Chapter 2.ppt

Technical Communication: Process and Product 6th Edition Steven M. Gerson Sharon J. Gerson...

Technical Communication: Process and Product 6th Edition Steven M. Gerson Sharon J. Gerson 1 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e  Chapter 2: The Communication Process This chapter discusses the following: The Writing Process: An Overview Prewriting Writing Rewriting 2 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e  The Writing Process: An Overview The writing process is recursive. The 3 steps are dynamic and overlap. Prewriting, Writing, and Rewriting will help you perfect your correspondence and enhance your professionalism. 3 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e  The Writing Process: An Overview (cont.) The Writing Process Prewriting Writing Rewriting Examine your Organize the draft Revise purposes according to some logical oAdd missing details Determine your sequence which your oDelete wordiness goals readers can follow easily oSimplify word usage Consider your Format the content to oEnhance the tone of your audience allow for ease of access communication Gather your data oReformat your text for Determine how the ease of access content will be oPractice the speech or provided review the text Proofread oCorrect errors 4 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e  Prewriting Before writing your document, you should accomplish the following: 5 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e  Prewriting (cont.) Examine your purposes—are you writing due to: – External motivation? – Has someone asked you to write the memo, letter, report, or proposal? – Internal motivation? – Have you decided to write the correspondence based on your own needs? 6 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e  Prewriting (cont.) Determine your goals—are you writing to: – Persuade an audience to accept your point of view? – Instruct an audience by directing actions? – Inform an audience of facts, concerns, or questions you might have? – Build trust and rapport? 7 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e  Determining Goals (cont.) 8 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e  Prewriting (cont.) Consider your audience—are you writing to: – High-tech readers? – Low-tech readers? – Lay readers? – Multiple readers with varied levels of knowledge? Ch. 4 discusses audience in detail. 9 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e  Prewriting (cont.) Prewriting Prewritingisis like likemapping mapping your yourroute routebefore beforeleaving leaving for for aa trip. trip. Know Know where whereyou’re you’regoing goingbefore beforeyou you get getthere. there. Gather your data—use any of the following techniques: – answering the reporter's questions – mind mapping – brainstorming/listing – flowcharting – outlining – storyboarding – org charts – researching (online and/or library) 10 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e  Prewriting (cont.) Determine how the content will be provided. Which of the following communication channels will you use? – E-mail – Reports – Cell phone e-mail – Brochures – Instant Messages – Blogs – Letters – Web sites – Memos – PowerPoint 11 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e  Determine how the content will be provided (cont.) The type of communication channel determines the size and shape of the content. The communication channel determines the technological requirements of your writer and reader(s). 12 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e  Writing Organize the draft according to some logical sequence which your readers can follow easily. These include: – Chronology—good for instructions – Spatial—good for technical descriptions – Importance—good for reports and memos – Problem/Solution—good for proposals – Comparison/Contrast—good for showing alternatives C h. 3 discusses organization in detail. 13 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e  Writing (cont.) Format the content to allow for ease of access. Use highlighting techniques, such as: – White space – Headings – Bullets – Graphics – Font changes – Color Ch. 8 discusses highlighting techniques in detail. 14 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e  Rewriting Revise – Add missing details – Delete wordiness – Simplify word usage – Enhance the tone of your communication – Reformat your text for ease of access – Practice the speech or review the text Proofread – Correct errors 15 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e  Process Sample Prewriting Writing Rewriting 16 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e  Prewriting—Journalist’s Questions Prewriting (Listing) Who? Matt What? fixed rate mortgages available Where? Mortgage bank When? current quarter Why? to show availability in the fixed rate market How? to compare three fixed rate mortgage investments to determine profitability 17 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e  Writing—Rough Draft with Suggested Revisions (boldface) To: Matt Wright From: Greg McLendon Re: Fixed Rate Mortgage [what about them?] Date: May 29, 2008 In an effort To review the mortgage market during this quarter, I have started by looking at fixed rate. I ran three fixed rate mortgage investments through the PALMS model[,] and Joel downloaded the market shares into a spreadsheet [what’s “PALMS”?]. The results are in the two attachments to this memo. Attachment #1 has all three of the mortgage investments funded by what Joel selected. Attachment #2 shows what I picked in mortgage investments (only two bonds- the highest returns) and what I picked to fund them. [why repeat the two attachments here and below? Combine them in the body points.] Attachment #1 show [subject-verb agreement error] that the spread is barely over 5 bps [define “bps”] in the base case. It [vague pronoun reference] also shows the longer duration and more convexity on liabilities then [spelling = “than”] assets. [boldface the headings for greater access] Attachment #2 shows that the spread is about 27 bps in the base with the liability duration still longer than assets, but the liability convexity about half the assets.[29 words] To add spread, as attachment #1 and #2 show [subject-verb agreement error], some convexity risk would need to be added to the portfolio. My intent was to show you [passive voice] what was available in the fixed rate mortgage market. The three mortgages I reviewed were plain sequentials, but they do represent the fixed rate mortgage investment market. I can conclude that [wordy] the fixed rate mortgage market is still very tight making it difficult for the Bank to invest in and make a spread. 18 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e  Rewriting—Corrected Memo To: Matt Wright From: Greg McLendon Subject: Fixed Rate Mortgage Investments for June 2008 Date: May 29, 2008 To review the mortgage market, I have started by looking at fixed rate. I ran three fixed rate mortgage investments through the PALMS financial calculator model. Joel downloaded this spreadsheet for your information. The results are in the two attachments to this memo. Attachment #1 has all three of the mortgage investments funded by what Joel selected in COs. The spread is barely over 5 bps (basis points which equal one one-hundredth of a percentage point in the base case). The attachment also shows the longer duration and more convexity on liabilities than assets. Attachment #2 shows what I picked in mortgage investments (only two bonds- the highest returns) and what I picked to fund them. The spread is about 27 bps in the base with the liability duration still longer than assets. The liability convexity equals about half the assets. To add spread, as attachment #1 and #2 shows, some convexity risk would need to be added to the portfolio. In this memo, I have shown what was available in the fixed rate mortgage market. The three mortgages I reviewed were plain sequentials, but they do represent the fixed rate mortgage investment market. I conclude that the fixed rate mortgage market is still very tight making it difficult for the Bank to invest in and make a spread. 19 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e  Practice Use the end-of-chapter activities to practice the writing process. 20 Gerson: Technical Communication,© 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6e