In Content for week 1, the first set of resources available to you is title What
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In Content for week 1, the first set of resources available to you is title What is Technical Writing? Included in that list of resources is a link to the Society for Technical Communications (STC) and access to chapter 1 of a textbook, Technical Writing for Business People.
Based on the information in these resources, please answer the following questions:
What writing have you done at work or in your community that you think could be labelled technical writing? Why do you think it can be labelled technical writing? Please describe the writing situation and draw upon the information in either the website from STC or chapter 1 of the textbook to illustrate why it would be technical writing.
Do technical writing tasks have to involve technical subjects? Why or why not?
How is technical writing different from writing an essay. Technical writing is about communicating key information to the people who need it in the most suitable way and format. That might be printed material, but it could also be a graphic or a video. That information might be a tutorial for a software application, a guide to using heavy machinery safely, a diagnostic aide for medical practitioners or a guidance note about new legislation. If you work in a technical or specialist field of any kind you may be a technical writer already. According to the Society for Technical Communications, technical communication has one or more of the following characteristics:[1]Communicating about technical or specialized topics, such as computer applications, medical procedures or environmental regulations.
Communicating through printed documents or technology, such as web pages, help files or social media sites.
Providing instructions about how to do something, regardless of the task’s technical nature.
According to the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators:[2]Technical communication tends to answer the six important questions. These are: what, when, why, where, who and how – and often with an emphasis on the ‘how’. It may be provided as text, images, video, simulations, online help or in a number of other formats. The information in technical communication is targeted to the needs of the people using it to complete a task.Technical writers are often translators. We take things that others may find complex or intimidating and simplify them, making them clear and user friendly. Your organization will benefit from effective technical writing. Effective technical writing clears up confusion, and helps people to understand crucial concepts, new systems and important procedures. A help document that isn’t helpful or training materials that don’t help the trainer cost money, both in terms of time spent and customer or employee satisfaction. The technical writer enables the business to communicate more efficiently and more effectively – and if they encounter particular issues that cause particular problems, they can be the early warning of issues the business really needs to fix. Technical writing is often thought of as the creation of help files and user manuals, and it does include those things. But it may also mean creating reports about technical or scientific issues or writing safety guidance on how to operate potentially dangerous products or designing a flow chart on how to troubleshoot an electric car or creating the datasheet for a smartphone. Here’s an example from Apple, explaining what to do with a device that has frozen.[3]On an iPhone X, iPhone 8, or iPhone 8 Plus: Press and quickly release the Volume Up button. Press and quickly release the Volume Down button. Then, press and hold the Side button until you see the Apple logo.This is from the specification sheet for the Samsung Galaxy S8 phone, explaining the options for playing its video on a TV.[4]Wireless: Smart View (Miracast 1080p at 30 fps, mirroring support available for devices supporting Miracast or Google Cast.)With cable: supports DisplayPort over USB type-C. Supports video out when connecting via HDMI Adapter. (DisplayPort 4K 60 fps)And this is an example from barbecue firm Weber on how to cook safely.[5]Oil should only be used if absolutely necessary and applied to the cooking grate using kitchen roll.Although I’ll talk about technical writing throughout this book, technical writing in the 21st century usually means more than just writing. The job of a technical writer is to help people with the things they need to know, and to use whatever tools enable them to do that best – and today, that toolkit contains all kinds of media and apps.[1]Society for Technical Communications (n.d.) Defining technical communication. Available from www.stc.org/about-stc/defining-technical-communication/[2]Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators (n.d.) Why do we need technical communication? Available from www.istc.org.uk/value-of-technical-communication/why-do-we-need-technical-communication/[3]From this page: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/ht201412[4]From this page: www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/galaxy-s8/specs/[5]From this page: www.weber.com/GB/en/top-bbq-tips/safety/gafc3.html. it has to be APA format and add citation or references
