Another common type is the executive summary, which also summarizes the key facts and conclusions contained in the report
The executive summary is a good point to summarize all the key points of your report and give an introduction to the reader of what to anticipate in the report.
Who is your reader?
Depending on the type of report you may be writing, your audience may have limited knowledge of the topic. It's important to write in broad terms that would be easy for anyone to understand. Providing enough background information is another critical point in the report to ensure the audience understands the information presented to them.
The advantage of a required structure and format for reports is that you or anyone else can expect them to be designed in a familiar way
This simplifies writing analytical reports, as you can anticipate that they will all adhere to the same structure and outline. Similarly, the audience can expect the reports to be easy to follow, given that they will be crafted in a consistent manner.
Closed-ended questions are structured to limit the available responses, usually to a single word, number, or phrase option
More likely to be yes or no answers, or answers with not a lot of detail
Open-ended questions are especially important for interviews.
Asking open-ended questions in an interview can help give the interviewer more insight into their answers than the question itself. A lot of people might start answering open-ended questions and then begin going down a different path. Which might be what the interviewer intended to do.
State the purpose of the document. The purpose of proposals is typically to request time and resources to study a problem, develop a new product, or investigate previously proposed solutions, etc.
This is a good part of the proposal to put all your research to convince the audience why they should approve the proposal.
Another point to keep in mind relates to the audience for different kinds of documents that may be produced for the same project.
This is a good example because you could write the exact same proposal in several different ways for different intended audiences. So, it is always a good idea to keep your audience in mind with any style of writing.
With an external proposal, you will need to not only persuade the reader that you have a solid plan, but establish your credibility with the reader.
The audience may not have prior background knowledge of the specific topic, so for external proposals, it's a good idea to include all the research, facts, and statistics to help convince the reader of your plan.
With internal proposals, you may not have to include certain sections (such as qualifications) or as much information in them.
Internal proposals need less research and facts included because the audience should have prior background knowledge of the specific topic.
To write a successful proposal, put yourself in the place of your audience—the recipient of the proposal—and think about what sorts of information that person(s) would need in order to feel confident having you complete the project.
It's important to include all the facts, statistics, and information relating to the proposal so the audience can make an informed decision.
They may contain other elements—technical background, recommendations, results of surveys, information about feasibility, and so on
For proposals regarding businesses, you could think of a store that might want to start selling a new product. They may draft a proposal with research about how this product sells in other companies and countries, selling prices versus manufacturing costs, etc.
Always strive for clarity and concision.
You never want to write something that can be taken out of context and lead to injury of the user.
A comprehensive set of instructions contains many components.
Usually with furniture instructions, the first few pages will be a parts list, warranty (if applicable), tools needed to assemble, and sometimes they'll tell you how long it should take to assemble as well as how many people it may take.
For some projects, it is tempting to say your audience is “everyone or anyone,” but you are better off tailoring your instructions for a specific audience
For example, if you were writing instructions about power tools, you would write aiming at your general audience of people who already use power tools, or have some knowledge about them. You wouldn't be writing this manual for a child with colorful, bright pictures and fun word layouts. It would be aimed at the audience intended on using it.
Clear, simple writing that utilizes strong, descriptive verbs to reveal the process’s discrete actions
Making the instructions clear for the reader to understand is always important. You don't know what background knowledge the instruction user has, so it's best to write the instructions in a way that everyone can understand. It's descriptive and has enough details for any errors along the way.
In business, image is everything.
Public opinion of a business is very important. If a business isn't acting ethically, the public may start boycotting them, demanding change, or even taking legal action against them. Businesses must act ethically not only because it's the right thing to do, but also because they could do more harm to their reputation permanently.
Ask questions about who their decisions are affecting and why they are making those decisions.
This is a great idea because sometimes when people are in positions of power at a company for extended periods they can loose sight of whats really important or caring for the employees. Something as simple as asking a question about who this is affecting can give them a wake up call and reevaluate their decisions.
Giving credit where credit is due will build your credibility and enhance your document.
It's important to cite your courses and give credit to others in your documents if you weren't the one who either said it or researched it. If you don't, it hurts your credibility as well. Someone could read something from your paper that is identical to someone else's they read, and if you didn't cite them, the reader would create a distrust with you and not find you credible anymore.
Is it your responsibility to tell the truth (and potentially save children’s lives) or to cherry pick information that supports the parent group’s initial intentions?
In this example, it is your responsibility to include all research and evidence collected about vaccines for the parents. It could be seen as a bias if you were to leave out the medical evidence, if you were against the vaccines.
Ethical writing, then, involves being ethical, of course, but also presenting information so that your target audience will understand the relative importance of information and understand whether some technical fact is a good thing or a bad thing.
When writing for an audience that may not have the same knowledge, you want to present the critical information in the beginning and ending, not in the middle where it could be skipped over or deemed unimportant as in the example above.
Many organizations and employers have a corporate code of ethics.
It's important when working for any organization or company to review their code of ethics because they will vary from company to company.
