Chapter 21

Instructions are a very important part of the process of creating products and of the actual product. Instructions have a purpose of enabling users to complete tasks. There are three main concerns. The first concern is if the audience understands, if the audience can learn from the instruction, can the audience read the piece.
There are four categories of instructions.

• Actions/behavior of personnel
• Assembly of objects or mechanisms
• Operation of equipment
  
• implementation of a process

The first thing one must to before writing instructions is analyze the audience. This must be done to make sure the instructions address the audiences needs and experience. The instructions must be user friendly. They also normally written in second person.
Other things that must be considered is if your instructions need to be accessible to a broad range of users who may come from different cultures. There are two things to remember if you are up against this type of audience. First, you must provide instructions translated into multiple languages. Second, you must use visuals that are likely to be understood in many cultures. Another thing to consider is the wording of the instructions. We learned this part from our bilingual assignment. The wording must be free from words that may bring complication to the translation phase of writing.
As technology hits the instruction filled world we live in it has also gone electronic. Many companies have gone with both print and electronic documentation. Now more and more you will see only electronic documentation and help systems available on the web.
After constructing an instruction document it may help to go through this list and make sure all or most of the elements are included.

• Purpose with a title and goal statement or objective
• Necessary components: Parts lints, equipment list, materials list
• Accurate chronology, with factors
• Clear, direct wording and consistent terminology
• Accurate, relevant details
• Rationale
• Stylistic and grammatical conventions
• Warnings and cautions

To strengthen your instructions it is always helpful to include visuals. But one must achieve visual and verbal balance.
Another important aspect of instructions is for safety. There are inherent risks associated with some instructions, because of this instructions writers must provide users with sufficient notices about cautions, warnings, and dangers. Symbols and colors are also helpful to users.


By: Tyler Deike and Anders Rydholm

Chapter 19 Summary

Preparing Proposals
Katie Jenney and Jesse Meyers

Burnett presents five main points to consider when working with proposals and they are: characterizing proposals, the use of persuasion in proposals, considering requests for proposals, preparing proposals, and the organizing and submission of proposals.
A proposal is used to convey a plan to an audience that addresses a problem and is useful. When characterizing a proposal, the question that needs to be asked is: what is the purpose of the proposal? A proposal can be used to solve a problem, investigate a subject, or sell a product or service. The development of a proposal and its submission for input is called a published request for proposal or RFP. Often a proposal is expected to include information about the situation, the plan of action, the benefits of the proposal, how the proposal will be approached, and evaluation of the proposal, and what qualifications one has dealing with the proposal.
Proposals come in different forms. A request for proposal (RFP) is a proposal that contains input from a company to address a problem. A solicited proposal is a written response to an RFP and provides the guidelines for which the proposal will be accepted. There are also unsolicited proposals which are written to respond to a perceived need that an organization has.
The use of persuasion in a proposal is useful because a proposal is an attempt to address a problem and persuasion can help the audience develop good feelings about the proposal and accept it. However a proposal needs to be produced using ethics, credibility, and logic. Aristotle’s three aspects of persuasion are: concerns of the audience, credibility of the speaker or writer, and the logic of the message.
When writing a proposal first the specific audience must be considered because a perceived problem may not be accepted without first finding an applicable solution to the problem. Burnett specifically stated in the book the simple most important aspects of preparing a proposal are to “establish that the problem of opportunity exists and then clearly show how your plan addresses it.” Also, your credibility as the presenter of the proposal must be considered so therefore you must establish a good reason why you are qualified to implement the proposal. Finally the logic shown in the proposal need to be based on sound assumptions that are reasonable and that the plan presented is reasonably attainable. This also means that both sides of an issue need to be addressed in the proposal to show a good and strong argument.
The process of writing a proposal is a tedious process but care has to be taken to write a successful one. First, identify the problem or opportunity and support that problem or opportunity with background information. Then state the desired outcome of your proposal and specify the product or service that you need. Be sure to include detailed information on the organization in the proposal as well as the personnel. In addition to the information provided, be sure to state deadlines and a suggested budget.
Finally when submitting a proposal you should always consider how it can be improved. Proposals often are submitted via electronic submission which may be something to consider because it can save money by decreasing the amount of printed documents, time, and space because files on a computer take less area than several hundred pages of a proposal. Submitting electronically can also be flexible in that it can be submitted anywhere and at anytime. Another reason submitting electronically can be beneficial is data protection. Because the data that you are submitting can be electronically encrypted, this ensures only intended authority can read it.

Chapter 20

Valerie Teagarden and Robert Lawson


Chapter 20 is an excellent source for report writing. Burnett breaks the chapter into four sections: planning reports, types of reports, formats of reports and finally examining a report.
Planning a report consists of deciding on the purpose, formality, audience, organization and genre. Determining the purpose can consist of one of three choices: to report information, to analyze information or to persuade readers. Assessing the formality is important to decide how formal or informal the report should be. Informal reports are usually letters, memos or a condensed report. Formal reports need to include more background information and usually are for an unknown audience. Knowing your audience is a necessary process as well. Decide whether the report is for a primary reader, intended for the decision makers or those who need technical details. If the report is for secondary readers usually including supervisors, those who don’t need to make decisions but the process may affect their work.
Organizing your information is crucial. A common structure is starting with your overview followed by background, recommendation, evidence and ending with your discussion. Important things to keep in mind when writing is to not use acronyms, provide definitions, and explanations and if using visuals make sure they are of high quality. The last part of planning a report is selecting the genre. Whether it is a prepared form, memo, letter or formal report, selecting the genre depends on the material and the audience.
The next section Burnett discusses is types of reports. Most common reports are; research, task, periodic activity reports, progress reports and trip and conference reports. All of these reports are used frequently. Research reports are used to introduce new knowledge and to have the new knowledge applicable to outside matter. Task reports are useful while working on a project. Discusses the projects methods and procedures and evaluates the procedures. Periodic activity reports are used frequently and are filed for future reference. Usually consist of an overview, activities and recommendations. Progress reports are used frequently as well. Typically used to give an overview, state the progress, suggest recommendation, provide evidence and discuss the impact. Meeting minutes can be another form of reporting which is also common in the workplace. Meeting minutes describe what was done at a meeting and not what was said. These are usually filed for future reference. The last type of report is trip and conference reporting. This is done to describe what took place, contacts that were made and a summary of the activities these reports are done for the people that were not able to attend.
Formatting a report uses inductive or deductive reasoning depending on the audience. An important part of formatting is design. When designing your report make sure to examine whether it is accessible, comprehensible, and usability. Using the correct, simple fonts at the right size and boldness are important.
Finally Burnett discusses examining a report. She discusses the important of identifying the content and context, anticipate the reader’s needs, establish connections, make it professional and easily accessible.

