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Tech Comm overview

Tech Comm overview. The Basics, Connections to Rhetoric, and some Advanced Theory . Simple definitions. “The art of writing technical materials that nobody wants to read .” “A multi-stepped process of managing technical information that allows people to take action .”.

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Tech Comm overview

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  1. Tech Comm overview The Basics, Connections to Rhetoric, and some Advanced Theory

  2. Simple definitions • “The art of writing technical materials that nobody wants to read.” • “A multi-stepped process of managing technical information that allows people to take action.”

  3. Many branches of one tree • Technical writers • Technical Illustrators • Information Architects • Search Engine Marketers/Optimiziers • Interface Designers • Technical Trainers • Translators • Professors/Teachers

  4. A process & Mindset • Planning and Researching • Organizing and Drafting • Improving the Style • Designing the Document • Testing, Revising, Editing • Finished Document GENRE CONCERNS This process is not as linear as this list suggests; technical communicators will move back and forth amongst the stages as needed throughout the design of a document.

  5. Genres- More than a guide or template • Professional Letters, Emails, Memos • Technical Descriptions • Instruction Sets and Documentation • Proposals • Analytical Reports/White Papers • Activity Reports • Usability Reports

  6. mindset • Keen awareness to the effects of language and how language works • Ego-less & Thick-Skinned • Awareness that visuality is not gloss but creates meaning • Comfortable/Familiar with technology- especially online and social media • Inquisitive and Curious • Rhetorical

  7. Rhetoric is not a bad word

  8. Rhetoric • The art of successful communication • The process of finding all the available means of persuasion in argumentation • The process of composing “texts” in a manner that takes into account the variety of ever-changing factors that decide the texts’ potential effectiveness • Makes communication possible at all

  9. Rhetorical situation • The inter-related cluster of concerns that should be considered in any communicative setting. • The rhetorical situation acknowledges that the best communication happens in complex spaces where many decisions have been made long before any communication or drafting of a text begins.

  10. One version Context of Use Purpose Audience/Readers Genre Medium

  11. Purpose • Persuasive: • Persuade • Influence • Recommend • Change • Advocate • Defend • Justify • Support • Urge Informative: • Inform • Describe • Define • Review • Instruct • Notify • Advise • Demonstrate

  12. Audience/Readers

  13. Audience/Readers • Education Level • Technical Knowledge • Cultural Matters • What They Will use the Document for • Age • Gender • Race • Title- esteem • Subject Familiarity • Attention Level

  14. Genre Note: Some of these (such as Support documents) will have varying genre expectations based on the medium (i.e., print support has different demands than online support) • Memos • Emails • Descriptions • Proposals • Activity Reports • Analytical Reports • Resumes • White Papers • Help/Support Documents

  15. Medium • Print • Grammar/Punctuation • Font Choices • White Space • Layout • Quality of Material • Size of Material • Additional Resources

  16. Medium • Primarily Visual • Understanding an image • Zoom level/various scales • Universal symbols • Consistency of angle, aspect, spatial arrangement • Color or black and white • Color is essential to the meaning • Level of detail

  17. Medium • Web • Usability • Ease of interaction • organization/flow • Navigation • Sensible, easy • Emphasis • Contrast • Color • sizes

  18. Context of use • Physical placement of the user • How much time they have to look it over • Proportion in relation to value • Time of use • Geographical location • Need for preservation

  19. Aristotle’s proofs Logos: appeals to reason through data, examples, logic, and organization Pathos: appeals to emotion and empathy Ethos: credibility of the speaker/writer and how this affects their argument

  20. Pathos • T.C. often seen as a field where emotional appeals are frowned upon . . . • Challenger Memo • Proposal Pandering • . . . but this is not entirely true • Design • Urgency/Exigency

  21. Professional ethos • In-Writing • Style • Tone • Punctuation • Grammar • Citation • Sensitivity to cross-cultural influence and disabilities • In-Person • Dress • Voice • Presence • Preparedness • Timeliness • Fairness • Collaboration • Knowing your role

  22. Stasis: A theory of solving conflicts and persuading ethically • Rhetorical theory of building power with instead of power over • Process of moving from theory to action while working with others • Against the idea that to “win” an argument someone else must “lose” • Finds ways for disagreeing parties to still communicate and move forward

  23. 4 stages of stasis • Investigate the facts (conjecture) • Define the issue and the terms involved (definition) • Define the seriousness of the issue (quality) • The plan of action (policy)

  24. This Company is bugging me “I have no problem with the company implanting RFID chips in our palms. The company’s info is more secure, I can carry less stuff on my person, and it’s not like I even know it’s there.” “An RFID chip is an invasion of my body’s personal space, with potential health consequences, and will allow the company to potentially track my whereabouts.”

  25. Facts (conjecture) • The company is going to do this whether anyone likes it or not • There is precedence set where other companies have already done this • RFID chips can technically be used for purposes other than what the company is stating*

  26. Definition • “Privacy” • “Safety” (personal) • “Security” (company) • Instead of getting bogged down in whether this should happen, or if the company has the “right” to do it, the team would be better served defining these terms in a way that accommodates competing definitions

  27. Seriousness (quality) • The group needs to come together and realize that the concerns of the dissenters are just as valid as those who have no problem with the idea. • If this hasn’t happened yet, more time needs to be spent at the level of definition

  28. Plan of action (Policy) • Ideally, the policy will ultimately reflect the definitional work, respect the seriousness of the issue, and alleviate fears about problematic facts • “Ok, we agree that the company can do this but disagree that there are no problems that come with it.” • “Yes. So we can include in the policy elements that alleviate anxieties.” • “We want to do more than alleviate anxieties. The facts show that abuse is possible.” • “I see. Perhaps we can build in some checks and balances that show abuse is not happening.” • “This would be good. It would also help to use language that is sensitive to privacy issues since this is the core of the disagreement.”

  29. Where we don’t go in 2310 • Rhetoric is rooted in the humanistic tradition • Recognizes value and agency of human beings • Values creativity, inquiry, skepticism • Champions equality of all people • Interested in welfare of all people • Open to alternative self-identities, lifestyles, and ways of being • Engineering teachers will sometimes warn of letting people trained in classical rhetoric or literature teach technical writing because they "risk having their students taught principles that are in conflict with engineering principles.” Mathes, J.C, Dwight W. Stevenson, and Peter Klaver. "Technical Writing: The Engineering Educator's Responsibility." Engineering Education 69 (1979): 331-34.

  30. Comparison The Corporate World • Workers often treated as serving a specific function; agency stifled by corporate needs • Profit can trump human needs • Employee as easily replaceable cog in the machine • Genres can stifle creativity • Skepticism (especially about company ethics or values) can be dangerous • Problems with gender, racial, and sexual orientation equality are FAR from solved • Recognizes value and agency of human beings • Values creativity, inquiry, skepticism • Champions equality of all people • Interested in welfare of all people • Open to alternative self-identities, lifestyles, and ways of being

  31. Back to Rhetoric • The Corporate world sees your abilities as what Aristotle called techne • A set of skills that can be removed from the author- packaged and sold – relieving the author of any responsibility • A Humanist approach sees your abilities as praxis • A process/practice of taking and making responsible social action for the self & others • Techne has no other end than itself. Praxis aims for responsible, social action.

  32. A Professor’s options • (1) I can get with the program, change my values and become a representative of the technological society • (2) I can leave the profession of teaching technical writing • (3) I can become schizophrenic • (4) I can figure out how to change my course so that it at once teaches the discourse appropriate for the technological world and makes students aware of the values embedded in such discourse and the dehumanizing effects of it. • Dale Sullivan

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