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=Designing Documents= * In your professional life you will strive to succeed and advance within your company. What better way to make an impression than to create documents that stand out from the rest. Using Transmittal Letters, Covers, and Front and Back matter will increase the usability and…
=Back Matter: Appendices, Glossaries and More= Back Matter is an important part of a professional business document, and any other long document. It may contain one or more of the following: appendices, bibliography, works cited, reference list, end notes, glossary, list of symbols, or indices.…
=Charts and Graphs= Graphs and charts serve as a form of communication in many business settings. Since many businesses travel internationally language barriers often result, causing frustrations between businesses. Graphs and charts are used as a form of wordless communication to facilitate…
=Document Organization= Organization in a professional business or career document is essential both to the writer as well as the reader. Each document has standards for specific organization that are universally accepted. Be careful to follow the accepted layout when writing a document. There are…
There are seven different patterns that are commonly used to organize documents: Formal classification, informal classification, comparison, partitioning, segmenting, cause/effect, and problem/solution. Which organizational pattern is used will depend on the type of document that is being composed;…
Hope like this hold on lifelong =Front Matter: Contents, Lists and More= Front matter is an extremely important element to writing any report whether it is for a specific company research or for other personal reports. Specifics such as the size of the font, font type, formatting, and organization…
=General Design Concepts= You build your communications out of visual elements: the dark marks of your words, sentences, and paragraphs against the light background of the page, as well as your drawings and graphs and tables. Your readers see the visual design of these elements before they read and…
=Photos and Illustrations= Photos are used in professional documents as tools for communicating a message that a writer feels can be strengthened through the use of proper imagery. Photographs can do many things to enhance a message, some examples can be seen here: Planning * What kinds of…
=Effective Tables= Tables are an effective way to portray data in a visual way so it is easy for the reader to understand. Tables are used to report data which is too complicated to be described in the text and to reveal trends and patterns in the data. In addition, in many cases, incorporating a…
=Usability Testing of Technical Communications= What is Usability Testing? Usability testing is a tool used to evaluate a set of instructions or product. It tests to see if these instructions or product do what it is designed to do. Usability tests are a necessary part of the process of writing…
=Documenting Your Sources = ** /Reasons For Documenting Your Sources/ ** /How To Choose The Proper Documentation/ ** /Location Of Citations In The Text/ ** /Basic Guidelines for Citing Resources/ ***/APA Style Documentation/ ****/APA Style In-Text Citations/ ****/APA Style Reference Lists/ ***/MLA…
American Psychological Association Style (APA) is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences. Title page: *Contains title *Is double spaced *Contains author name **First name, middle initial(s), last name **Do not use titles (Dr.) or degrees (Ph.D.) *Contains name of…
When citing an APA source from your bibliography in the text, the author's name and publication year are put in parentheses in the normal sentence punctuation. A comma is placed between the name of the author and the date. For the citing of a specific page in the cited publication, p. with the page…
Types of sources are usually put in the category of printed, electronic, or other. Within these categories are many sub-categories. Each of these sub-categories should be cited slightly differently in the APA format. Below explains the proper ways to list these different sources in the reference…
Sources are cited in the body of the text as well as at the end of the document. The APA and MLA styles differ in how to format these citations. • In-text citations must clearly show what information the citation is referring to, which is why they must be put in parenthesis and written inside the…
There are many different types of documentation formatting, with some being more detailed then others. Different circumstances require different formats. Many businesses and organizations have a specific documentation style that they want to be used for usability reasons. It is important to use the…
•Sources are cited in the body of a text with the use of parentheses. The type of citation style will differ depending on what is put inside the parentheses. These parentheses are always put on the inside of the sentence's period or comma. Example: Using APA style formatting- According to J.C.…
Footnotes and end notes are another way to reference information, however it is not recommended use by the MLA or APA guidelines. This type of referencing can be distracting to readers and therefore not encouraged to use. The MLA style does encourage the use of end notes or footnotes for…
Unlike the APA style, the MLA style considers both author's name the specific page or pages where the information was found. The author name and page(s) are enclosed in parentheses with no punctuation in between them. The information inside the parentheses should be placed inside the normal…
Like the APA style, MLA has three types of sources which include: Printed, Electronic, and Other Sources. Printed Sources * Book, One Author ** Give the name of the last name of the author followed by a comma and then the first and middle names, exactly how they appear on the title page. **…
*When you are directly quoting the work of another person in your paper you will need to format the quotations differently depending on the length of the quote. Also remember that MLA style should be double spaced. Here are some guidelines to follow when inserting a short quotation: *1) A short…
Many people use tables and figures in their papers to help explain certain points they are trying to make. The purpose of this illustrations is to help the audience understand visually what the writer is trying to convey. There are many ways to do this in a paper with the use of basic word…
= Ethics and Technical Communication = As you put together professional documents and begin working in the “real” world, you must understand what could easily lead to your downfall in your professional workplace. The Paul Anderson text claims that at work in a professional setting, there at least…
Today, the majority of workplaces are multicultural. Employees in the workplace are more likely to come from different backgrounds including cultural environments and different parts of the world. The textbook, Technical Communication by Paul V. Anderson, makes a point to emphasize cultural…
__NOTOC__ =Legal Issues and Communication= In business, image is everything. Public opinions in a company affects a consumer's views in that company's products. This, in turn, affects the company's public profit, and essentially its standing when a company is involved in a lawsuit or a recall. The…
=Frequently Asked Questions= When creating a business document/ proposal how can you grasp your reader’s attention and persuade them that what you are writing is beneficial to them? *Be very direct and clear when explaining your topic *Avoid vague, non-descriptive sentences *Be straight forward and…
=Preparing Feasibility Studies= What you should include when putting together a feasibility study/report: *A feasibility report is a testimony that attempts to create some sort of action. Feasibility reports are created to persuade/help the decision makers to choose between available options.…
These terms should be familiar to professional and technical writers. = Glossary of Terms = Advisers - people that gather detailed information and provide information to decision makers. Brainstorming - generating ideas as quickly as possible, withholding evaluation of those ideas until later.…
Many people are used to following written instructions, but most people have never written instructions for another person. In many professional roles, you may have to write instructions. While some instructions may be simple and brief, other instructions may be more complex and take longer to…
Visual instructions may or may not include text. Generally, it is good to have both being that there are different learning styles. However, it can often vary depending on the intended use of the instructions. Visual instructions serve to clarify a concept that is difficult to explain using only…
