Technical writing

1. Technical writing September 19, 2012

2. Today • Memos (continued)

3. Assignment 1 Due this Friday (11:59 p.m.) Email: kachomework@gmail.com Recipient: H.K. Floppywick, HR Manager

4. Memo (Memorandum) • Memos are brief “in-house “ correspondences sent throughout companies and organizations. “in-house” = within a company/organization.

5. Memos Memos serve a variety of functions: - making an announcement- providing instructions - clarifying a policy/procedure/issue - changing a policy or procedure - alerting employees to a problem or issue - offering general information - providing a brief summary - making a request, - offering suggestions • calling a meeting • AND MORE!!

7. Memo Format • Memos consist of two parts: • 1. The identifying information at the top (to, from, date, subject) - Heading • 2. The message.

11. Heading format Memorandum To: recipient (individual or group) From: you (or office or group) Date: Month date, year Subject: (what the memo is about) • Use correct names for recipients. • Include recipients (and your) titles when appropriate.

12. Heading format To: H.K. Floppywick, Manager Campus bookstore From: Prof. Bob Noddington Department of International Relations Room 527, KAC 580-7896 Date: September 18, 2012 Subject: Request for new textbooks to support ongoing research ($800)

13. Heading format Generally, single-spaced. To: H.K. Floppywick, From: Prof. Bob Noddington Date: September 18, 2012 Subject: Request for new textbooks to support ongoing research ($800)

14. To: H.K. Floppywick, Manager Campus bookstore From: Prof. Bob Noddington Department of International Relations Room 527, KAC580-7896 Date: September 18, 2012 Subject: Request for new textbooks to support ongoing research ($800)

15. Heading: subject line Subject: textbooks • This could mean anything from textbooks for class, to stolen textbooks. • IMPORTANT: be specific and concise in the subject line. Subject: Request for new textbooks to support ongoing research ($800) Subject: Missing textbooks from Rm. 524.

16. Vague: Energy Use Specific: Low-Cost Way to Reduce Energy Use Vague: Building Temperatures Specific: Effectiveness of Reducing Building Temperatures on Weekends Heading: subject line Sample Subject lines

17. Memo Format • No salutation (Dear Chris, Dear Employees,)  Omit • No close (Sincerely, Cordially,)  Omit • No signature

18. Memo Format • Full block format (do not indent)

20. Memo Format • Paragraph headings are optional. • NEVER use a heading for the first paragraph. • Double-space BETWEEN paragraphs.

21. Organizing Memos • Organize your memos so that readers can find information quickly and act on it promptly. • There is more than one way to organize a memo.

25. Strategies for Organizing Memos • For longer, more complex memo communications, divide your memo into three parts: • Introduction • Body (Discussion) • Conclusion

26. Strategies for Organizing Memos • Introduction: Tell readers clearly about the issue or policy, explain any background information the reader needs to know, and be specific about what you are going to accomplish in your memo.

27. Strategies for Organizing Memos 2. Body (Discussion): State why a problem or procedure is important and who will be affected by it, indicate why changes are necessary, and give precise dates, times, locations, and costs.

28. Strategies for Organizing Memos 3. Conclusion: Ask readers to call you if they have questions, request a reply, and provide a list of recommendations.

29. Strategies for Organizing Memos • Keep your paragraphs SHORT! - fewer than 8 lines. • Use headings, lists, and tables where appropriate. • Make an active conclusion - make it clear what you expect, or encourage contact.

30. Structure of persuasive memos: Attention: Your opening introduces your topic and encourages your audience to hear more about your main idea. Interest: Your explanation presents reasons and incites the interest of your audience. Desire: Your continued explanation presents additional benefits of your idea and changes your audience’s attitude. Action: Your close emphasizes benefits and motivates your audience to take specific action. A I D A Writing Persuasive Memos

31. More about writing style “There are times when the more the authors explain, the less we understand. Apes certainly seem capably of using language to communicate. Whether scientists are remains doubtful.” Douglas Chadwick, NYT

32. Example Our lack of data prevented evaluation of state actions in targeting funds to areas in need of assistance. Because we lacked data, we could not evaluate whether the state had targeted funds to areas that needed assistance. 

