Monday, 25 April 2016

Discuss The Importance of Effective Technical Writing

Discuss Importance of Effective Technical Writing ?

Technical communication is the process of conveying usable
information  through  writing  or  speech  about  a  specific domain to an intended audience. Technical  communicators  often  work  collaboratively  to create products for various media, including paper, video, and the Internet. include user manuals, technical manuals, specifications,  process and  procedure  manuals, reference cards, training, business papers and reports.

Your core products are ideas:
Your core products as a scientist or engineer are ideas, and ideas have  to  be communicated  to  have any  value. The default mode of this communication will be written products (email, white papers, proposals, etc). By far you’ll spend the  lion’s  share  of  your  efforts  communicating  ideas
communicating them in writing. And this is true in all fields of science, engineering, and technology.

First impressions are often written
With  the  importance  of  e-mail  in  all  professions,  butespecially  in  technology  professions,  writing  has  alsobecome the foundation of that all-important interaction: the
first impression. Many times the first interaction—perhaps the first of several interactions you have with a client, a peer, or a boss—will be via e-mail. Writing well and clearly communicating your message will shape  a  positive  first  impression  of  you  and  the  kind  of
person  you  are,  and  also  of  your  technical  competence.Creating a poor first impression in writing is something that you can recover from when you actually meet the person,
but  you  will  have  a  hard  time  recovering  from  the  poor impression your e-mail recipient will form of your technical abilities.

Poor writing skills will stall your career early:
And if you cannot communicate well in writing you’re going to have a very tough time making a successful career from your first job. Even if this handicap doesn’t inhibit you in an
entry-level  position,  you  will  run  into  a  wall  on  your  first promotion.
Team  leaders  have  to  maintain  a  variety  of  written documents,  including  project  progress  reports  and  plans, which many people will review. If you cannot create these
written documents effectively, you will quickly stagnate. You might say to yourself, “Well, that’s fine for those money grubbing prep-school folks, but I want to be an engineer the
rest of my life. I don’t care about getting promoted, so my
writing doesn’t matter.” Wrong!

Yes, even YOU care about writing well:

If you want to spend your life head down in the trenches, it is probably because you care passionately about what you are doing. In order for your designs and ideas to be implemented  you’re going to have to be able to communicate them to others in…guess what?…writing!

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