Chapter 17 Summary

Corey Place & Gena Gilbertson
This chapter discusses how one should prepare for professional oral communication. It discusses the different types of presentations that you one must adjust to accoring to its audience as well as just the type of approach that the speaker wishes to take in delivering out his message. The three type of presentations that are explained by Burnett in her text are; informal, formal, and class presentations. Informal presentations are generally more laid back simply because these presentations are in the company of people that you know and are very comfortable speaking with. Burnett does make it clear though that even though the presentation is informal, the speaker must still know the information he/she wishes to deliver greatly to ensure better delivery of ideas. Formal presentations are typically more difficult to prepare for because you do not always knows the people in the audience so research is required to make sure that the information you provide will be able to make sense to your intended audience. Burnett tells us that basically there are no time limits on these types of presentations. There can be seminars that can be all day events with several different types of presentations made about the same idea but all of them may simply be in a different atmosphere or just done a little differently than the others.
A very important area discussed in this chapter as well is the different types of audiences that there are in this area of discussion. Burnett goes on to list four different audiences, along with some of the characteristics of each:
-Professional peers- assume that you of high expertise and tend to ask more questions.
-Non-expert professionals- tend to be higher-ups in the company who make decisions for the benefit of the company but have limited knowledge on the technological facts of what may go into the decision.
-International audiences- these audiences may take more reseach into how you would like to do your presentation simply because the information that is native in your country may mean differently or negatively in your audiences country. You may want more visual aspects for this audience to put emphasis on main points more.
-General audiences- this audience tends to be more diverse with all just being around for a similar goal but coming from all different areas. Inolvement with the audience is key with this type of audience.

Towards the middle of the chapter we are given some main points on how to organize the information in your presentation and how to effectively deliver your message. Burnett gives us tips explaining the importance of reviewing your main points and emphasizing them throughout the presentation. Using illustrations to deliver the idea of your main points more effectively. and to provide a sense of humor which will help stimulate someinterest in the speech while varying your pace of delivering your presentation to help keep the audience interested. With these tips in mind we are given a rundown on PowerPoint presentations. These are very effective tools in delivering main points to an audience because the transitions can be smoothly delivered, and PowerPoint is able to be used by anyone trying to deliver any message successfully. Some of the things that can doom a presentation are given on P. 622 for example; too many bullets, too small of font size, poor resolution of visuals, ect.
Another effective thing that can be used during a presentation is handouts. Burnett explains that during the presentation, by using handouts the audience can take notes to better retain some of the main points that you have discussed in your presentation. It gives them a better understanding of your terminology while giving the audience references to look at for further information once the presentation is over. If you are thinking about using handouts as a tool for this purpose there are a couple of things Burnett adds that you should think about first. When should you distribute handouts? How much detail should handouts include? How should you refer to handouts during the presentation? What is the real value of your handouts? All of those well thought out questions can greatly improve the success that a handout can make in your presentation.
Finally the end of the chapter discusses how the presenter should present his or herself for the presentation. You must look the part to deliver whatever message it may be. Usually comedians tend to look and dress like the audience that they are trying to reach, similarly a CEO for a fortune 500 compnay will appear very formal and professional when trying to deliver points about his work. Along with looking the part speakers need to have good voices for speaking that can effectively hit all the areas of the room in which it is speaking. Varying pace, perhaps some comic relief if called upon is important as well. Burnett lists alot of good tips for public speaking on P. 634 for current and future presenters; wear appropriate clothing, handle notes comfortably, make eye contact, handle mistakes smoothly, relax your hands, relax your feet, move naturally, use the podium comfortably. All these tips can help make you a better presenter in whatever field your intended audience happens to be in.
The last thing Burnett discusses in this chapter is active listening. This is important in helping someone in the audience better grasp the concepts that the speaker is giving the audience. You must determine a purpose and keep that in your mind to keep somewhat of a theme going in your mind. Next you must indentify the points that the presenter is giving, and watch the reactions of the speaker to get what information he is putting more emphasis on. Lastly make connections with all the information obtained during the presentation. Summarize the information so that you walk away feeling better informed on the issue that was just discussed.

CHAPTER 13 SUMMARY

Chapter 13's goals were to identify and distinguish effective electronic communication.
This chapter dealt w/ different aspects of design and multimedia of online electronic communication. (i.e. websites and electronic resources) The chapter analyzed web page design, described the iterative design process, and explained key aspects of information architecture.
Designers and users both see electronic communication as interactive and non linear, virtual and open, complex and dynamic. People access electronic information services through the internet, online with a PC and a variety of types of software. People use handheld PDA's store adresses, browse headlines, and keep calendars. Accessibility depends on a users memory, bandwidth, and connectivity. Designers must account for differences in screen size for handheld and wireless devices.
The world wide web is comprised of networks of servers and users computers that exchange resources using internet protocols. Sophisticated interactive environments require the server to share resources with the client the same way designers interact with users. Users can access websites through their URL (Uniform Resource Locator) Design components and elements to consider are
screen/page size: How much text can a reader see at one time? Larger screens see more. reading on a monitor reduces the users spacial awareness of the document.
legibility: How easy is it to read whats on the screen? Font, background, and text color, also visual cues like underline, boldface, and italics.
responsiveness: How quickly should a system respond to a users reactions? If the response time is 0.1 seconds or less it seems instantaneous to suers, and they will stay focused if the response time is no more than 1 second. Typically people become distracted if the response time is longer than 10 seconds.
navigation: How easily can people navigate a website? How easily can readers move through and locate places on the text? Web users are influenced by colors, links, backgrounds, images, and icons, even with navigation aids getting lost is easier electronically than on paper.
equipment and services: How much are readers constrained by phisical realities? Even though fast modems and higher bandwidths are available the modems and lines used by most people are too slow for decent response times.
Consider empowerment of the author through empowerment of the reader. Consideration of link sequences and navigation aids is imporant. Links should have additional links that refine the directions purpose and offer multiple equally productive paths based on the users needs.
Some principals and practices of effective design include information architecture (The framework and structure of the content), page/screen designs, and content. The importance of information architecture is to organize the information. A site map is like a blueprint of a construction site. It expresses the layout and the design of the entire site and internal relationships. The site map categorizes information available to users. The relationships between categories of information are then established. Pathways to information are created based on judgements and user testing. Points of interaction are established this is why functions and forms are included.
A few generic organization schemes are
Heirarchal structure: The main menu provides access to sections and then sub-sections like a pyramid scheme.
Sequential structure: Sequential structure designers exert more control over paths users can take in a prescribed order. (i.e. take a follow through instructional guide pg.1 -> pg.2 -> pg.3
Interlinked structure: Creates multiple relationships on many pages and allows increased flexibility.
Structure on demand: Structures contain static elements and custom responses to users inputs. Here the designer/user interaction is incredibly complex and the site forms a response to a user query or input.
The last point of the chapter is the importance of labeling information. Labeling information is essential, and it must be in a way that best allows users to find the resources they need. Labels include page titles, menu items, links, headings, buttons, and controls.

