Writing for Business and Success

The Southwestern Ohio chapter of the Society for Technical Communication — in conjunction with the Mad Anthony Writers’ Conference and Book Festival — presents

A Technical Communication Workshop Series

This is for all you non-members out there. Have you always wondered what technical communication really is? Are you pondering a new career in technical communication? Do you wonder how technical communication can help you reach your business goals? Please join us for an informative half-day introduction to technical communication.

Sessions will include:

Introduction to Technical Communication
What is technical communication? Who are technical communicators? What do they do and how do learn to do it? Sandra Harner of Cedarville University provides an introduction for those considering careers in technical communication.

Technical Communication and Your Bottom Line
What role do technical communicators play in business? What are their key functions? How do they contribute to the bottom line? Sylvia Miller provides an overview of how technical communicators impact government and industry.

Panel Discussion: Technical Communication as a Profession
What is it like to work in technical communication? What skills, training and personal characteristics do you need to succeed? Where could you end up working? Hear from Thea Teich, Sylvia Miller, Louise Tincher, and Judith Harper — professionals with more than 50 years of combined experience working in technical communication for local employers.

Also includes the STC Traveling Exhibits. Online and printed examples of the winning entries from the STC International 2007 competitions. The exhibits provide examples of high-quality technical communications.

Sandra Harner developed the Technical and Professional Communication program at Cedarville University in 1984, transforming it from a minor in the English department to a full-blown major by 1992. She was named a Fellow by the Society of Technical Communication in 2001 and served on their Board of Directors as assistant to the president for academic and research programs for eight years. She is currently part of a team defining the Body of Knowledge essential to the profession of technical communication.

Sylvia Miller has worked in technical communication for 18 years. Starting out as an English teacher, she discovered technical writing while pursuing a Master’s at UD. She fell in love with the field and has never looked back. Sylvia has earned numerous awards for her work and contributions to the profession. She is an STC Associate Fellow and served as Instructional Design and Learning Special Interest Group membership and scholarship manager. She currently serves on the board of Cedarville University’s Technical and Professional Communication program.

After 20 years working for major industries, government agencies, and non-profits, Thea Teich started Teich Technical and Marketing Communications in 1995. TTMC offers technical and marketing communications services, including Web content and report development, editing, writing, indexing, and marketing consultation to clients in the software, manufacturing, financial services, publishing, pharmaceutical, and marketing research industries. Thea is a Society of Technical Communication Fellow and served on the STC Board of Directors from 1998 to 2004, including a year as president of the Society (2003-2004).

Louise Tincher has more than 10 years experience as a writer and editor supporting engineering and technology organizations. After eight years in technology sales and a serious career assessment, she switched tracks to technical communications. Louise draws on her varied background to help companies achieve their goals through more effective communications. She employs a structured approach to document development, using standard templates, processes and procedures to improve quality while reducing costs. She is current president of SWO-STC.

The beautifully restored historic YWCA of Hamilton
244 Dayton Street
Hamilton, Ohio

Date: Saturday, March 14, 2009

Time: 8:30am – 12:30pm

Registration:

• Adults: $25 / $30 at the door
• Students: $20 / $25 at the door
• Register at www.madanthonycbf.org or call the YWCA at 513-856-9800

All proceeds benefit the YWCA Family Literacy Program.

Karen Rokich Is Runner-Up in Clifton Library Writing Contest

Perhaps a patron at the Clifton Branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County asked about the reindeer that cavorted atop the library and Graeter’s buildings.  "Where," this nameless person may have queried, "did they really come from?" Maybe then the library’s Powers-That-Be realized that they didn’t have a really good story of origins for the landmark reindeer.

Or maybe not. Whatever the reason, the Branch held a writing contest for the best "Origins of the Reindeer" hypothesis. Our Chapter secretary Karen Rokich won a runner-up spot in that contest.

BTL extends congratulations to her and presents her winning entry below in its entirety.

Yoga Breathing Reins Deer

by Karen Rokich

Santa decided to attend a yoga class at the studio – It’s Yoga on Ludlow Avenue in Clifton.  As he was concentrating on his rhythmic breathing pattern, his imagination started to churn. With one exhalation, one reindeer safely landed atop the Ludlow Library.  With exhalation two, reindeer number two had a soft landing next to reindeer one.  With exhalation three, the third reindeer landed in front of reindeer one, near the edge of the building. 

