What Is Technical Communication

What Is Technical Communication?
Technical information is frequently communicated through documents such as proposals,

emails, reports, podcasts, computer help files, blogs, and wikis. Although these documents are a
key component of technical communication, so too is the process: writing and reading tweets
and text messages, for example, or participating in webinar or videoconference exchanges with
colleagues. Technical communication encompasses a set of activities that people do to discover,
shape, and transmit information.

When you produce technical communication, you use the four basic communication
modes — listening, speaking, reading, and writing — to analyze a problem, find and evaluate
evidence, and draw conclusions. These are the same skills and processes you use when you write
in college, and the principles you have studied in your earlier writing courses apply to technical
communication. The biggest difference between technical communication and the other kinds of
writing you have done is that technical communication has a somewhat different focus
on purpose and audience.
Difference of Technical Writing to other types of Written

Communication
Technical Writing is different from other types of written communication. But it does not mean
you have to relearn all the skills you have already learned to accommodate this new
communication beast. Many of the writing skills you’ve come across are applicable to technical
writing.
College lasts only four to five years. Thus, you should continue to prepare yourselves by
studying essays. In addition, you also need to prepare for what comes next—your jobs. After you
graduate, you will go to work where you will write memos, letters, and reports. This is the
importance of understanding the difference of technical writing to other types of written
communication.
Technical Writing versus Academic Writing
Academic and technical writing are two forms of writing between which a key difference can be
identified. Most people assume that a technical writer is, in fact, an academic writer as well.
This, however, is a false assumption. Although both academic writing and technical writing
require excellent writing skills, the key differences between these two types of writing are the
audience and purpose of writing. Academic Writing is a form of writing that is used in academic
disciplines. On the other hand, technical writing is a form of writing that is mostly used in
technical disciplines. As you can see, the context of the two forms of writing differ from one
another. Also, the target audience for academic writing is mostly scholars, but not in the case of
technical writing. Even a lay person can be the target audience.
Technical Writing versus Creative Writing
Technical writing and creative writing are two styles of writing, which may very well be
distinguished just by having a look at their traits. The principal between every of them is that,
creative writing is written to enthrall, entertain and arouse a certain feeling in a reader, whereas
technical writing is to show the viewers with the factual knowledge and is launched in a logical
technique.

Below is a poem about a tennis shoe as well as technical specifications for manufacturing the
same shoe. These two writing samples further illustrate the difference between technical writing
and other types of writing.
UNDERSTANDING PURPOSE

Technical communication begins with identifying a problem and thinking about how to solve it.
Because of the variety of problems and solutions in the working world, people communicate
technical information for a number of purposes, many of which fall into one of two categories:
 Communication that helps others learn about a subject, carry out a task, or make a
decision. For instance, administrators with the Department of Health might hire a media
production company to make a video that explains to citizens how to use a website to manage
their Medicare benefits. The president of a manufacturing company might write an article in the
company newsletter to explain to employees why management decided to phase out production of
one of the company’s products. The board of directors of a community-service organization
might produce a grant proposal to submit to a philanthropic organization in hopes of being
awarded a grant. Figure 1.1 shows a screen capture from an online video that explains how to
create a facebook web page.
FIGURE 1.1 A Communication That Helps Others Carry Out a Task
The purpose of this online video is to help viewers carry out the task on how to create
their own web page.
 Communication that reinforces or changes attitudes and motivates readers to take
action. A wind energy company might create a website with videos and text intended to
show that building wind turbines off the coast of a tourist destination would have many
benefits and few risks. A property owners’ association might create a website to make the
opposite argument: that the wind turbines would have few benefits but many risks. In
each of these two cases, the purpose of communicating the information is to persuade
people to accept a point of view and encourage them to act — perhaps to contact their
elected representatives and present their views about this public-policy issue. Figure 1.2
shows an excerpt from a website that promotes the building of wind turbines off the coast
of Massachusetts.
FIGURE 1.2 A Communication That Aims to Change Attitudes

The purpose of this website, created by an energy development company, is to generate public
support for an offshore wind park.
UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCE
When you communicate in the workplace, you have not only a clear purpose — what you want
to achieve — but also a clearly defined audience — one or more people who are going to read
the document, attend the oral presentation, visit the website, or view the video you produce.
Sometimes audience members share the same purpose, but not always. It’s possible, even likely,
that a piece of technical communication will have multiple audiences with different purposes.
In most of your previous academic writing, your audience has been your instructor, and your
purpose has been to show your instructor that you have mastered some body of information or
skill. Typically, you have not tried to create new knowledge or motivate the reader to take a
particular action — except to give you a “95” for that assignment.
By contrast, in technical communication, your audience will likely include peers and supervisors
in your company, as well as people outside your company. For example, suppose you are a
public-health scientist working for a federal agency. You and your colleagues just completed a
study showing that, for most adults, moderate exercise provides as much health benefit as
strenuous exercise. After participating in numerous meetings with your colleagues and after
drafting, critiquing, and revising many drafts, you produce four different documents:
 a journal article for other scientists
 a press release to distribute to popular print and online publications
 an infographic for use in doctors’ offices
 an animated blog post for your agency to share on social media
In each of these documents, you present the key information in a different way to meet the needs
of particular audience.

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What Is Technical Communication?

Technical information is frequently communicated through documents such as proposals,

Difference of Technical Writing to other types of Written

FIGURE 1.2 A Communication That Aims to Change Attitudes

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