Chapter 18 - Preparing Correspondence

Rob Michals
Aaron Isakson

Chapter 18

This chapter discussed the ways to communicate through emails, memos, and letters. When leaving a message or email for someone, there are several notable factors that can affect the outcome of what they will think, and how they will reply. Knowing who you are addressing, stating the urgency, and the typographical correctness can play an important role in your tone to the audience. We all use notes and email throughout the day, and most of us probably do not realize how we address different people. A professor would receive a more formal email than if I were to send one to a friend. Email is the most common form of electronic messages. There are many rules of etiquette that are used in emails. Page 648 gives a few pointers on how to properly write a formal email. Simple and direct language is how formal straight forward emails should be written.

When writing try to replace the word "I" or "we" since these terms draw more attention to the writer instead of the intended topic. Instead of using "I/we" use "you" thus the intended topic will translate through to the reader. Also avoid all forms of biased language, for example instead of fireman use firefighter. There are some very good example on page 653 of our Technical Communications textbook. The organization of information is very important, these three guidelines will aide the writers organization skills, they are: disseminating information, making requests or inquiries, responding to requests or inquiries. Basically identify the who, what, why, where, when, and how within the information. Get to the point and lead the audience down the logical path without clouding the learning process with useless jargon. Pages 672-674 in our textbook show a great example of all of these topics.

Chapter 16 Summary

Devin Doyle
Wendy Sandstrom

This chapter is about process applications in technical communication in a particular process or steps in an action or process. It can also pertain to how something works, a process or explanation of how to do something. Sometimes includes technical information involving a decision. The definition according to Burnett is "the explanation of sequential actions to members of an audience who need enough details to understand an action or process, but not enough to necessarily enable them to complete it."
Process explanations differ from directions is the enabling of someone to do that particular action. It "identifies the general nature of the task; It provides an overview rather than focusing on details. These process explanations help an organization run smoothly, if it does not include enough or inaccurate information then particular problems can arise.
Using these process explanations come in many different aspects. Some ways are in reports, task manuals, orientation and training materials, marketing and promotional materials, and public information and education. In reports, whether online of print, provide background information usually in a particular order such as the technical description, the process explanation, and benefits or advantages. Task manuals is one of the more frequently used types of using process explanations. These pertain to things such as step-by-step instructions to complete a task. Orientation and training materials refer to mainly to new persons being introduced into something and often need an explanation why it needs to be done. Marketing and Promotional materials explain usually how something works. Public information and education are more general interest publications such as daily newspapers or web sites.
How to prepare a process explanations comes in steps such as defining the purpose, identifying the steps, visuals, diction, organization and format. When defining the purpose, think of who your audience is and their purpose for reading your document. The identification of the steps is basically the listing of the particular steps involved in the process explanation. Visuals pertain to which type of visuals you will use to illustrate the process. Diction is how will you verbalize the process or the language you use in the process. Finally, the organization and format includes things like the chronological order of the steps. Also includes headings, subheadings and other things that help the readers find their way through the document.
The book finally does a setup on examining a particular sample of a process explanation about developing low-cost roofing material. It also goes into the corrections and how to proofread a process explanation.

Chapter 15 Summary

Chapter 15 Summary, June 27th

Chapter 15 was about "Creating Technical Descriptions." Defining technical descriptions consists of summarizing physical characteristics, answering questions you expect your readers to have about the appearance or composition of an object, substance, mechanism, organism, system, or location. Technical descriptions could range from a few words in a shorter document to several paragraphs in a longer document, such as a report. How important are technical descriptions? To answer this question all you have to do is remember The Challenger that exploded in 1986. If inadequately descriptions are presented readers may underestimate their importance or neglect them entirely. The results of negligence can be deadly. Negligence to act upon the technical descriptions of the O-Rings being charred during takeoff of the challenger ultimately ending in death.

You can use a technical description in just about any form of document, oral presentation, or visual. Some examples of technical documents are observation notes, training materials, technical manuals, proposals and reports, marketing and promotional pieces, and public information and education. Technical descriptions in public information or education usually contain a substantial amount of descriptions because the intended audience needs to know exactly WHAT something is before they can make a decision. Dramatic visuals are also used a lot in technical descriptions involving public information or education.

When preparing a technical description you need to identify the audience and the task involved, determine all the components, and choose precise diction with effective visuals and format. When describing the task you need to break it down into components. Two different kinds of components commonly used are Structural parts and Functional parts. The structural parts deal only with the physical aspect of the task while the functional parts perform clearly defined tasks.

Organization is essential when writing a technical description. Take into consideration the spatial order, to give the document a clear view of appearance or chronological order which lists things in the oder of importance. When writing your conclusion you can include applications, anecdotes or brief narratives, and advantages or disadvantages.

Chapter 14 Summary

By Rob Lawson and Valerie Teagarden

Chapter 11 discusses the need for definitions. It begins by introducing reasons for defining material. Definitions should be written with the audience in mind. The chapter details the fact that there are multiple meanings for certain common words such as focus, or crop. The chapter suggests that there is a need for defining these terms more clearly, keeping non-expert professionals in mind. The chapter goes on to describe the complexity of meaning. You should decide who the audience is, and what the situation is before you write a definition that is too complex or not complex enough. This brings us to the discussion of technical jargon and how it should be handled.Technical jargon almost always needs to be defined unless it is strictly among coworkers, and even then there might be new employees that are unaware of the meaning. Technical jargon occurs when terms are created within a certain group or workplace. When you are writing for a particular industry familiar with the terms being used, you can assume that the terms will carry meaning to the reader. However, technical terms may be used for audiences unfamiliar with them, as long as they are parenthetically defined. The chapter describes many different types of definitions and those aspects associated with the definition described.
Symbols, although nonverbal, usually seen in math or science need to be explained at the appropriate level according to the audience. The audience must understand the concepts behind the symbols.
Burnett discusses constructing definitions, she suggests that the author needs to think ahead if possible for any questions that may arise. Burnett discusses five categories to think about; physical characteristics, comparison, whole/parts, function, operation.When constructing definitions there are four types of approaches:

• Formal: using what a dictionary would define the word as

• Informal: inserted in communication casually

• Operational: means different things to different technical professionals

• Expanded Defintion: Explain and clarify information, they also maintain audience interest.