Exhalation four was unique.  At the end of the exhalation, Santa cried, “Ha, Ha, Ha, He, He, He, Ho, Ho, Ho.”  After a somersault, reindeer four landed adeptly, chin and eyes pointed upward but atop the Greater’s Ice Cream building.

With exhalation five, reindeer number five settled next to reindeer number three.  With exhalation six, the sixth reindeer slid next to the second reindeer.  Reindeer number seven appeared in front of reindeer number six with the blink of Santa’s eye.  Reindeer eight side-stepped next to reindeer six again with the blink of Santa’s eye.  With exhalation seven, reindeer number nine slid star-styled in front of reindeer eight.

After another exhalation, Santa sighed, “Ho, Ho, Ho, Ha, Ha, Ha, He, He, He.”  This reindeer, named Hans, peaking his nose to the street, landed adroitly.  Santa blinked twice and two more reindeers landed…..now a dozen reindeer atop the library.

The thirteen reigning deer atop the library and Graeter’s are singing – Have safe travel and head over to the Esquire Theatre to see the Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

…Or Not

Voice is important.

Mother and very talkative toddler walk through the security entrance into the children’s library. Mom looks down at Johnny and puts her finger to her lips. “Remember Johnny, use your indoor voice.”

We’re not toddlers, but we need to remember that voice is important. When you read over a document, hear these words in your head, “Remember…use your reader-friendly voice.”

A reader-friendly voice IS NOT:

• Intimidating: We write to get through to readers, not to showcase our knowledge or call attention to our expertise.
• Overly clever: If the typical reader of a business or technical document notices the eloquence of the language or the aptness of a well-turned phrase, the technical writer is probably being way too clever.
• Professorial: Infowriting is neither textbook material nor lecture notes. Our relationship to our readers is collegial, not schoolmaster-pupil.

A reader-friendly voice IS:

• Competent: Infowriting doesn’t showcase knowledge; it builds on it. Readers must be convinced that we know what we’re talking about, and gaps in foundational knowledge show up as defects in the writing. Writing with a competent voice means assembling all the relevant facts, eliminating knowledge gaps, and building the document on a solid base.
• Conversational: Boredom, inattention, laziness, and distraction show up in oral conversations. They also affect the voice that comes through written documents. To keep the reader engaged, adopt the reader’s point of view and use the reader’s language.
• Wise: writing with a wise voice means anticipating the reader’s questions, finding the answers, and integrating that information into the fabric of the document.

Learn How in Six Weeks

by Margaret VanWinkle

“Writing great technical documents” is our goal as professional technical communicators. That is also the name of a six-week on-line continuing education course that I recently completed.

The course introduction promised to help us write with confidence, recognize and overcome common writing problems, and revise our writing to achieve more power and clarity. That’s quite a promise.

Since I’m a natural skeptic, I was surprised and delighted to see the promise fulfilled.

Content

Do you know the definition of an “inkhorn term”? Do you know how to form plurals of acronyms? Can you recognize a “circumlocution” or a “hedge word”? Do you know how to design a chart appropriate to the data being presented? Do you know how to design a document for both managers and technical readers?

The instructor covered these and many other topics. She opened with a fascinating review of historical writing and went on to discuss different writing styles and audiences. She then expanded to words, sentences, paragraphs, and documents.

The final lessons covered punctuation, graphical elements, document design, and formatting specific types of technical documents.

Course Structure
Lessons were released each Wednesday and Friday, and each lesson site remained open for two weeks. The instructor provided relevant and concise responses to our questions in the chat room at least once a day (except for weekends and holidays).

Each lesson consisted of 4–5 chapters, a list of supplementary material, a writing assignment, and a quiz.

• The supplementary materials list included both reference books and pertinent articles from a variety of internet sources.
• Writing assignments provided an opportunity to post a writing sample that other students critiqued. The instructor then critiqued the original writing sample and the other students’ critiques. This provided a real-life opportunity to give and receive constructive criticism.
• Quizzes could be re-taken until a grade of 100% was received. The quizzes did not count toward the final grade.

The final exam consisted of 36 multiple-choice questions and could not be re-taken. A Certificate of Completion was immediately issued if a passing grade was obtained (approximately 70%; the exact percentage is stated at the beginning of the exam).

