibility that every piece of writing does double work. For example, as a consumer, when you compare the assembly instructions for two different brands of bookshelves, you may decide to buy the one that presents the process as easy and pleasant (a persuasive goal) as well as clearly showing you how to do it (the instrumental goal). The instructions may start with a paragraph that describes the innovative features of the bookshelf design (informational and persuasive goals), while also including a list of tools you need for the assembly (an informational goal). How many different types of goals can you identify in several different writing samples?

IN-CLASS EXERCISE 1.1

Applying the Communication Triangle to Sample Documents

Assemble a collection of documents, some that are examples of technical communication and others that are examples of professional or business communication. For example, here is a selection of possible documents:

■ the user’s manual for an appliance such as a toaster oven

■ a flier that arrived in your junk mail recently

■ the installation guide that came with the mini-blinds (or other DIY product)

■ a brochure that you picked up in the grocery store or the doctor’s office

■ a letter from a non-profit organization asking for donations the bill from your phone

Now, analyze your collection of documents individually from the perspective of the communication triangle:

■ Who is the writer?

■ Who is the intended reader?

■ What are the purposes of the document?

■ What form does the document take?

■ In what way does the content of the document represent reality?

■ What characteristics do these documents share?

■ What limitations do you see to the communication triangle as you seek to apply it to the selection of documents that you collected?

NOTE ON CREATIVE VS. TECHNICAL WRITING

Many people who don’t know much about technical communication beyond their experience as a user struggling with poorly written assembly instructions or a badly organized appliance manual view technical communication as dull and uninspiring. When asked about it, they often contrast technical writing with creative or fiction writing. They think of the latter category as innovative, imaginative, and artistic, while they co...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• One: Audience, Purpose, Genre, and Medium
• Two: Ethical Issues of Technical Communication
• Three: Researching Technical Subjects
• Four: Writing Technical Prose
• Five: Visual Technical Communication
• Six: Essentials of Workplace Communication
• Seven: Progress Reports, White Papers, and Recommendation Reports
• Eight: Reporting Technical Information
• Nine: Technical Communication Online
• Ten: Presenting Technical Information Orally