Formal defintions are important to understand because technical professionals may have to define things that have no definition in a dictionary or otherwise. Formal defintions follow a formula: Species equals Genus plus Differentia. Species refers to the term being defined, Genus is the class or category to which the term (species) belongs, and Differentia is the distinguishing characteristics that differentiate this species form other species in the same genus. This can also be written as: Term equals category of term plus the distinguishing characteristics of the term.
There are six types of informal definitions. They are synonym, antonym, negative, stipulation, analogy and illustration. We usually insert them into our documents without knowing that we are defining terms. Synonyms are words that mean the same thing and usually resemble similar things. An antonym is a word that is opposite in meaning. Negative refers to explainations of what something isn't. They provide useful information to readers. Stipulation refers to defining terms particular to a situation or application. An analogy directly compares the unfamiliar to the familiar. Illustrations are actual drawings or diagrams that illustrate a certain term.
Opertional definitions define a process. They list the steps involved in that process, and they also measure the functions of that process. It usually works best to describe the process in a chronological way, making the definition more procedural-based.
The most common types of expanded definitions are etymology, history, and examples. Etymology refers to the origins of the particluar term being defined. History, obvioulsy describes its history. Examples clarify information by providing background and illustration of something for the reader.
Placements of definitions occur most likely in glossary, information notes and sidebars, incorporated information, appendixes and online help.

Chapter 10

Chapter 10 Summary

Organizing Information

gena gilbertson and Corey Place

This chapter explains the importance of organizing your information for clarity within interpretation for your audience.

There are a few ways to transform information into knowledge. One way is to create a “writer-based” document, which is a presentation or visual way of organizing. A following step to organizing information can be to create an “audience-based” document, which is a presentation or visual way to organize information to ensure effectiveness for the audience. Using both these tools is a way to make sure your document is complete and ready for presentation.

When you have an abundance of information is it important to organize it for further development. There are a few ways to arrange your information to maintain the information’s effectiveness. Outlines are one way to organize information in an easy draft form for further edits of the information. Electronic outlines are especially easy for revisions and are user friendly for continual edits. A successful outline results in a successful document. There are key questions to ask yourself during the creation and editing process of your outline; make sure you are clear regarding the content, context, audience, purpose, key points, organization, and professional standards to make your outline work for your document. Asking yourself these key categorical questions at various times during your edits makes for an efficient and well organized final document.

Another way to organize your abundance of information is to use a storyboard. Storyboards are a powerful organizational tool for writers and designers. They show a short and dramatic visual summary of the final project. There are different ways to show a storyboard, one way can be passively with the writer or designer walking the audience through the board which explains what happens throughout the process. Another element of a storyboard can feature animations on a timed program or even interactive components, requiring the designer to be engaged in the process.

Information can also be organized in a table and spreadsheet manner. This shows classification of information compared to groups and identifies with categories which can feature detail about each table or spreadsheet group. Electronic tables and spreadsheets are another great way to continue the organized editing process of your information prior to the finished document.

Within the ways of organizing information is the implementation of that data. There are various ways to organize your specific information for clarity. Print documents group information into paragraphs to which the audience reads. Electronic documents also group information into paragraphs which can be edited to use hyperlinks which can help the audience organize the information further. Oral presentations also group information to where the audience listens for cues about shifts to other topics. With all oral presentations it is essential for the presenter to focus on changes in vocal pacing, pitch and inflection to take the place of paragraph indentations and line spacing. Technical visuals group information as well as use labels and cues which direct movement through the visual presentation to the audience.

Each organized informational medium organizes the information in a variety of ways. There is the ever common alphabetical order which is good for documents dealing with words. Another type of organization is through numeric order which deals with a particular number or range of numbers. Lastly, a final way of organization is using a continuum, which ranks or rates the objects within the information.

From these types of organized sections it helps to identify further for the audience by using signals. A topic sentence is one way to further organize for the audience as well as transitions within the document used as another means of organization.

Further ways to organize a document are as follows: the whole/parts organization which gives the audience an understanding to the relationship between the whole (whether an idea, object, or entire system) to parts of that (whether on a micro level or a macro level), organizing information in a chronological order gives the audience material arranged by sequence or even order of occurrence which helps the development of ideas and presents the information in an appropriate manor; spatial order is the arrangement by relative physical location, which can help within a visual presentation to make the arrangement effective for the audience; ascending and descending order gives the audience information according to “quantifiable criteria” with most-to-least important and least-to-most important; comparison and contract tells the audience about similarities and differences within the information; cause-and-effect organization of information focuses on the precipitating factors and the results, understanding how the information is relative can further help the audience understand the vast information. Within cause-and-effect organization are inductive reason which moves from specific to broad and scientific which is used in research and experimentation and deductive reasoning is the opposite, moving from general to specific.

Organizing information is imperative for understanding verbally and visually and to make sure the audience understands the message you want to give.

Chapter 11 Review - Designing Information

Chapter 11 Review - Designing Information

Rob Michals & Aaron Isakson



“Information design is concerned with the ways in which you organize and present information to increase audience comprehension” (Burnett p.378) The design of text is a important factor in getting your audiences attention. Burnett explains in this chapter five key ideas to visually organize your text. Textual, spatial, graphic, color, and dynamic elements each play their own roll in any kind of media. It is used in web development, electronic documents, and hard media. Space is another important factor in catching the reader’s eye. Organizing the information in an appropriate manner means you will have to use blank space and chunking the information together to make it understandable. Leaving space in the margin and in between the lines makes reading it easier. Line length and alignment can help the reader comprehend what they are reading. Keeping sentences short and “ragged right” helps the reader understand the information more than the “fully justified” text setting.

When using design elements, there are two main practices used: appropriate grid selection and the placement of visuals near related text. By breaking a page up into sections (called grids) document designers can place illustrations in correct places within a given document.
Prints and online documents require some additional practices in order to catch the readers attention. Writers of online documents must avoid these 4 problems: chartjunk, heading placement, tombstoning, and windows and orphans. Chartjunk is the temptation to add unnecessary visuals, these will draw the readers attention away from the desired information. Tombstoning is when a writer places headings in odd places, thus creating an unclear direction of reading. (Burnett pg. 392 has a great visual of Tombstoning.) The next problem is heading placement, this involves adding at least 3 lines of text before the placement of a heading. Next are windows and orphans, these both describe little pieces of leftover text. Windows are leftover text within a given paragraph while orphans refer to bits of text leftover in the next column or page.
The next portion of the chapter describes Typefaces (fonts). The font, font size and font style of the text will alter the way a reader perceives the information. For example, bold text grabs your attention, as does CAPITALIZATION. Font sizes should range from 10-12 point font, however headings may use larger font. Burnett page 398 has a great illustrative example. Also affecting readers are the uses of typographic devices, a fancy word for use of bulletpoints, numbered lists, italics, underlining, box and shading, and color usage. Bulletpoints are used to order and prioritize text, however they do not stress the total count of items. Color will draw attention to a certain area of text or heading, as will added boxes around the text. For example Book Titles should look different than www.webpages.com .

