Five Traits of Technical Writing

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Five Traits of Technical Writing
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Definition of Technical Writing

• technical writing author gives info so
• reader can perform a task or make a
• decision

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Examples of Technical Writing

• business letters
• business emails
• reports
• forms
• résumés

• schedules
• recipes
• instructions
• calendars
• this PowerPoint

(author gives info so reader can perform a task
or make a decision)
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Technical Writing vs. Others
formal
less formal
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Five Traits of Technical Writing

• 1. Clear
• 2. Concise
• 3. Accessible Design
• 4. Accurate
• 5. Aware of Audience

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Five Traits of Technical Writing

• 1. Clear
• All readers interpret same way
• Word choice important
• Shorter sentences for complex content

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Five Traits of Technical Writing

• 1. Clear
• If not clear, writers time wasted
• If not clear, real problems can occur

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Five Traits of Technical Writing

• Clear
• The school carnival on
• February 2 will feature
• ponies, a clown who
• juggles plates, and other
• attractions.

• Confusing
• For the school carnival, we
• are trying to get that clown
• who juggles plates and
• ponies and some other
• things.

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Five Traits of Technical Writing

• 2. Concise short and to the point

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Five Traits of Technical Writing

• 2. Concise
• Working people -- busy!
• Clear, precise wording

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Five Traits of Technical Writing

• Concise
• Because of rain,
• the game will be
• postponed.
• (8 words--cool)

• Wordy
• Due to the fact that
• we are experiencing
• precipitation, the
• game will be played
• at a future date that
• will be determined.
• (22 words--not cool)

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Five Traits of Technical Writing

• 3. Accessible Design
• The document is easy
• on your readers eyes,
• easy to navigate.

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Five Traits of Technical Writing

• 3. Accessible Design
• Use text features
• Titles/headings
• Bold lettering
• Bulleted lists
• White space

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Five Traits of Technical Writing That You Need to
Know to Succeed and Do Well with the Workplace
Writing You Will Do in the Future

• This slide is an example of a document that lacks
  accessible
• design. The space is crammed full from one
  margin to the other
• margin. There are almost no text features and
  almost no white
• space. The font is pretty, but it is tough on
  the eyes. The color
• of the font also makes this a bit tricky to read.
  The reader takes
• one look at this and dreads reading it. The
  writer needed to
• take the time to make this document more
  considerate for the
• reader.

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Five Traits of Technical Writing

• 3. Accessible Design
• Ahhh . . . isnt this slide easier on the eyes?

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Five Traits of Technical Writing

• 4. Accurate
• Must be accurate in
• spelling and grammar
• math
• all aspects

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Five Traits of Technical Writing

• 4. Accurate
• Errors
• mak u look bad
• mak ur compiny look bad
• coz real problemz

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Five Traits of Technical Writing

• 5. Aware of Audience - know the kind of person
  for whom you are writing
• High-tech peer?
• Low-tech peer?
• Lay person?

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Five Traits of Technical Writing

• 5. Aware of Audience
• High-tech Peer - knows as much,
• or more, as writer knows about topic
• Low-tech Peer - has some knowledge of topic .
  . . but not as much as writer
• Lay Person - knows nothing, or almost
• nothing, about the topic

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Five Traits of Technical Writing

• If your workplace writing has these five traits .
  . .
• Clear
• Concise
• Accessible design
• Aware of audience
• Accurate . . .
• you will lead a happy life!

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Be able to

• Define technical writing.
• Give 3 specific examples of technical writing.
• List the 5 traits of technical writing and say a
  few words about each one.
• Define the word concise.
• Define the term high-tech peer.
• Define the term low-tech peer.
• Define the term lay person.