Technical and Business

Writing

Ms. S. Shahbano Jabeen

Purpose of this Course is to…
Equip students with such writing skills as may
form useful foundation to respond with
proficiency to job-seeking situations, initial
office correspondence/tasks or to pursue
higher education/research at Postgraduate
Level.

In this Course…
 In this Lecture…
1. Communication/Writing:
a. 7Cs of Tech Communication.
b. Barriers to Effective Communication and how to remove them
c. Importance and purpose of technical report writing
d. Characteristics and style of technical report writing

2. Basics of academic writing

a. Difference between academic and technical writing (class discussion)

3. Writing Basics
a. Understanding style, content, language, form, consistency and clarity in
writing

4. Hands-On Warm-up Writing Practice:

a. Free Writing
b. Focused Free Writing
c. Essay Writing
d. Application Writing
e. Formal Letter Writing
f. Informal Letter Writing
Formative and Summative Assessment
(Study Pattern)

• Classroom tasks and

activities
• One Hour Tests
• Assignments/Presentations
• Quizzes
• Mid-term exam
• Final Exam
CLOs, PLOs, Level of Learning
1. Describe tech writing, its importance,
purpose, and how it is different from
ordinary writing.
2. Discuss the style, content, language, form,
clarity and consistency in technical writing
by analyzing research proposals, technical
papers and project reports.
3. Write short and long reports, cover letters,
and other official letters
Communication
 Communication: An ability to communicate
effectively, orally as well as in writing, on
complex engineering activities with the
engineering community and with society at
large, such as being able to comprehend and
write effective reports and design
documentation, make effective presentations,
and give and receive clear instructions.
Technical writing
 …is communication written for and about business and
industry, focusing on products and services: how to
manufacture them, market them, manage them, deliver
them, and use them.
 …is written in the work environment for supervisors,
colleagues, subordinates, vendors, and customers.
 … is which must be understood easily and quickly,
includes
◦ memos and e-mail
◦ letters
◦ reports
◦ research proposals
◦ PowerPoint presentations
Cost of ‘Bad’ Writing
 “Unclear writing costs American businesses
real money—over one billion dollars a year,
according to one estimate… (“Why Dick and
Jane Can’t Write on the Job…and How to Help
Them,” Janet Van Wicklen, American Society
of Training and Development, 2000)
The Need…
  “The fundamental purpose of
scientific/technical discourse is not the mere
presentation of information and thought but
rather its actual communication. It does not
matter how pleased an author might be to
have converted all the right data into
sentences and paragraphs; it matters only
whether a large majority of the reading
audience accurately perceives what the author
had in mind.” George Gopen and Judith Swan
The Science of Scientific Writing
Academic Writing/Technical Writing
 Technical writing is not literature; it’s neither prose which
recounts the fictional tales of characters nor poetry which
expresses deeply felt
 Technical writing is neither an expressive essay narrating an
occurrence
 Technical writing is not journalism, written to report the news.
 Technical writing does not focus on poetic images, describe
personal experiences, or report who won the basketball game.
 Instead, technical writing is:
◦ an instructional manual for repairing machinery
◦ a memo listing meeting agendas
◦ a letter from a vendor to a client
◦ a recommendation report proposing a new computer system
The 7 Cs of Effective Communication
1. COMPLETENESS
2. CONCISENESS
3. CONSIDERATION
4. CLARITY
5. CONCRETENESS
6. COURTESY
7. CORRECTNESS 
Completeness
 Business message is complete when it
contains all facts the reader or listener needs
for the reaction you desire. As you strive for
completeness, keep the following guidelines
in mind;
 Provide all necessary information
 Answer all questions asked
 Give something extra when desirable
Completeness (contd.)
 Answer all questions that are asked
 Give something extra when desirable
 Check for five Ws & one H

◦ Who
◦ What
◦ When
◦ Where
◦ Why and
◦ How 
Completeness (contd.)
 Answering the five W’s helps make messages
clear: Who, What, When, Where, and Why.
 Answer All Questions Asked Look for

questions: some may even appear buried

within a paragraph. Locate them and then
answer precisely. Give Something Extra, When
Desirable Use your good judgment in offering
additional material if the sender’s message
was incomplete.
Conciseness
Eliminate wordy expressions
◦ 1. Include only relevant statements
 be focused
 Shorten & avoid long explanations
◦ 2. Avoid unnecessary repetitions
 use short forms the second time 
Conciseness (contd.)
 Examples Wordy:
Wordy: In about a week’s time…
Concise: In a week

Wordy: It is a matter of prime importance…

Concise: It is important… 
Conciseness (contd.)
 Poor: We hereby wish to let you know that our
company is pleased with the confidence you
have respond in us.