Chapter 12 Summary

Katie Jenney and Jesse Meyers

A visual is a table, graph, diagram, chart, drawing, map, or a photograph. Visuals, whether used to supplement text or used alone can aid in better understanding information presented. When using a visual in a document there are factors to be considered such as: placement, relevance, and audience. In a document, visuals should be used to support the text, so that information can be clearly understood by the audience. Visuals should be a part of the topic and can be alone if the situation warrants, however visuals need strategically placed. The audience is a major factor when using visuals, for example a surgeon does not necessarily need pictures of a routine surgery while a patient would probably need a visual to better understand the surgery. Visuals used in a document should be referred to using a figure number and title and include a label with a brief description, which will enhance the “flow” of the document.

Visuals have many different purposes, and there are seven different functions that a visual will fulfill. These functions as in the textbook are:

1. Provide immediate visual recognition

2. Organize numeric or textual data

3. Show relationships among numeric or verbal data

4. Define or explain concepts, objects, and processes

5. Presents chronology, sequence, and process

6. Illustrate appearance or structure, which may include describing objects or mechanisms

7. Identify facilities or locations

Color is an important factor in a visual, because too much or too little color can drastically change the quality of the document. When color is used in a document it needs to be functional within the document and at the same time as little color as possible needs to be used. Colors are sometimes used within a cultural standard, for example red means stop, and should be used appropriately.

Often certain colors are used to give signals about safety and are often standard to society, for example the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), uses yellow, red, and orange for symbols with strict meanings such as: red meaning danger, orange meaning warning, and yellow, meaning caution. Color is used to attract attention, show better detail, enhance organization, and highlight the function of a visual object. Sometimes color can be used in a visual to aid in an object’s comprehension by an audience for example, adding color to a black and white image enhances the detail and features of the image. Color can also be used to influence the interpretation of a visual object by showing changes with different colors.

This chapter adequately describes how the use of a visual object can benefit a document used in conjunction with text or alone, and how color can be used to enhance a visual object within a document and in society via symbols.

Chapter 9 Summary
Wendy Sandstrom
Devin Doyle

Ensuring Usability

Topics included in this chapter are principles of usability testing, types of usabililty testing, conducting and reporting the results of usability testing and an important corollary of usability-accessibility.

Characterizing Usability
The goal of usability is to place user concerns, rather than the text features, at the center of the design and development processes. Text interacts with users in printed form in a manual, on a product package, or an insert in the product. Text can be written, visual, graphic, oral, etc. Usability is defined as the degree to which texts, regardless of their form, effectively and easily enables people to accomplish their goals.
Critical Principles

1. Learnability-can people learn to use the text and product easily?
2. Efficiency-are people productive using the text and product?
3. Memorability-do people remember to use the text and product from one use to the next?
4. Error Recovery-how many errors do people make using the text and the product? How serious are the errors
   
5. Satisfaction-are people satisfied with the performance of the text and the product?

These principles can be used to asses the usability of different types of texts typically developed by technical communicators and professionals.
Characterizing Usability Testing
Usability Testing is a structured process that gathers information about specific use from people to the intended users. It provides a realistic look at how the text or product stands up to the 5 critical principles of usability. Test validity is a standard to go by, it looks at how the testing results measure against what the test claims to measure. A well-planned usability testing program program can provide invaluable information for revising and editing communication.
Types of Usability Testing
There are three broad categories of testing-text based, expert based, and user based testing. They are distinguished by the way information is collected and by the nature of the feedback. Text-based tests are useful for identifying specific errors and for establishing the presence or absence of common textual, visual, and design features. Microsoft Word can display two types of readability test scores: Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level. Expert-based testing includes several types of reviews: technical reviews by subject-matter experts, substantive editorial reviews and design reviews. User-based testing elicits information directly from the users. Concurrent testing collects information from users as they read and use a text. Retrospective testing collects information from users after they have finished using a text.
Conducting Usability Testing
Careful planning before testing will ensure usability. Preliminary steps for conducting testing can be modified for specific situations. As you plan for testing, consider your goals, criticality, constraints, schedule, involvement, timing, goodness of fit, ease of use, usable form, and updating test results. When designing documents, Web sites, and software interfaces it is important to assess the needs of the actual users, the demands of their particular situation, and the tasks and limitations of the users in those situations. Then it is time to implement the plan and report the results.
Ensuring Accessbility
Providing access to information and services, especially to people with disabilities, is a necessary pat of usability. Some users may have mobility, cognition, vision, and/or hearing limitations to designers need to consider. Principles of accessibility include consideration for use that is equitable, flexible, simple, intuitive, and perceptible. They should also minimize errors, require low physical effort and be appropriate in size, space, and approach and use. These principles also apply to Web-based applications and Web sites.

Chapter 7

Valerie Teagarden and Robert Lawson

Burnett discusses the importance of the writing process in chapter 7. She breaks the chapter into three main categories. The first category is inventing and exploring, this process allows the writer to explore different ideas, take notes, make observations, basically consider all options. During inventing and exploring the writer will engage in problem solving which creates an opportunity to investigate any potential problems. Burnett lists eight different stages. 1. Identify the context and problem. 2. Gather and evaluate information in order to set priorities. 3. Formulate alternative possible solutions that may differ from conventional approaches. 4. Draw on prior knowledge and experiences with similar problems in order to determine the preferred outcome and criteria for success. 5. Assess alternatives and select plan of action. 6. Start on the most appropriate, efficient solution. 7. Monitor individual and group performance against the outcome. 8. Evaluate.
Next Burnett discusses problem solving strategies which include; brainstorming, the 5 W's+H (who, what, where, why, when, and how), cause and effect analysis, and synthetics.
The second category Burnett brings attention to is planning and organizing. Typical writers engage in schema-driven planning, knowledge-driven planning, and constructive planning. Schema planning involves creating a document based off of a existing document. Knowledge-driven planning is using knowledge of the subject to create the document. Constructive planning usually involves more time because it requires analysis of the purpose, audience, task and variety of constraints. When planning it is important to consider the nine rhetorical elements constraints, context, purpose, audience, organization, visuals, document design, usability, language conventions. Among the nine rhetorical elements it is necessary to asses the logic of the document. This includes using reputable data to create acceptance with the audience. Also, presenting facts that are complete and not out of context. It is important to leave the audience not assuming or creating a distorted view. Also, creating a substantial relationship between cause and effect, not leaving the audience guessing on the order of events.
The last category Burnett touches on is drafting. Burnett mentions six different decisions that are being made during the drafting process. 1. Selecting a persons view (first, second, or third person). 2. Verb mood (indicative, imperative, or subjunctive). 3. Selecting a active or passive voice. 4. Using plain, simplified language. 5. Avoiding density, making it comprehensible and usable. 6. Using given-new analysis, connecting new information with previous knowledge of the audience.
Burnett state that the writing process is recursive, meaning that all steps usually happen at different times repeatedly or they could all occur at the same time.

