Preface | |
Principles | |
Characteristics of Writing at Work | |
Writing at Work versus Writing at School | |
Achieving job goals | |
Addressing a variety of readers who have different perspectives | |
Excessive paperwork and e-mails | |
Unknown readers over an infinite time | |
Legal liability for the writer and the organization | |
Using a variety of documents | |
The Foundations of Effective Writing at Work | |
The Qualities of Good Technical Writing | |
Exercises | |
Writing for Your Readers | |
Understand Your Readers-The Heart of the Planning Process | |
Determine your readers and their perspectives | |
Determine your purpose | |
Understand your role as a writer | |
Plan the content | |
Anticipate the context in which your writing will be received | |
Case 2-1 | |
Case 2-2 | |
The Basic Parts of the Composing Process | |
Analyzing the writing situation-purpose, readers, and context | |
Choosing/discovering content | |
Arranging content | |
Drafting | |
Revising | |
Editing | |
Case 2-3 | |
Planning and Revision Checklist: Audience, Purpose, and Context | |
Exercises | |
Writing Ethically | |
Your Professional Obligations | |
Codes of Conduct | |
Recognizing Unethical Communication | |
Plagiarism and theft of intellectual property | |
Deliberately imprecise or ambiguous language | |
Manipulation of numerical information | |
Use of misleading illustrations | |
Promotion of prejudice | |
Managing Unethical Situations | |
Ethics Decision Checklist | |
Exercises | |
Achieving a Readable Style | |
The Paragraph | |
Examples for study | |
Basic Principles of Effective Style | |
Determine your readers' knowledge of the subject | |
Determine whether a Particular style is expected | |
Adjust the style to the purpose, the readers, and the context | |
Keys to Building Effective Sentences | |
Select your level of language | |
adjust the density of information | |
Watch sentence length | |
Keep subjects and verbs close together | |
Write simple, squeaky-clean prose | |
Avoid pompous language | |
write to express, not to impress | |
Avoid excessive use of is/are verb forms | |
Use active voice for clarity | |
Word Choice | |
Style Checklist | |
Exercises | |
Designing Documents | |
Understanding the Basics of Document Design | |
Know what decisions are yours to make | |
Choose a design that fits your situation | |
Plan your design from the beginning | |
Reveal your design to your readers | |
Keep your design consistent | |
Designing Effective Pages and Screens | |
Use blank space to frame and group information | |
Space the lines of text for easy reading | |
Set the line length for easy reading | |
Use a ragged right margin | |
Helping Readers Locate Information | |
Use frequent headings | |
Write descriptive headings | |
Design distinctive headings | |
Use page numbers and headers or footers | |
Document Design Checklist | |
Exercises | |
Designing Illustrations | |
Tables | |
Bar and Column Graphs | |
Circle Graphs | |
Line Graphs | |
Organization Charts | |
Flow Charts | |
Diagrams | |
Photographs | |
Designing Illustrations Ethically | |
Illustration Checklist | |
Exercises | |
Applications | |
E-mails, Memoranda, and Letters | |
E-mails | |
Memos and Letters | |
Guidelines for Ensuring Quality | |
Appropriate Tone in E-mails, Memos, and Letters | |
Phrases to avoid | |
Writing that sounds phony or arrogant | |
Writing that sounds tactless | |
Guidelines for Creating an Appropriate Tone | |
Planning and Writing Common Types of Memos and Letters | |
Case 7-1: Informational memo | |
Case 7-2: Instructional memo | |
Case 7-3: Letter requesting information | |
Case 7-4: Unfavorable news letter | |
Case 7-5: Persuasive letter | |
Case 7-6: Letter of reply | |
Review of Principles: Questions for Planning | |
Correspondence Checklist | |
Exercises | |
Technical Reports | |
Kinds of Reports | |
Report Heading | |
Subject line | |
Reference | |
Action required | |
Distribution List | |
Parts of a Technical Report | |
Introduction | |
Summary | |
Introduction + summary | |
Conclusion | |
Recommendations | |
Attachments | |
Developing Reports | |
Case 8-1 | |
Additional report examples | |
Elements of Formal Reports | |
Prefatory elements | |
Abstracts and summaries | |
Discussion, or body of the report | |
Case 8-2 | |
Conclusion | |
Recommendations | |
Appendixes | |
Letter Reports | |
Report for Study | |
Checklist for Developing Proposals and Progress Reports | |
Exercises | |
Proposals and Progress Reports | |
Proposals | |
Example RFP | |
The context of proposal development | |
Effective argument in proposal development | |
Standard sections of proposals | |
Case 9-1: Research proposal | |
Case 9-2: Project proposal | |
Progress Reports | |
Structure of progress reports | |
Case 9-3 | |
Case 9-4 | |
Style and Tone of Proposals and Progress Reports | |
Checklist for Developing Proposals and Progress Reports | |
Exercises | |
Instructions, Procedures, and Policies | |
Instructions versus Procedures | |
Planning Instructions and Procedures | |
Structure and Organization | |
Introduction | |
Theory governing the procedure or instruction | |
Warnings, cautions, hazards, and notes regarding safety or quality | |
Conditions under which the task is to be performed | |
Name of each step | |
Case 10-1: Process instructions | |
Case 10-2: Instructional report | |
Case 10-3: Instructional letter | |
Online Instructions | |
Case 10-4 | |
Reflections on Developing Effective Instructions | |
Case 10-5 | |
Checklist for Developing Instructions and Procedures | |
Exercises | |
Oral Reports | |
Understanding the Speaking-Writing Relationship | |
Analyzing the Audience | |
Determining the Goal of Your Presentation | |
Choosing and Shaping Content | |
Analyzing the Context | |
Choosing the Organization | |
Choosing an Appropriate Speaking Style | |
Choosing Visuals to Enhance Your Purpose and Meaning | |
Planning Your Presentation-Questions You Need to Ask | |
Audience | |
Purpose | |
Context | |
Content | |
Graphics | |
Style | |
Speaking to Multicultural Audiences | |
Designing Each Segment | |
Choose an interesting title | |
Develop your presentation around three main divisions | |
Plan the introduction carefully | |
Design the body | |
Design the conclusion | |
Choosing an Effective Delivery Style | |
Techniques to enhance audience comprehension | |
Designing and Presenting the Written Paper | |
Structuring the written speech | |
Writing the speech | |
Practicing the presentation | |
Checklist for Preparing Oral Reports | |
Exercises | |
Resumes and Job Applications | |
The Correspondence of the Job Search | |
Letter of application | |
The resume | |
Follow-up letters | |
Interviewing | |
The interview | |
Negotiation | |
Before and after the interview | |
Job Search Checklist | |
Exercises | |
Brief Guide to Grammar, Punctuation, and Usage | |
Documentation Systems: MLA, CMS, and APA | |
Index | |
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