Why is clarity the ultimate goal of technical communication




















Then, once you have grasped its intent, you can read the next paragraph and try to tackle its content. The paragraph break gives you some room to breathe. Limit Word and Sentence Length In addition to the length of the example paragraph, the writing is flawed because the paragraph is filled with excessively long words and sentences.

This writer has created an impenetrable wall of haze—the writing is foggy. Omit Redundancies Redundancies are words that say the same thing. Conciseness is achieved by saying something once rather than twice. For example, in each of the following instances, the boldface words are redundant. During the year of Obviously is a year; the words the year of are redundant. In the month of December As in the preceding example, the month of is redundant; what else is December?

One thousand dollars is a sum. The results so far achieved prove A result, by definition, is something that has been achieved. Our regular monthly status reports require Monthly status reports must occur every month; regularity is a Pre-requisite.

We collaborated together on the project. The other alternative is to Every alternative presumes that some option exists. This is a new innovation. As opposed to an old innovation! The consensus of opinion is to The word consensus implies opinion. Here are examples of wordy phrases and their concise revisions.

Wordy Phrases Concise Revisions in order to purchase to buy at a rapid rate fast or state the exact speed it is evident that evidently with regard to about in the first place first a great number of times often or state the number of times despite the fact that although is of the opinion that thinks due to the fact that because am in receipt of received enclosed please find enclosed is as soon as possible by A.

However, if your writing is clear and concise but incorrect—grammatically or textually— then you have wasted your time and destroyed your credibility. To be effective, your technical writing must be accurate. Accuracy in technical writing requires that you proofread your text. The errors make the writer look incompetent. To ensure accurate writing, use the following proofreading tips: 1.

Let someone else read it—We miss errors in our own writing for two reasons. Second, we read what we think we wrote, not what we actually wrote. Another reader might help you catch errors. Use the gestation approach—Let your correspondence sit for a while. You should read backwards only to slow yourself down and to focus on one word at a time to catch typographical errors.

Read one line at a time—Use a ruler or scroll down your PC screen to isolate one line of text. Again, this slows you down for proofing. Read long words syllable by syllable—How is the word responsibility misspelled? You can catch this error if you read it one syllable at a time re-spon-si-bl-i-ty. Use technology—Computer spell checks are useful for catching most errors. Double-check any number or calculations.

Read it out loud—sometimes we can hear errors that we cannot see. For example, we know that a outline is incorrect. It just sounds wrong. An outline sounds better and is correct. Try scattershot proofing—Let your eyes roam around the page at random. Sometimes errors look wrong at a glance.

If you wander around the page randomly reading, you often can isolate an error just by stumbling on it. Use a dictionary—If you are uncertain, look it up. If you commit errors in your technical writing, your readers will think one of two things about you and your company: a they will conclude that you are stupid, or b they will think that you are lazy. In either situation, you lose. Errors create a negative impression at best; at worst, a typographical error relaying false figures, calculations, amounts, equations, or scientific or medical data can be disastrous.

Successful technical writing also must be well organized. Here is an analogy to explain the importance of organization. Most artists cannot just dip a brush in paint and then splatter that paint on canvas.

People want to make sense of what they see, and splattered images cause confusion. The same applies to technical writing. As the writer, you cannot haphazardly throw words on the page and expect readers to understand you clearly.

In contrast, you should order that information on the page logically, allowing your readers to follow your train of thought.

No one method of organization always works. Following are five patterns of organization that you can use to help clarify content. Spatial If you are writing to describe the parts of a machine or a plot of ground, you might want to organize your text spatially.

You would describe what you see as it appears in space— left to right, top to bottom, inside to outside, or clockwise. These spatial sequences help 7 your readers visualize what you see and, therefore, better understand the physical qualities of the subject matter.

They can envision the layout of the land you describe or the placement of each component within the machine. To the right of this seat, on the east wall, I will build a desk 4' high by 5' long by 3' wide. On the south wall, to the left of the door, I will build an entertainment unit the height of the wall including four, 4' high by 4' wide by 2' deep shelving compartments. The west wall will contain no built-ins. You can use this space to display pictures and to place furniture.

Chronological Whereas you would use spatial organization to describe a place, you would use chronology to document time or the steps in an instruction. For example, an emergency medical technician EMT reporting services provided during an emergency call would document those activities chronologically.

What is clarity and conciseness in technical writing? What is clarity explain with example? How do I improve my clarity of thoughts? How can I improve my communication skills in health and social care? How do you get clarity? What is opposite of clarity? What is another word for unclear? Is unclarity a real word? Let someone else read it, use technology, read it out loud, and use a dictionary.

When will you organize a document spatially? If you are writing a technical specification to describe the parts of a machine or a plot of ground, you would want to organize your document spatially.

Why would you organize chronologically? To document time, steps in a process analysis, or the steps in an instruction. What is the effect of organization by importance? The information gets more attention from the reader when placed approximately one third from the top of the page.

This is where the most important information in the document should be placed. When you need to document options and ways in which you surpass a competitor. What do you consider when you focus on the legal aspect of a document?

You need to focus on if what you are writing is legal first of all. Then you need to figure out if what you are writing is helping out your company while hurting the customer. Then decide if that is something that you really want to do.

What do you consider when you focus on the practical aspect of a document? You need to make sure that what you are writing about is truthful and that you are stating the facts. What do you consider when you focus on the ethical aspect of a document? You need to consider if you believe in what you are writing for and if you are being unbiased in your topic when telling people.

Make sure you have no hidden agenda in your writing. There is no answer for this question. Q23 Q23 Q23 How will the shrinking size of technology impact the role of technical communicators and others who write in the world of work in the future? What kinds of equipment fall into this category? Since this is an issue facing professionals in the next decade, be creative and specific with your approach to this challenge. Policies Privacy Policy.

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