Let’s think together

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• What is technical writing?• What makes technical writing different from

other types of writings?• Who writes technical documents?• What is the purpose of technical writing?• Who are the audience or who will read the

report?

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Generally speaking,

Technical writing

Technical means ?Technical language is language that is difficult for most people to understand because it is connected with one particular subject or used in one particular job

Writing means?The activity of writing

books, stories etc

Technical writing communicates specific and factual information to a defined audience for a defined purpose.

Technical writing is…

What makes technical writing different from other types of writings?

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COMPARISON

TECHNICAL WRITING GENERAL WRITING

CONTENT Factual & straight- forward Imaginative,

STYLE Standard structured format Informal, artistic non-structured format

PURPOSE To inform & persuade To entertain & captivate

TONE Objective Subjective

VOCABULARY REQD. Specialized Evocative

Who writes technical documents?

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• There are professional technical writers who do nothing but write. (within industry or freelancers)

• professionals such as engineers, scientists, and technicians who do various types of technical writing as a necessary part of their everyday work.

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Who are the audience?

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We can class the readers of technical documents into three broad categories:

Technical readers

Managerial readers

General readers

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It is of great importance to ask yourself these questions before writing to your audience:

- Why will they read the report?- What is the reader’s technical level?- What background information does the

reader(s) have?

What is the purpose of technical writing?

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Technical writing is done for the purpose of …………………

To give……….

To make…………..

To explain……

To describe………….

In general:

• to inform, instruct, describe, explain, or otherwise document scientific or industrial processes and mechanisms.

The purpose of technical

writing is

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EXAMPLES

Technical writing covers a broad range of areas and includes various types of technical writing areas. However, typically it includes the following deliverables:

• User guides and manuals• Application programming interface programmers’ guides • Presentations • Site guides /FAQs• Reference documents • Training materials • Installation guides • Troubleshooting guides• Specification documents• Proposals • Reports • Magazine articles • Policies and procedures • Requirement documentation • Certification and accreditations • Procedure reports• Technical papers • Scientific reports • Hardware maintenance and repair procedures

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Conclusion

Generally speaking,• Technical writing deals primarily with the hard

sciences and the industrial community.

• Technical writing is concerned with delivering factual information in a clear, concise, and objective manner.

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