33. Clarity: Actions • Use subjects to name your central characters. • Express their most important actions as verbs.

34. Verb  Noun = Nominalization Examples: discover  discovery resist  resistance different  difference proficient  proficiency Nominalization makes for a noun-heavy writing style that is complex and hard to understand.

35. How to fix it • Diagnosis • Analysis • Revision (J. Williams, Style, p. 54, 55)

36. Please fix: The agency conducted an investigation into the matter. The agency investigated the matter.  There was first a review of the evolution of the dorsal fin. First, she reviewed how the dorsal fin evolved. 

37. Use characters as your subjects • A character is whatever entity you can tell a story about, such as: • you • the school • the Executive Committee • the Democratic party • freedom of speech • health care costs

38. Active vs. passive voice Choose the passive voice when you don’t know who did it, your readers don’t care who did it, or you don’t want them to know who did it.

39. Example Those who are found guilty can be fined. Once the design was publicized, it was widely adopted.  

40. A style that seems complex … • may be necessary to express complex ideas precisely. • may gratuitously complicate already complex ideas. • may gratuitously complex simple ideas. 

41. Cohesion • Move from old information to new. • Arrange topics in a logical order. • Start sentences with ideas that you have already described, or with something you can safely assume the reader already knows. • Keep your topics short and reasonably consistent.

42. Syntactic complexity • In general, readers best comprehend long complex units after they have read a relatively short and clear subject+verb sequence. • Place technical terms new to the reader not at the beginning, but towards the end of the sentence.

43. Example To help in the efforts of ABCO, Inc., to develop medical policies in regard to coverage of employees engaged in high-risk activities, Dr. Jones has served as a medical consultant. Dr. Jones has served as a medical consultant to help ABCO, Inc., develop medical policies in regard to coverage of employees engaged in high-risk activities. 

44. Clarity, grace and concision • Delete words that mean little or nothing. • Delete words that repeat other words. • Delete words whose meaning the reader can infer from other words. • Replace a phrase with a word. • Change unnecessary negatives to affirmatives.

45. Example Memorandum Date: Mon, 22 September 2008 From: Susannah Beech, Human Resources Administrator To: Metro Power Employees Subject: Coping tactics for technical failures This is a reminder that computer problems should be reported to Bart Stone immediately, and the violent tempers in the workplace cannot be tolerated. Recently, three Metro employees were fired because of violent outbursts after an equipment failure. One woman was kicking her printer and screaming obscenities. A man threw his keyboard across the room when he couldn’t get on the Intranet, and a third employee put a fist through his computer screen after the system failed. We try to avoid firing people, but these employees frightened co-workers, so we had no choice. We will do the same to anyone who screams at their computers or kicks their printers in the future. You can laugh, but it’s not funny. This is akin to workplace terrorism. Computers should be turned off at night, cleaned with cleaning cloths, and food and drink products avoided. There are many ways to combat rising tempers. Walks around the building are a good tactic for calming down. Technology glitches are not some unholy terror. They are commonplace. Let’s behave like adults in the future, shall we?

46. Example - Improved Memorandum Date: Mon, 22 September 2008 From: Susannah Beech To: Metro Power Employees Subject: Coping tactics for technical failures  We all know the stress of racing toward a deadline and suddenly having your equipment fail. Here are a few suggestions to help you stave off—and cope with—technical equipment and systems failures when they do occur: - Stay cool. Tech failures are commonplace in business; your bosses and co-workers will understand. - Practice preventive maintenance. Use cleaning cloths and sprays regularly, keep liquids and foods away from sensitive keyboards and printers, and make sure systems are shut down when you leave at night. - For faster repair assistance, promptly report computer failures to Bart Stone, assistant director of information services, ext. 2238. The last suggestion is perhaps the most important to keep your career on track. Lost tempers, violent outbursts, and rude language are threatening to co-workers, and could result in reprimands or other disciplinary action. So stay calm and make good use of technical support hotlines and assistance. Ask your supervisor for a list of support numbers to keep handy. The next time you experience a technology glitch, you’ll be able to handle it as just another aspect of your business routine.