Website, Cost, & Other Details
I discovered the course through the continuing education listing from my local community college (Clark State Community College in Springfield, Ohio, www.ed2go.com/cscc).

The course is also available through www.ed2go.com. Before you rush to this site, I would alert you that it actually cost twenty dollars more to enroll through the website ($129 in the summer of 2008) than through Clark State (currently $99). You may want to look at Clark State or a local community college for similar courses before enrolling through www.ed2go.com.

The instructor also offers a basic course called “Fundamentals of Technical Writing”. Since I had been a technical writer for the prior two years, I chose the advanced course. If you are thinking about entering the field, the basic course may be more appropriate.

In Summary
As the course progressed, I found myself anticipating the release of each new lesson and facing work on Monday mornings with excitement. I think it is safe to say that this is the first time I have regretted seeing a course end.

I now know that an “inkhorn term” is a word created during the Renaissance by common people who wanted to appear more educated. I watch my plurals, I avoid circumlocutions and hedge words, and I create charts appropriately. I have increased confidence in my ability to design a project with all the necessary elements.

Technical writing may be “dry”, but it does not have to be stilted and boring. I came away from this course with a renewed delight in writing and an awareness of the inherent joy in communicating well.

How to Keep Your Writing Healthy at Work

by Judith Harper

Early in my career, after about six months working full-time for large corporations, I found myself writing sentences like this:

We have developed three data management solutions: ServiceMarkA, a data-presentation strategy designed specifically to facilitate technology transfer and training; ServiceMarkB, an integrated data-management system for technical communication specialists; and ServiceMarkC, a data management strategy tailored for design engineers.

Even my eyes glazed over when I read the stuff. Could I have had a problem?

Of course I did. Cathy Moore (in her now-deceased and greatly missed Authentic Voice weblog) defined the syndrome: Corporate Drone. She described it as:

that vague, verbless text that oozes a numbing gray fog whenever you open a brochure or report.

Numbing gray ooze is not exactly a great tactic when the goal is to change people by changing the way they do things. You want readers alert and motivated, not numb and fogged up.

Diagnosing Corporate Drone (CD)

I checked my writing for CD symptoms; you can check yours for three of the most telling signs.

• A rash of ambiguous words and phrases, like partnering, architect (as a verb), and solution (as in "partnering with leading providers of e-business information solutions" or "architecting cutting-edge security solutions). Check out these gems for other examples. The rash is particularly irritating when the assembled words and phrases make no sense.
• Indigestion from a glut of words that are both multisyllabic and meaningless, as in this example:
  The solutions uniquely offered us the integrated planning, robust supply chain optimisation and execution capabilities needed to support our store level, integrated planning and replenishment initiative. (quote courtesy of The Observer)
• Fever and lethargy resulting from a scarcity of active verbs and simple, direct sentences, like this example:
  In addition, ongoing services deliverables must be carefully monitored to ensure the quality, timeliness and contract compliance of the deliverables during the term of the contract. This can be time-consuming and error-prone, and unless compliance is closely managed it can lead to unneeded costs such as undetected contract overruns and duplicate invoices. With the increasing use of contingent workers, consulting projects and offshore outsourcing, the delivery risk of services is increasing and needs to be managed even more closely.

Recovering from Corporate Drone

If your writing exhibits any of these symptoms, help is at hand! You can get rid of the numbing gray fog by using these tactics.

1. Make sure you know what you’re talking about.
   This means understanding the big picture as well as sweating the small stuff. When interviewing subject matter experts, don’t accept high-level answers to questions. Drill down to the details. Then drill down even more. Vivid, compelling writing is crystal clear; it paints word pictures in sharp detail without bogging down in excess verbiage.
2. Zero in on your primary audience.
   This means focusing on the person who will read the report, the procedures, the process description or proposal. What does she need to know? What is important to her? Does he have a basic knowledge of the subject or is he a novice? What does he care about? I’m the writer, but the reader is in charge. If she isn’t, she’ll lose interest. Or he’ll become confused. In either case, mistakes will be made and readers will stop reading. Then, as Confucius said, "what ought to be done remains undone." And the goal of infowriting remains unmet.
3. Read what you’ve written — out loud.
   If what you hear makes you cringe, start over with Step 1.