 Better: Whenever we achieve a new goal, there

is a rise in morale.
 Consideration
 Know your audience
 Define technical terms when first used
 Let readers know how you can meet their

needs.
 Focus on YOU instead of I & WE
 Show reader benefit & interest
 Emphasize on positive & pleasant
 Apply integrity & ethics
Consideration (contd.)
 Courtesy
 Involves being aware of the perspective of
others and their feelings.
 Suggestions for generating a courteous tone

 Be sincere, tactful and appreciative

 Avoid using expressions that offend,
irritate, or insult others 
Bring courtesy in the following
sentence

 Poor: We don’t feel your qualification match

our job needs 

 Better: Your qualifications are excellent and

show that you've assumed greater levels of
responsibility throughout your career. The
candidate we are looking for, however, will
have a stronger marketing background… 
Maintain a positive tone even when
breaking bad news.

 Use appropriate language that reflects equal

treatment of people regardless of gender,
race, ethnic origin, and physical features.
If the employee is late, give him one warning.  If the manager files his/her
report by Wednesday, he or she will have the revised copy retuned to him or her
on Friday.  Don’t judge someone simply on the basis of his gender or color.
Revise the following Sentences by
including Gender Inclusive Language

Exercise:
 If the employee is late, give him one warning.
 If the manager files his/her report by

Wednesday, he or she will have the revised

copy retuned to him or her on Friday.
 Don’t judge someone simply on the basis of

his gender or color.

 Clarity
 Purpose of clarity is to convey your message
accurately to reader.
 Technical documents should convey a single

meaning that the reader can understand.

 Unclear writing can lead to wrong

interpretation
◦ e.g. unclear instruction on how to operate
machinery 
 Clarity (contd.)

 Choose short & familiar words

 Construct effective sentences and paragraphs

by unity of idea and sequencing

 Include examples, illustrations & visual aids

 Clarity (contd.)
Clarity must be from readers’ perspective.
Don’t assume that readers are familiar with
previous work or previous reports

Unfamiliar: After our perusal of pertinent data,

the conclusion is that a lucrative market exists
for the subject property.
 Clarity (contd.)
Clarity must be from readers’ perspective.
Don’t assume that readers are familiar with
previous work or previous reports

Unfamiliar: After our perusal of pertinent data,

the conclusion is that a lucrative market exists
for the subject property.

Familiar: The data we studies show that your

property is profitable and in high demand.
Concreteness
 Concreteness (contd.)

 It is desirable to be precise and concrete in

both written and oral business
communication. 
 Correctness
 Correctness in technical writing is the use of
proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. 
However a message may be perfect
grammatically and mechanically but still
insult or lose a customer.
 Correctness (contd.)
 Select the right level of language for your
communication either formal or informal.

 In technical and business communication

formal language is most often used.

 Check accuracy for figures, facts, and words.

Correctness (contd.)
Importance, Purpose & Format:
Technical Report Writing
 Technical Reports
 Discuss the process, progress and results of a

technical or scientific research.

 Includes in depth experimental details or

designs and results.

 Typically used in science and engineering

fields.
Technical Report and Engineering
 In Engineering, one of the major forms of
communication is the technical report.
 Professional Engineers write technical reports to
explain project information to various audiences.
 At university, reports are read by lecturers in order
to assess your mastery of the subjects and your
ability to apply your knowledge to a practical task.
 In the workplace, they will be read by managers,
clients, higher officials and the construction
engineers responsible for building from your
designs.
Importance of Technical Reports:
 WHY do we use technical reports ?
 Provide pertinent details of experiments and

designs in the field of Engineering and Science.

 Sometimes the reports are written to report on a

particular research need. For instance, to give

particular information that is needed by upper
management to make intelligent decisions that
will effect a company’s future.
 In this case the technical report serves as a

report of accountability to the organization

funding the research.
Purpose:
 The purpose of technical reports is to convey
or communicate information in a clear manner.
 Sometimes technical reports aim to persuade
the reader, for instance, to persuade the
funding organization about the genuineness of
your research.
 Layout and Format of a technical report is
divided into sections which allow different
readers to access different levels of
information.
 Parts of a Technical/Business Report
Section Details
Must include the title of the report. Reports for assessment, where the word
Title page length has been specified, will often also require the summary word count and
the main text word count
A summary of the whole report including important features, results and
Summary
conclusions
Contents Numbers and lists all section and subsection headings with page numbers
States the objectives of the report and comments on the way the topic of the
Introduction report is to be treated. Leads straight into the report itself. Must not be a copy
of the introduction in a lab handout.
The sections which make Divided into numbered and headed sections. These sections separate the
up the body of the report different main ideas in a logical order
Conclusions A short, logical summing up of the theme(s) developed in the main text
Details of published sources of material referred to or quoted in the text
References
(including any lecture notes and URL addresses of any websites used.
Other published sources of material, including websites, not referred to in the
Bibliography
text but useful for background or further reading.
List of people who helped you research or prepare the report, including your
Acknowledgements
proofreaders
Thank You