technical writing for industrial wastewater operators steve frank, mc, apr, wef fellow sdf...
TRANSCRIPT
Technical Writing forIndustrial Wastewater Operators
Steve Frank, MC, APR, WEF Fellow
SDF Communications, [email protected]
Wisdom of my 7th grade teacher
If you can’t write it, you don’t understand it
Four types of writing
Technical News/Other media Academic Literary
Technical
Correspondence Letters Memos – The “old” writing E-mail – The “new” writing
Reports Technical Narrative
Proposals Job procedures, instructions
News/Other Media
Newspaper
Magazine
Audio/video scripts
Three purposes
To inform
To entertain
To persuade
Your writing strategy
What do you need to say?
Who do you need to say it to?
What do you need them to do after they read what you wrote?
Simple communication model
Message
Channel
Source(You)
Receiver(Audience)
Encode Decode
Your audience
Source: You are the source. You know something that someone else needs to know
Analysis: You select the information to include—and the information to exclude
Audience: Those who will read what you write and make decisions based upon it
Translation decisions: Decisions you make in adapting your information to the audience
Prose literacy levels in the U.S.*
14% Below basic – Can perform no more than the most simple and concrete literacy skills
29% Basic – Can perform simple and everyday literacy actives
44% Intermediate – Can perform moderately challenging literacy activities
13% Proficient – Can perform complex and challenging literacy activities
*National Adult Literacy Survey, 2003
Other audience factors
Age Race Language (11 million
adults are non-literate in English)
Country of origin Education level Economic status We’re all busy (Most
people read at 200 wpm)
In general, e-mail: Not as formal as a
letter More immediate tone
than a letter Generally shorter than
letters
Can also be made to sound formal
At the top
Emails are usually formatted as follows:From:To:Cc:Subject:
From, To, and Cc help get the email where it’s going. Subject says what it’s about
Blank e-mail screen in Outlook
Grab attention with subject
Use the subject line to grab reader’s attention
Squeeze key information into 8 words Use caps and lower case DON’T use ALL CAPS. IT’S LIKE
SHOUTING Example: Report of traffic accident;
nobody hurt
Composing the report
Example: You were in a traffic accident. You need to report it to your boss and the safety office.
On a clean sheet of paper, jot down all the facts about the accident that seem relevant.
Think about how you would say this if you just said it orally to a friend. What are the most important facts?
Ask yourself: who, what, when, where, how, why.
Content
Begin with the most important information first: “I was in a traffic accident this morning. I am OK and the truck is drivable but will need some body repairs.”
With the information above, a busy person can decide to read the rest or close it and move on.
The rest of the story…
On March 27 at about 6 a.m. I was driving truck no. 172 west on CO 128 about two miles from where it intersects CO 93. A deer jumped out on the road from my right side. I jammed on the brakes. The right front fender and headlight hit the deer, breaking the headlight.
Nobody was hurt. The deer jumped up and ran off. The truck can be driven to the repair shop. I reported the accident to the police. They came and took a report. No ticket was issued.
Did you…?
Fill in all the addressees in the TO and CC line after you wrote, proofed the email?
Make sure any attachments are attached? Make sure pertinent details were included? Make sure irrelevant details were
eliminated? Make sure your conclusion(s) are supported
by facts?
Relax, review, revise
Take a breath Check to see all needed information
included Use and pay attention to spell check,
basic grammar, and punctuation Revise and correct errors before you send
your e-mail Check readability of your copy using
www.Storytoolz.com
Use spell check in Outlook
Value of brevity
Who else might the addressees forward your email to
Consider your readers’ time. A 600-word memo takes 3 minutes to read
“I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” —Mark Twain
What to say, Who to, & Why
Questions