HOW TO COMMUNICATE 
TECHNICAL INFORMATION????
INTRODUCTION 
Technical Communication 
Technical Writing
INTRODUCTION TO TECH. 
COMM. 
Communication means writing, 
speaking, and showing visuals 
to other people, as well as 
listening to and observing others 
and reading their work.
These two productive skills are seen as 
the most daunting tasks by most of us. 
Nevertheless, writing and speaking well 
are critical for the success of an engineer. 
Many surveys have proved the 
importance of good communication skills 
for engineering careers.
 Most graduate engineers forget that apart from 
communicating with fellow engineers, they also need to 
communicate with non-technical audience – managers & 
administrators who, most of the time, make the decision 
in a company or organisation. 
 Engineers must communicate with listeners and readers 
from a variety of educational and professional 
backgrounds. Each of these audiences has different 
needs when reading the documents written by the 
engineers.
THE RELEVANCE OF TECH. 
COMM. 
Types Examples 
Letters and 
memos 
inquiry letter, complaint letter etc. 
Advertising & 
promotional 
materials 
magazine advertisements, business 
cards, brochures, pamphlets, 
leaflets etc. 
Documents annual reports, operating and 
repair manuals, parking tickets etc. 
Oral 
communication 
presenting a new product, 
informally explaining etc.
Sabtain Afzal 
MME-10M-32
CHARACTERISTICS OF TECH. 
COMM. 
Necessity for a specific audience 
Audience driven: respond to a specific 
audience’s needs 
eg.: Writing a memo, a letter or a report 
The use of visual elements 
 Illustrations: diagrams, headings, font 
types and size pictures etc.
Ease of selective access 
Because readers have other demands, they 
may have little time to read. 
So, the presentation of information should 
be easy to understand or catchy, for 
example, the use of headings, important 
words in an advertisement.
Has time limit (timeliness) 
The useful life of 
technical communication 
is relatively short.
 Structure 
 Ideas are presented in the shortest manner, for example, 
a word for advertisement. 
 Direct and simple 
 Some ungrammatical structures are allowed, for 
example, you may begin a sentence with “and” or “but”.
INTRODUCTION TO TECH. 
WRITING 
 What are the differences that you can identify from both 
excerpts? 
 Which can be considered as a part of tech. writing? 
Time is a river flowing from nowhere through 
which everything and everyone move forward to 
meet their fate. 
Time is a convention of measurement based on 
the microwave spectral line emitted by cesium 
atoms with an atomic weight of 133 and an 
integral frequency of 9,192,631,770 hertz.
Zeeshan Hameed 
MME-09M-35
WHAT IS TECHNICAL 
WRITING? 
Precise 
Objective 
Direct 
Clearly defined
CHARACTERISTICS OF TECH. 
WRITING 
Deals with technical information 
Relies heavily on visuals 
Uses numerical data to precisely 
describe quantity and direction 
Accurate and well documented 
Grammatically and stylistically 
correct
WHAT IS A TECHNICAL 
REPORT? 
A structured presentation of data or 
information. 
Gathered from research / experiment / 
investigation. 
Prepared for a group of audience. 
At the request of a supervisory authority. 
To fulfil the specific needs of the audience.
CLASSIFICATION OF TECH. 
REPORTS 
1. Function/purpose of writing 
 Records of activities that have taken place 
(progress report) 
 Provide information for various types of decision 
making 
 Persuade and influence readers’ attitudes 
 Motivating them to act in a particular manner 
(proposal) 
 3 Categories: 
 Investigative/analytical 
 Descriptive of a design 
 Construction process, software or product development
2. Audience analysis 
 Formal 
 Follow certain conventions on format 
 Style (headings, illustrations, etc. 
 Documentation of sources 
 Multiple audience 
 Presentation of comprehensive and relevant 
information 
 Informal 
 Propagate necessary information of ongoing 
activities 
 Provide info for decision making 
 Often for a single or restricted reader 
 Structure, tone & style vary
Technical comunication

Technical comunication

  • 2.
    HOW TO COMMUNICATE TECHNICAL INFORMATION????
  • 3.
  • 4.
    INTRODUCTION TO TECH. COMM. Communication means writing, speaking, and showing visuals to other people, as well as listening to and observing others and reading their work.
  • 6.
    These two productiveskills are seen as the most daunting tasks by most of us. Nevertheless, writing and speaking well are critical for the success of an engineer. Many surveys have proved the importance of good communication skills for engineering careers.
  • 7.
     Most graduateengineers forget that apart from communicating with fellow engineers, they also need to communicate with non-technical audience – managers & administrators who, most of the time, make the decision in a company or organisation.  Engineers must communicate with listeners and readers from a variety of educational and professional backgrounds. Each of these audiences has different needs when reading the documents written by the engineers.
  • 8.
    THE RELEVANCE OFTECH. COMM. Types Examples Letters and memos inquiry letter, complaint letter etc. Advertising & promotional materials magazine advertisements, business cards, brochures, pamphlets, leaflets etc. Documents annual reports, operating and repair manuals, parking tickets etc. Oral communication presenting a new product, informally explaining etc.
  • 10.
  • 11.
    CHARACTERISTICS OF TECH. COMM. Necessity for a specific audience Audience driven: respond to a specific audience’s needs eg.: Writing a memo, a letter or a report The use of visual elements  Illustrations: diagrams, headings, font types and size pictures etc.
  • 12.
    Ease of selectiveaccess Because readers have other demands, they may have little time to read. So, the presentation of information should be easy to understand or catchy, for example, the use of headings, important words in an advertisement.
  • 13.
    Has time limit(timeliness) The useful life of technical communication is relatively short.
  • 14.
     Structure Ideas are presented in the shortest manner, for example, a word for advertisement.  Direct and simple  Some ungrammatical structures are allowed, for example, you may begin a sentence with “and” or “but”.
  • 15.
    INTRODUCTION TO TECH. WRITING  What are the differences that you can identify from both excerpts?  Which can be considered as a part of tech. writing? Time is a river flowing from nowhere through which everything and everyone move forward to meet their fate. Time is a convention of measurement based on the microwave spectral line emitted by cesium atoms with an atomic weight of 133 and an integral frequency of 9,192,631,770 hertz.
  • 16.
  • 17.
    WHAT IS TECHNICAL WRITING? Precise Objective Direct Clearly defined
  • 18.
    CHARACTERISTICS OF TECH. WRITING Deals with technical information Relies heavily on visuals Uses numerical data to precisely describe quantity and direction Accurate and well documented Grammatically and stylistically correct
  • 19.
    WHAT IS ATECHNICAL REPORT? A structured presentation of data or information. Gathered from research / experiment / investigation. Prepared for a group of audience. At the request of a supervisory authority. To fulfil the specific needs of the audience.
  • 20.
    CLASSIFICATION OF TECH. REPORTS 1. Function/purpose of writing  Records of activities that have taken place (progress report)  Provide information for various types of decision making  Persuade and influence readers’ attitudes  Motivating them to act in a particular manner (proposal)  3 Categories:  Investigative/analytical  Descriptive of a design  Construction process, software or product development
  • 21.
    2. Audience analysis  Formal  Follow certain conventions on format  Style (headings, illustrations, etc.  Documentation of sources  Multiple audience  Presentation of comprehensive and relevant information  Informal  Propagate necessary information of ongoing activities  Provide info for decision making  Often for a single or restricted reader  Structure, tone & style vary