Business and Technical Writing for the Real World: Skills You Can Use Now
Edition: 5
Copyright: 2023
Edition: 5
Copyright: 2023
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Communication is an integral part of our everyday life. Every day, everybody creates and receives communication, and content, and receives communication, or content. Being able to do both things well is advantageous to you, professionally and personally, those you interact with, and those you work for.
Part of the difficulty in communicating has to do with the various channels of communication to which you have access. Traditional channels of communication, including in-person communication and presentations, printed communication, such as letters and memos, and remote communication, by telephone or radio, have been expanded to include online, internet-based communication. Newer communication channels include e-mail, blogs, vlogs, wikis, texting, and social media: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and others.
Business and Technical Writing for the Real World: Skills You Can Use Now presents a view of the components of modern business and technical communication. Aspects of writing using templates and styles, tools, and technology are presented in way that relates to your needs. Armed with this information, you can make decisions about communication and content that affect your personal and professional communication immediately.
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION DEFINED
TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION DEFINED
BUSINESS AND TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION DIFFER FROM ACADEMIA
EXERCISES
Technical Communication Fly-By
Introduction Communication
Testing Communication
Working with Your School
CHAPTER 2 CONTENT CREATION
CORRECT COMMUNICATION
GRAMMAR THAT WORKS
Being Consistent
Using Standards
Simplifying Your Writing
Handling Quotation Marks
Capitalizing Correctly
Using Articles
Proofreading for Grammar
WRITING EFFECTIVELY
Language Choice
Being Concise
WRITING CONCISELY
Example 1: Computer Instructions
Example 2: Improving Computer Instructions
Example 3: Even Better Computer Instructions
WRITING COMPREHENSIVELY
Example 1: Introduction on the Phone
Example 2: Computer Introduction
Example 3: Retaining Meaningful Content
Active and Passive Voice
First, Second, and Third Person Reviewed
Imperative Mood
Avoid Idioms and Metaphors
Use Parallel Construction
Using the Correct Word
Using Gender Pronouns
WRITING CLEARLY
Unintended Meaning
Using Pronouns Clearly
TRANSLATING CONTENT
Ways to Translate Content
Creating Content for Translation
POSITIVE MESSAGES
NEGATIVE MESSAGES
INTERVIEWING SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS
Plan Your Interview
Get the Appropriate SMEs to Attend
Take Notes During the Interview
Ask for Clarity
Follow-Up After the Interview
Other Interview Ideas
EXERCISES
How-To Memo
Writing Clearly
Writing Technical Communication Clearly
Identifying Negative Language
CHAPTER 3 STRUCTURING CONTENT
USING TEMPLATES AND STYLES
ORGANIZATION TEMPLATES
DEFAULT TEMPLATES
STYLE GUIDE
STYLES
Advantages of Styles
Disadvantages of Styles
Microsoft Word Styles
Ad-Hoc Formatting
HEADING AND LIST LOGIC AND USE
About Headings
List Types
List Logic
Introducing Lists
Heading Logic
LISTS OF REFERENCES
CITING SOURCES
Overview of APA, CMOS, and MLA
Getting Started with APA, CMOS, and MLA Citations
What-If Scenarios
Overlooked Use Cases in Citation
TRADEMARKS, SERVICE MARKS, AND COPYRIGHTS
EXERCISES
Using Sources
Recognizing Product Names
Using Styles
Using Lists
CHAPTER 4 DELIVERABLES
OVERVIEW
INSTRUCTIONS
Authoring Written Instructions
Creating Image-Only Instructions
REPORTS
Formality
Types of Reports
INTRODUCTION
COSTS
UTILITY
GENERAL USE
SPECIFIC USES
STORAGE
PROCESSOR
UPGRAGEABLILITY
CONCLUSION
LETTERS AND MEMOS
NEWSLETTERS
USING ONLINE MEDIA
Online Help
Websites
Creating Video-Based Instructions and Content
Using Screencastify
Using Internet Video for Meetings
Learning Management Systems
Using Discussion Boards
Social Media Overview
Using Artificial Intelligence
ORAL PRESENTATIONS
Creating a Presentation
Delivering a Presentation
ONLINE MEETINGS
SEARCHING FOR A JOB AND CREATING A RESUME
Deciding What to Pursue
Creating Job Materials
Finding a Job
TABLES, GRAPHS, AND FLOWCHARTS
Tables
Graphs
Flowcharts
EXERCISES
Recommendation Report
Using Software for Online Meetings
Writing a Cover Letter
Visual Presentation
Presenting
CHAPTER 5 DOCUMENT DESIGN
PLANNING YOUR DESIGN
DESIGN ELEMENTS
White Space
Proximity
Alignment
Contrast
Repetition
Chunking
Queuing
Filtering
Hypertext
FONT IN DESIGN
ONLINE
PRINTED
PDF
EMPHASIZING WORDS
EXERCISES
Critiquing Website Design
Reviewing a PDF
Reviewing a Resume
CHAPTER 6 COLOR
RGB COLOR
HEXADECIMAL NOTATION
PALETTED COLOR
CMYK COLOR
SUBTRACTIVE COLOR MODEL
CAN YOU PRINT WHITE?
SPOT COLOR
COLOR SPECIFICATIONS
COMPLIMENTARY COLORS
EXERCISES
Contrasting Color Models
Evaluating Color Online
CHAPTER 7 IMAGE TYPES
FONTS
Kinds of Fonts
Where to Get Fonts
Using Fonts
Converting Fonts to Curves
TrueType
PostScript
OpenType
Web Fonts
Font Faces
VECTOR IMAGES
Illustrations
Logos
AI
AutoCAD
EMF
EPS
PDF
SVG
WMF
RASTER IMAGES
Image Size
Resolution
Scaling Rasters
Raster File Types
Raster Images That Are Too Large
Photographs
Screen Captures
EXERCISES
Vectors and Rasters
Photography
Marketing Newsletter
CHAPTER 8 TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY FOR COMMUNICATION
OPERATING SYSTEMS
FILENAMES AND PATHS
Naming Files
Pathing
Using Lettercase
More About Lettercase
Drawbacks to Using Different Lettercase
CLIPBOARD
USEFUL UTILITIES
AUTHORING TOOLS
Adobe FrameMaker
Google Docs
MadCap Flare
MICROSOFT WORD
IMAGE AND ILLUSTRATION TOOLS
CorelDRAW
Corel PHOTO-PAINT
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
EXERCISES
Using Your Operating System
Comparing Word Processing Software
APPENDIX: SAMPLE STYLE GUIDE
INTRODUCTION
LAYOUT
Page Setup
Graphics
Fonts
TRADEMARK RECOGNITION
GRAMMAR
Commas
Semicolons
Quotation Marks
Gender
Plurals
ACTIONS
Open, Appear, and Displays
Click
Lists
NAMES OF THINGS
NUMBERS
CAPITALIZATION
Capitalizing Headings
Capitalizing Specific Words
USING HEADINGS
USING LISTS
WORDS YOU MIGHT GET WRONG
CROSS-REFERENCES
STYLE USE
Character Styles
Paragraph Styles
WORKS CITED
GLOSSARY
INDEX