ENGR 1200 Business Letters and Memoranda

1
ENGR 1200Business Letters and Memoranda

• Write as if your job depended upon it!
• (Because it does)

2
The Awful TruthEngineers are seen as terrible
communicators

• Examples from industry
• ICE-49 the triumph of jargon over reason
• I couldnt constraint
• Youre dead in the water!
• the written and verbal communication
  skills of a high-school sophomore
• personnel were billeted at the Holiday Inn.

3
The Awful Truthits not just a problem in
industry

• Examples from UT-Tyler
• This is what we got for this part of the
  experiment.
• What do you mean by second person?
• Compared to a 741, this op amp was a screamer
• Circus analysis

4
One response plagiarism

• ENGR 1200 Technical paper
• Continuing progress in airfoil design is likely
  in the next few years, due in part to advances in
  viscous computational capabilities. One example
  of an emerging area in airfoil design is the
  constructive use of separation.
• ENGR 1200 Laboratory report by the same student
• Although the results turned out somewhat
  accurate they were not at 0 difference, which
  was the overall goal of the experiment. The
  reason for this was because the electricity was
  drifting therefore creating inaccurate results.
  Another factor was that the alligator clips were
  slightly touching each other and that can cause
  the electricity to migrate slightly.
• Does this sound like the work of the same
  student?

5
What did I write while I was a working engineer?

• Project documentation electrical schematics,
  parts lists, software listings, laboratory
  notebook entries
• Internal reports (e.g., analysis of failure of
  lot-certification samples) and memoranda
• External reports to other companies
• Letters to vendors
• Test procedures
• Reports of contacts with customers including
  records of telephone calls
• Resumes and letters for job applications

6
What have I written as a graduate student or as a
faculty member?

• MS thesis
• Dissertation
• Resume and job application letters
• Letters of reference for former students applying
  for jobs
• Technical papers for publication
• Project proposals
• Laboratory procedures
• EE Laboratory Report Style Guide (in conjunction
  with Dr. Luke Niiler of Literature and Languages)

7
What have I written as a graduate student or as a
faculty member?

• Transfer information for EE students (EE web
  page)
• Lead author, BSEE program self-study for
  accreditation
• EE program flowcharts (EE web page)
• Consulting reports
• Minutes of EE faculty meetings
• Letters explaining why (or why not) a particular
  student was qualified to graduate
• Application for tenure and promotion
• Letters of allegation of academic dishonesty and
  letters of reprimand for student files

8
General guidelines for business letters and
memorandafrom Pfeiffer, W. S., Technical
communicationa practical approach, 6th Ed.,
Prentice-Hall

• Guideline 1 Know your purpose
• State at the outset the purpose in writing your
  letter or memo.
• Guideline 2 Know your readers
• Whom are you trying to reach or influence? Are
  your readers engineers or technically-trained
  persons? (Too many engineers fail to recognize
  that not everyone understands their jargon and
  language).

9
General guidelines for business letters and
memorandafrom Pfeiffer, W. S., Technical
communicationa practical approach, 6th Ed.,
Prentice-Hall

• Guideline 3 Follow a recognized format
• Letters block format, modified block format, and
  simplified format.
• Memos Date / To / From / Subject
• Guideline 4 Follow the ABC (Abstract / Body /
  Conclusion) format
• Guideline 5 Follow the CCC method for persuasive
  writing Capture, Convince, Control

10
General guidelines for business letters and
memorandafrom Pfeiffer, W. S., Technical
communicationa practical approach, 6th Ed.,
Prentice-Hall

• Guideline 6 Emphasize the reader (the you
  attitude) rather than the writer.
• Guideline 7 Keep it shortuse attachments for
  lengthy details.
• Guideline 8 Be diplomatic.
• Guideline 9 Edit! Look for problems in
  mechanics, spelling, grammar, and style.
• Guideline 10 Respond in a timely manner.