Chapter 8 Summary

Abdinasir Bashir, Becca Sorensen
Eng 271
Chapter 8 Summary

Revising and editing are big processes to consider when writing a document. Revising is the process of changing everything about the document. Editing is the process of changing some parts of the document. These two processes will greatly help a writer to be able to write a better document.

There are two types of revision; global revision and local revision. Global revision is reorganizing the complete document. Local revision is revising single paragraphs and sentences. When revising, a person checks on the content, structure, organization, coherence, logic, and design of the document. Barbara Sitko, a revision strategy researcher, has developed a six step revision process. The six steps include getting feedback, assessing feedback, making attributions, testing the text, setting goals, selecting strategy, (and finally revising.) During revision a person checks on one element of the document at a time. Another way to begin revising is to have your audience, actual or simulated, give you feedback. Two changes to consider while revising are the text and design of a document. Re-visioning of text and document design often inspire or re-create the desire for one to revise.

The four functions of editing to consider are; content accuracy, design review, proofreading, and administrative responsibilities. Content accuracy refers to checking that the content of the document is accurate. Design review deals with checking on the size, font type, and matching textual references. Proofreading is a method used to check if there are any problems or language errors in the document. A person checks on the grammar, spelling, punctuation, citations, and headings of the document. Many people use software tools when editing such as spell check. However, when using word-processing software one needs to be aware of the limitations that arise such as inconsistent writing styles, confusing sentence structures, or poorly organized documents. That is why a person shouldn't fully depend on the software. Document cycling is used on network computers to get individual people to edit and revise document parts all at the same time (like google docs?). Administrative responsibilities are for those familiar and comfortable with corporate policies, production and publication processes, and managerial skills.


The four most common copyediting problems are using concrete details, direct language, positive phrasing, and eliminating wordiness. Using direct language and positive phrasing helps the reader to read the document quickly and simply. Eliminating wordiness helps make it easy to read a document. A person can eliminate wordiness by avoiding redundancy. The types of redundancy are redundant pairs like, "first and foremost", redundant modifiers such as, "collaborate together", and redundant categories, for example, "bitter taste." It is helpful to reduce noun strings, "which are a series of two or more nouns in which the first nouns modify the later nouns," ( Burnette, Technical Communication, Pg. 282), in order to improve document writing.

Chapter 6 Anders and Tyler

This chapter is about the steps of knowledge management. it is finding and selecting information from a variety of sources. there are many primary and secondary sources to look into. Primary sources are first-hand information reported by people directly involved with an action or event. a secondary source information does not come directly from the people involved in the event instead the information is interpreted and reported by a second or third party. When consulting a source you always want to check the credentials of the source, the sponsoring agency, and the date that the information was obtained.
A good place to find electronic resources is in an online library catalog. I'm sure many of us have used our library's' catalog. once you have completed a general topic search in the library catalog and reference books you can start to look in data bases such as academic premier or pro quest. You may also want to do further Google searches.

Chapter 4: Addressing Audiences

Rob Michals and Aaron Isakson

The chapter starts by stressing the importance of the two purposes of technical presentations: “to concisely and accurately convey verifiable information and to persuade audiences to attend to this information.” (page. 112)

To achieve the 2 purposes of technical presentations, audience identification must be done. As audiences change, the information in the presentation much change to suit the needs of the intended audience. “You can accomplish this most easily by directing different audiences to particular sections of the proposal.” (page. 114)

The chapter breaks the audience down into specific roles: Initial audience, primary audience, secondary audience, and external audience. The initial audience receives the presentation document and directs the document to the primary audience. The primary audience consists of people who will actually use the presented data, they are the decision makers. The secondary audience receives the presentation documents; they are interested in the data since they are somehow affected by it. The external audience is outside of the organization but affected by the information.

The chapter then discussed the methods of analyzing your audience. The following characteristics help to identify the audiences needs and expectations: Context in which a document is interpreted and used, purpose and motivation of the audiences, prior knowledge of the audiences, including education and professional experiences, reading level of the audiences, and the organizational roles of the audiences. (page. 116) The chapter also discusses the method of asking questions within the business departments in order to gain a sense of what should be added to the presentation. These departments could include: Design, Marketing, Sales, and Customer Service.

The physical and political context of a document is very important if you want the audience to read the information. The audience wants a nicely formatted document, meaning paragraph divisions, headings, page design, type and size of illustrations, and binding to make it more accessible. (page. 117) Also if the presenter wants the audience to see the document, he/she better make sure that the document is sent or posted in the correct location, making sure EVERYONE sees it, thus not leaving anybody out. (leaving people out can make them feel unimportant, thus they will more than likely ignore anymore documents written by the presenter).

The book breaks down a nice list for document organization: Initial abstracts or summaries, headings and subheadings, use of descending order so that the most important information comes first, definition of terms, transitions that show how sections of the document relate to each other, visuals that make information easily accessible, page layout that is not crowded or cluttered. (page. 119)

Each audience has purpose and motivation, knowing this can help with the organization of the presentation. The book breaks it down into 2 types: Receptive audiences (recommend changes and then support them later in the document) and Resistant audiences (show the problem and solutions in order to persuade the audience).

The prior knowledge of the audience will aid the presenter in adding the correct vocabulary and content. The audiences’ educational background will affect how they comprehend the concepts presented to them. Vocational schools focus on practical knowledge while Universities focus more on theory with a mix of practicality. What a person knows will directly affect how they read a document/presentation.

The reading ability of an audience will drastically affect the way a document is written. If the audience can’t understand the information, then nothing gets accomplished. Just because the subject matter is complex, doesn’t mean the presentation method has to be complex. There’s a great table on page 123 that describes the factors of reading. This table includes: content, context, purpose, audience, organization, visuals, design, usability, and language conventions.

The next section of the chapter discusses limited literacy of the audience. Limited literacy is broken up into two categories: People who are skillful readers in some circumstances but not in other circumstances and people who don’t get much information of any written documents. People with limited literacy often skip over most of the document or they choose not to read it. One solution the book suggests is to present in one-on-one conferences, face-to-face small meetings, training programs, dvd’s, and computer software. (page. 125)

The internal language is not always appropriate for an external audience. When writing an email to an external party, being more specific is always better than if you were writing to some other employee in your company. (page. 126)

Each group of people will have different comprehensibility levels. When writing to a group, you need to adjust to the audience you are trying to send the message to. This is done by changing the vocabulary, using topic sentences, and taking in account any prior knowledge on the subject. Each contribute to the level of expertise the author wants the reader to know about the subject. Page 127-8 has a great paragraph written three different ways, for three groups of people.

