Technical Writing and Presentation
(the art and science of knowledge engineering)
Riadh Habash
“The fundamental purpose of scientific discourse is
not the mere presentation of information and
thought but rather its actual communication. It does
not matter how pleased an author might be to have
converted all the right data into sentences and
paragraphs; it matters only whether a large majority
of the reading audience accurately perceives what
the author had in mind.”
George Gopen and Judith Swan The Science of Scientific Writing
What, Why, How?
Acquiring technical writing skills means the need to
accurately communicate thoughts, ideas, information,
and messages in writing; and create documents such as
letters, directions, specifications, manuals, reports,
presentations, graphs, flow charts, etc.
• Challenges
– What technical writing in schools prepare students for?
– Why technical writing is a good reflection for learners?
– How does technical writing compare to academic writing?
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 2
Academic and Technical Writing
Academic Writing Technical Writing
Descriptive Job Description, Observation Report, Incident Report, CV,
Process Description, Book Review, Email Message, Webpage,
Memo, Agenda, Letter of Recommendation, Survey, Training
Manual, Meeting Minutes, Newsletter, Marketing Plan, Poster,
Brochure, Catalog.
Narrative Observation and/or Progress Report.
Analysis Performance Evaluation, Questionnaire, Cost Analysis, Critique,
Feasibility Study Report, Business Plan.
Cause and Effect Analytical, Product, Field Test Report.
Comparison Product Comparison, Feasibility Report.
Persuasive Proposal, Action Plan.
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 3
What is Technical Writing?
• It is the type of everyday writing that surrounds us at home,
workplace, and community.
• Examples of technical writing may include:
– White papers
– Journal Articles
– Training Materials
– Instruction manuals
– Policy and procedure manuals
– Process manuals
– User manuals
– Reports of analysis and design
– Instructions for assembling and using a product
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 4
Technical Writing for Engineers
• An engineer’s view is necessarily product-centric.
Here are few questions that helps in technical
writing:
– How has this feature been implemented?
– How does the user interact with this feature?
– What information does the user need before they using
this feature?
– What information does the user have after they using the
feature?
– Software: Does this feature involve any changes to the
product user interface (UI)?
– Software: Does this feature involve any changes to the
product application program interface (API)?
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 5
What Makes Technical Writing Different?
• The information should be prepared, presented
and communicated in a certain format.
• The writing should be brief, clear and accurate.
• The writing task should take into consideration
the audience’s needs, biases, and prior
understanding.
• The writing task should present information to
help readers solve a problem or acquire a better
understanding of an issue.
• The writing should convey technical, or particular
information in a simple way that is easy for a non-
technical readers to understand.
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 6
What Skills Students Need to Master Success
and Reflects Verbal and/or in Writing?
• Basic: Read; write; listen, speak, calculate.
• Thinking: Think creatively; make decisions; solve
problems; visualize, reason.
• Personal Quality: Exhibit responsibility, self-esteem,
sociability, self-management, integrity, and honesty.
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 7
Technical Writing Practices
• Planning: Understand the task before you Begin
• Clarity: Define the unfamiliar
• Shortness: Use words efficiently and avoid redundancy
• Simplicity: Use details wisely
Final draft
• Word Choice: Avoid complexity
• Diction: Correct language
• Organization: Arrangement of parts
• Visual: Design and graphics
• Commitment: Process and Habit
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 8
Technical Writing Ethics
• Language should clearly states who is responsible for what. ˆ
• Correctly represents all data ˆ
• Avoid language that could possibly mislead readers. ˆ
• Treat the views of others fairly and professionally. ˆ
• Clearly cites all sources used to write the report. ˆ
• All recommendations and conclusions should be supported by
facts. ˆ
• All judgments, recommendations, or comments should be
within the scope of the organization’s policies. ˆ
• Acknowledge and receive permission to use copyrighted
information.
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 9
The Feedback Cycle of Technical Writing
At each stage there is the possibility of feedback
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 10
Formal Technical Report Structure
• The objective of a technical report is to clearly describe
technical work, why it was prepared, results obtained and
consequences of those results.
• The technical report serves as a means of communicating the
work to others and possibly providing valuable information
about the work.
• A well‐written report is about organization. A technical report
should be divided into several sections in a logical sequence
that makes it easy for the reader to obtain an overview of the
contents as well as find specific information.
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 11
Universal Aspects of Reports
• Apply active voice by using the third person in most
instances.
• Avoid using personal pronouns.
• Use correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
• All diagrams must be neatly presented and should be
computer generated.
• Use a computer software package, such as Paint,
Multisim or AutoCAD, to draw diagrams.
• Leave at least a one‐inch margin on all sides of a full page
diagram and always number and title all figures.
• Any information that is directly quoted or copied from a
source must be cited using the proper notation [1, 2, 3],
for example.
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 12
Report Format
Title, Abstract, Table of Content
• Title Page: Report title, who the report was prepared
for and prepared by, and the date of submission.
• Abstract: This is a brief description of the report
including its purpose and important qualitative
results. It must not be longer than half a page and
must not contain figures or make reference to them.
• Table of Content: This includes all the report
sections, subsections, and appendices.
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 13
Ordering Sections
There are different ways of ordering sections, for
example:
• In sequence from most important to least important,
• In problem, method, solution sequence,
• In cause-and-effect sequence,
• In chronological (time) sequence.