The last topic of chapter four addresses audiences with the same level of complexity, but worded different for better understanding. They gave an example of a company on page 130, using three different emails addressing the same issue but being sent to different people. Each person had a different roll in the company and would be affected by the changes. Taking the time to write different emails is not always possible, so the book suggests a few points to help make your point clear. First you should identify and write for the preliminary audience, then identify the second audiences, and lastly make it accessible in both email and paper form. (page 131-2)

Chapter 5 Summary: Collaboration in the Workplace

Kathryn Jenney & Jesse Meyers

Collaboration is two or more people working with each other to accomplish a task, commonly used in the workplace. Collaboration is used when outside resources and information is needed for a project, or other activities. There are basic reasons why people tend to collaborate; these are: subject of the project, product that collaborators create, process used in the project, and benefits of collaboration. The subject is an important part of many projects sometimes requiring outside knowledge.

When you collaborate for a project incorporating other points of view and information, this will often add better and more usable data to the process of your project. Some projects require collaboration because there is information outside of your specialty that is needed to make your project better. Some benefits of collaborating, both personally and professionally are: collaboration increases your knowledge of a certain subject beyond your own bounds, adds more enjoyment to the project that you are working on, provides extra support in needed areas with more manpower.

There are certain aspects of collaboration that are a disadvantage. As listed in the book there are ten main problem areas in collaboration; "time, discomfort, credit, control, conflict, criticism, ethics, style, responsibility, and technology. There many different types of collaboration, both personal and professional, however these are some that are particularly useful in a professional workplace: coauthoring, consulting with colleagues, contributing to team projects.

This chapter explains different types of conflicts that may need to be dealt with while collaborating. These conflicts are, as listed by the book: affective conflicts which are basically disagreements between collaborators, procedural conflicts which are problems with the whole collaboration, and substantive conflicts which are problems with the internal project that collaborators are working with.

Culture is also an aspect of collaboration that is very important because different cultures have different ways of understading information, so compromise is very important so misjudgements or problems occur.
This chapter focused on many contributing factors on being an effective collaborator, giving points and suggestions to avoid problems when working on projects. These points are valid in both a personal proffesional environment and may come in handy.

Chapter 3 Summary

Corey Place & Gena Gilbertson

This chapter begins with asking the question, “What is Reading?” Most people do not entirely realize the process while they are taking part in this action because of how second nature it becomes for a person. Reading is not simply an action where you spell out words, but rather a thought process that interprets symbols and what they mean to an individual person. Of course the information must be clear and understood by its intended audience along with the fact that an audience will absorb the information more with visual aids and stimulating words or accessories that will put emphasis on the information. Now when readers do read it is mentioned in Chapter 3 that they fall into one of the following four categories;

--Reading to assess
--Reading to learn
--Reading to learn to do
--Reading to do

The chapter is also quite helpful in letting a reader know that it’s not the words themselves but how they are presented to the reader. The words themselves hold style value in how they are presented. Some people can have a tendency of daydreaming or loosing interest in a piece of reading so the book lists a few simple tasks that a reader can do to ensure that all the information is absorbed.

--Skim the entire document so see if you can get a general idea of what the piece of reading is trying to tell you.
--Scan the document for a few special words or terms that you think are going to be of value in conveying the information.
--Predict some of the questions that a normal reader may ask about the information and see if you can gather those answers based on the reading.

The chapter puts emphasis on not only what the reader can do to obtain the information better, but what a presenter can do as well. Chunking together information, putting important points in bold, or categories lined with bullets can burn a relationship between a reader and the information being presented.
This chapter goes through many ideas that people tend to forget when presenting information. The way that you present ideas has just as much of an impact as the ideas themselves. This works both ways for the reader or listener in the fact that they need to do more than just listen to the words, but need to comprehend the concepts and terms in the context of the topic.

Chapter 3 summary

Chapter 3 explains that reading is not just the process of decoding words on a page, it also necessitates interpreting the information. This is what gives the specific text or document meaning. Regardless of the purpose, workplace professionals expect (As identified in Chapter 1) documents to be accessible, accurate, comprehensible, and usable. The specific example should also have a clear purpose. Similar to any technical communication information written documents should be neatly organized, systematically develop points, and use both verbal and visual information. Four common purposes for reading a document at the workplace include:
Assess: Often skimming to decide whether or not a document is worth reading thoroughly.
Learn: Reading to obtain knowledge relavent and pertaining to improvement in the workplace.
Learn to do: Instruction manuals and how-to step by step processes help workers learn to do.
Do: The reading serves as an external prompt for completing tasks i.e. product labels.
Reading and writing are closely related and often insperably intertwined. As a writer, it is important to be conscious of the readers purpose and vice-versa this applies to readers being conscious of the writers purpose and text features that may cause questions to occur. One strategy experienced readers use is recognizing recurrring evolving patterns that help the reader become more familiar with the document, thus making it more accessible, understandable, and usable to the reader.
Six strategies that this chapter highlights for more poignent reading and writing are:
Skim, scan, and predict: Skimming and scanning are similar methods of highlighting key points, and gaining a general idea of a documents thesis and purpose. After both skimming and scanning a reader can make infernces about that information on which to base a prediction of what ideas are going to be communicated through the document.
Identify Structure: Use of headings, visual cues, and previews of whats coming make identifying the structure of documents easy. Fairly often a technical document will feature an abstract which provide an abbreviated overview of a report while maintaining the tone and focus of the original document.
Identify Heirarchy: Being able to define heirarchy is important in distinguishing main points. Documents with more concrete heirarchies provide more clear and distinguished points and make it easier for readers to recall important information.
Draw Inferences: Inferences are simply things that are communicated without being specifically stated. Many articles and documents can imply meanings without explicitly stating them. Think about reasonable but unstated implications and inherent assumptions that are prsumed but not articulated.
Generate Questions and Examples:
Knowledge Questions: Stress the importance of specifics, facts, conventions or organization, classification systems, evaluation criteria, methods, principals, and theories.
Comprehension Questions: Comprehension questions are qualified by the use of knowledge and understanding to translate, interpret, or extrapolate ideas from the given source.
Application Questions: An application question implies that the response requires an application of principals or theories to check for understanding of their function and how they are applied to specific instances.
Analysis Question: An analysis question accentuates the differences between seperate elements of the whole document. Literally breaking the document into its devisive parts and establishing their relationships within the document.
Synthesis Question: If an analysis question breaks down a document into its seperate pieces than conversley a synthesis question relies on an essential structure to form the sum of all parts of the document to form a unique whole.
6. Monitor and Adapt Reading Strategies: Skilled and effective readers are aware of their process while they are reading. They understand the material and grasp the concepts and are they are always conscious of their comprehension of material. Excellent readers are also able to adjust and adapt to the situations that they encounter and they can reflexively acclimate themselves to that situation in order to be more successful and productive readers.
A readers specific purpose and preconceived ideas can lead different readers to interpret an identical document in completely different ways. People who come from different backgrounds and who are reading a document for different reasons will usually have their own unique set of inferences and interpretations related to the article that they are reading. It is important to be open minded and aware of your own preconceptions before reading and article and asking, "What is my prejudice or bias before reading this article?" If the reader is critical of what their purpose of reading the article is before they begin than they are likely to pull away only the relavent information pertaining to them, rather than an overall summary or sythesis of the documents whole.
Reading and writing are inextricably intertwined. So when writing consider strategies that readers use before preparing and organizing information. Also, while reading be conscious of the strategies used by the author and their purpose as well as your own specific purpose for reading.