Include an introductory paragraph or sentence at
the beginning of each section To introduce its
purpose and outline its main results.
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 14
Introduction
This section usually provides the reader with an
overview of why the work was performed, how the
work was performed, and the most interesting
results. It should include answers to the following:
–What questions are being investigated?
–What is motivation for the work?
–What category of persons is intended to
read the report?
–How was work performed?
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 15
Background Theory
• This is a discussion of relevant background theory.
• Include any preparation specified in the lab manual.
• This section may be divided into subsections if
appropriate.
• Keep the discussion brief and refer the reader to
outside sources of information where appropriate.
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 16
Analysis/Design
• This section provide the details of the design
procedure.
• This work is usually described using sentences,
equations, and graphs.
• It is not necessary to show every step.
• Sentences can be used to describe the
intermediate steps.
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 17
Procedure
• This includes the procedure used to test a
theory, verify a design or conduct a process.
• Make sure all diagrams provided are
numbered, titled, and clearly labeled.
• Briefly describe the method employed to carry
out the work. This is meant to be a brief
description seizing the intention of the work,
not the details.
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 18
Results and Discussion
• Present the results of the work performed using
effortlessly organized and completely labeled tables
and/or graphs whenever possible. When data is
available, present the data in a way that facilitates
the comparison. It is necessary to:
– Accompany results with a meaningful discussion.
– Discuss the possible sources of error and how accurate the
results need to be in order to be meaningful.
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 19
Conclusion
• In this last section, everything is put together. It is
similar to the abstract except that now the results are
concluded upon in a quantitative way.
• The conclusion should be a concise description of the
report including its purpose and most important results
providing specific quantitative information.
• The conclusion should not contain figures or make
reference to them. Similar to the abstract, the reader
should be able to read this section on its own which
means that there should be no specific technical
details, abbreviations, or acronyms used.
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 20
Citation
Why Citation? To place report in context of existing documents; to
mention background material that reader needs to know; to give credit
for material that has been quoted; to add authority to a conclusion that
is confirmed by another work.
When citing an article in a periodical, you must include:
– The author(s) last name(s), followed by a comma, and first initial (s),
followed by a period.
– The year of publication and date, in parentheses, followed by a period.
– The article title followed by a period. Capitalize only the first word and
any proper nouns.
– The title of journal, in italics, followed by a comma.
– The volume number in italics.
– The issue number (if available) in parenthesis, followed by comma.
– The pages followed by a period.
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 21
Appendix
• This section may not always be present.
• It contains material that supplements report body
but not an essential part of the text.
• Materials included in an appendix may include lab
sheets, parts list, diagrams, extensive calculations,
error analyses, and lengthy computer programs.
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 22
Technical Presentation
• To create a good presentation, it is needed to demonstrate
design skills, technical literacy, and a sense of personal style.
• Informal presentation
o Ad hoc- few words summarizing the work
o Probably no need for slides
• Formal Presentation
o A project proposal to supervisors
o A sales presentation to a prospective client
o Oral summary of a report for a client
o Will likely include visual aids such a slides, videos, posters.
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 23
Preparing a Presentation
• Analyze your Audience
– What is the level of knowledge?
– What level of detail do the audience expects?
– What questions will the audience asks?
– What is the main interest?
• Topic and Message
– What is the main point(s) you want to communicate?
• Time constraints
– How much time do you have?
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 24
Less is More
• Create the presentation body with clear examples and by
using visuals effectively.
• Present data and facts; read quotes from experts; relate
personal experiences; provide vivid descriptions.
• Know your stuff; do not read slides; time yourself and be
ready to skip slides if time is short.
• Dress for success; speak clearly, loud enough and not too
quickly; maintain eye contact with audience.
• Ask questions and stimulate thinking.
• Presentation is a story telling; be positive and keep it simple
• Stay on time!
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 25
Reflection
Ethical Considerations in Technical Writing
Honesty: Promote the public good in activities.
Legality: Observe the laws and regulations governing profession.
Confidentiality: Respect the confidentiality of clients, employers,
and professional organizations.
Quality: Produce excellence in communication products.
Fairness: Respect cultural variety and other aspects of diversity
in clients, employers, development teams, and audiences.
Professionalism: Evaluate communication products and services
constructively and seek definitive assessments of professional
performance.
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 26
Reflection
What is the Difference between Technical
Communication and Technical Writing?
• Technical communication and technical writing are
basically the same thing.
• Technical communication is a newer term that
describes a field that is growing to include additional
skills such as information design, user experience
design and instructional design.
• Both fields share the same goal of creating clear and
organized content that helps users to achieve specific
goals.
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 27
Reflection
Case Study
• Project Brief: Develop a suite of online motivation
pages to assist students and the public in one of the
following topics or any one of your selection:
– Defy the conventional
– Typical engineering and sustainable engineering
– Hierarchy of creativity
– Habits of Mind
– Creativity in the classroom
– Think outside of the box
– Disruptive innovation
– Others
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 28
Reflection
Technical Writing and Management Skills
Assume you are working for a company that is
rolling out a new piece of software. You are asked
to write an online help, a printed manual, a quick
start guide, and produce instructional videos for
training.
How are you going to accomplish all done?
Technical writers often need to manage multi tasks
at one period of time. Developing good project
management skills is as important in addition to
good writing skills. Time management also plays an
important role.
CSI/ELG/SEGELG2911 29