Chapter One Summary

Becca Sorensen, Abdinasir Bashir
English 271
Dr. Tesdell
May 30th


Chapter One Summary


Chapter one is about communicating in the workplace. This chapter defined what technical communication is; the importance of effective communication in the workplace; communication constraints you might encounter; and how to effectively construct meaning. It also discussed the three essential criteria for creating a document, oral presentation, or visual.

Technical Communication is described as rhetorical in the book because it is, “the art and craft of communicating technical information appropriately and persuasively to intended audiences, in complex contents, for particular purposes” (Burnett, Technical Communication, pg. 6). Closely related to technical communication, rhetoric concentrates on the visual aspect of communicating instead of the technical.

Technical Experts and Technical Communicators are the two major categories of professionals who are specially trained for the construction/preparation of technical documents, oral presentation, and visuals of an organization. The Technical Communicators are mainly responsible for the design, development and production of documents, oral presentation, and visuals. While the Technical Experts focus on communicating, and planning and preparing, technical communication. The importance of technical communication in the workplace is crucial for success. Surveys have shown that more than 90% of technical professionals attribute success to writing and speaking skills.

The three factors that influence interpretation are genres, communities, and technology. An important part of technical communication to consider is the genre. “A document, oral presentation, or visual and the rhetorical situation in which it is created and used combine to constitute the genre”. (Burnett, Technical Communication, pg. 9). Genres in technical communication affect each other. Interpretation is influenced by genres because one genre might have a different interpretation of the same information than another genre. Workplace professionals belong to communities that power their activities and understanding. One of the communities is discourse communities, which is a group that shares the same type of language. The other type of communities is called communities of practice, which is groups that join together and work together. One community interprets information differently than another community because of the different types of communities that exits and the way the communities interpret those information. Technology influences interpretation by the way information is written. Electronic information is written in many different ways while printed information is written in the same format, paragraph by paragraph.

Ethics is one important subject that is visited in technical communication. The question of whether to report negative information about a product or to report just the positive information as your employer wants is one example of an ethical decision type of situation. When writing, you should consider what to say and how to say it to your audiences with the consideration of your audiences’ understanding ability. You should also consider three things about the information that you are writing. These three things are the accessibility, comprehensibility, and usability of information. A person’ communication can be useful and timely if he or she considers the quality, quantity, relevance, and the manner of it.

Without using proper writing and speaking skills technical communicators could encounter many limitations. Even when displaying proper skills, constraints are still a major consideration. A large number of constraints to manage when creating documents, oral presentations, or visuals are: time, subject and format, audience, technology, noise, data collection, collaboration. Knowing these constraints should help a person understand and be prepared for the problems that come from these constraints.

Chapter 2 Summary

Noticing Culture in the Workplace

• People from other countries play a huge part in the workplace
• Culture can be associated with nationality, race, ethnicity, or religion.
• What is 'Normal' depends on the person, our own culture tends to be the 'normal' one.
• Because our own culture seems to be normal, we tend to not pay attention to similar situations in other culture
• Part of becoming culturally aware is looking at what we do through someone else's experiences
  

• What is culture?
  
• Sometimes a system of shared beliefs and values that influence attitudes and actions.
• These actions and attitudes are our culture
• Often more easily identified in other people than in ourselves
• Necessarily about collectives-could mean race, nationality, disability or other defining feature, not individuals
• Cultural Awareness
• Increased knowledge and sensitivity to other cultures can improve performance by:
1. Better Response-documents, presentations, and visuals are likely to get more attention and response
2. Increased Productivity-Meetings and other interactions are often more productive and pleasant
3. Explanations-alternative points of view may help explain attitudes, tools, and artifacts that aren't immediately or obviously compatible with our own perspectives
4. Compliance-likely to increase compliance with organization policies and procedures
   
• Global and local aspects
  

• Approximately four fifths of our trading is global, which means that culture and diversity are all apart of the workplace
• Globalization is the unrestricted movement of ideas and people, services and systems, goods and money across national borders around the world.

• The opposite of Globalization is Localization which is using familiar goods and services

• National Cultures are very interesting but can cause problems when working internationally
  
• "67% of international managers blame cultural differences for the difficulties they are confronted with working internationally" says Pricewaterhouse Coopers

• Languages are some of the biggest aspects defining cultures
  
• There are different words for almost anything in different cultures

• ex:what we call a 'trunk' of a car in the United States is called a 'boot' in the UK, Australia, and South Africa
• Discourse Community
• a group of people who share a number of common cultural characteristics
• same gender, race, nationality, or profession
• same political party, religion, athletic team, residential community, or corporation
• the most important shared characteristic is their common use of a specific language to accomplish something and to get the work done
  

• Proxemics are also different per culture, that is the physical distance between people
• Time means different things in culture like what is their thinking of "right away"
• We all need to be culturally aware in the work place
  
• Some things that can help are approaching someone, learning some common customs, expect the unexpected
• More information on the best companies to work for regarding culture at Fortune's 100 Best Companies
• Organizational Cultures
• the shared beliefs and behaviors of people in an organization
• expressed in formal and informal ways
• formal-policy statements, organizational charts, performance criteria
• informal-common practices, lore, gossip, e-mail
• personal factors can also make individuals part of one or more subcultures
• ex:age, income, marital status, education, roles in the community
  

Welcome to our Engl 271-02 Summer 2007 blog

Welcome to our course blog. We will use this online space for blogging, discussing, and summarizing our readings in Rebecca Burnett's Technical Communication, 6th edition. Joan Hertel, who is a graduate student in our technical communication program, will be helping to administer this blog for the summer semester.