However, sometimes speaking up, and/or notifying authorities is the only right thing to do, as difficult as that may be.
A lot of people tend to be followers rather than leaders because of their inability to speak up for either themselves or what is right/ethical.
There is a good chance that at some point in your career you will find yourself in a situation that involves unethical behavior at your workplace.
Everyone thinks that could never happen to them or they would never act like that. But the reality is, once you're in that situation, some people freeze up and will just follow along with others even if it is unethical. This is why it's so important to be able to stand up for yourself and your beliefs.
The “rewards” of acting ethically are often simply internal.
This is a great way to look at acting ethically. It's important to note that acting ethically won't get you any congratulations or awards because it's something we should be doing. Following your intuition and being true to yourself and your values is a good way to stay ethical.
C is for Contrast: Use difference to draw readers’ eyes to and through your text or publication.
Contrast emphasizes the importance of using visual differences - such as varying sizes and font styles - to draw the reader's attention and facilitate navigation through text. By implementing these design principles, writers can enhance the readability and overall effectiveness of their publications, ensuring that key elements stand out to guide the audience.
. Make sure your visuals are appropriate to your audience, subject matter, and purpose.
To make graphics effective, think about where they go and what text surrounds them. Make sure the visuals fit your audience and the topic. To prepare readers, explain the topic of the graphic in the paragraph before it.
Strive for balance and parallelism among elements
It highlights that elements positioned at the top of a page carry more weight than those at the bottom, and items on the right have a greater visual impact than those on the left. The interaction between texts and graphics is crucial, urging creators to ensure that both components function cohesively to achieve a harmonious layout.
Break up text or consolidate it into meaningful, usable chunks
To enhance readability for these audiences, the text recommends structuring content into shorter, manageable paragraphs of six to eight lines and integrating headings and lists to break up dense information.
For every context in which you write, you will discover that field-specific style guides influence the appearance of a text, the way language is used, the preferred terminology and vocabulary, and the way sources are cited.
The selected text emphasizes the significance of adhering to field-specific style guides. It is important for an author to take into consideration the shape of the text, the visual presentation, and citation methods
As readers, we may seem a bit like TV viewers with remote controls.
I think this is a great analogy because how often do we flip through channels or scroll through streaming sites until something catches our attention? The same goes for reading, if a paper or text is clustered, has no flow, or is boring, the reader is just going to skip over it.
To make an exceptional first impression.
Employers are looking for neat resumes that have organization and enough details so they can get to know you. They have no prior knowledge of you besides this piece of paper, so you want to make sure it's eye-catching and has good flow.
Job boards: Browse sites like Indeed, CareerBuilder, Glassdoor and Monster to search for jobs in your field.
I personally find Glassdoor and Indeed to be great apps to use for applying for jobs. It's easy to upload your resume and have your profile public so recruiters can reach out to you with jobs they think you'd be a great fit for.
The trick, if there is a trick, to your weaknesses lies in your plan to strengthen them
In a lot of job interviews I've been on, I always get asked to tell them about a time I made a mistake at work and the steps I took to correct it. I find this is a good way for employers to learn what your weakness may be and see how you learn from it.
Being self-aware is the only way to improve.
This is true because employers might be less likely to hire you if you aren't aware of a weakness you may have, or if you are unaware of how you present yourself in the workplace.
Which version do you think is most effective? Why?
Email 2 is more effective because the author provides the reader with her class name and schedule, and she asks in an appropriate way about what she needs help with. The email also gives meeting times, making it easier for the professor to respond in one email than multiple.
Use paragraphs to separate thoughts (or consider writing separate emails if you have many unrelated points or questions), and state the desired outcome at the end of your message
It's good to separate thoughts into paragraphs rather than sending one long, consecutive paragraph. It makes it easier for the reader to comprehend and understand everything in the email.
Email, texting, and microblogs are all workplace tools that are used both internally and externally.
I've worked in companies before where we had apps built for our company to be able to communicate with staff, see schedules, or certain company policies. For example, at Bowlero, we had an app created called Goldfish. Every shift, we would have to answer three questions regarding our job roles, it would track our sales goals for the day. If we reached the goal, we would get coins; we could save up to exchange for gift cards or products.
Electronic mail, or email, is among the most versatile genres of business writing.
I feel like email is most commonly used in business matters between supervisors, managers, or higher-ups. Either to request information, see how things are going, or any other business correspondence. Because of this, it is important for students to be able to communicate properly.
versus a general, unknown audience
If I were writing to a general unknown audience, I would use broader terms and thorough background information. This way, I'm ensuring the unknown audience can understand the writing.
If you are writing to a known, specific audience
When writing for a specific audience, I like to use more technical terms relating to that subject. I know my audience will have the same knowledge on these subjects, so I won't go through in-depth background information.
A key concern of technical communication is the receiver of the information—the audience.
As I annotated in the last chapter, the audience can have different educations, incomes, and backgrounds. So, when considering the general audience, we should be writing in simple terms and give enough background information relating to the key points.
The more diverse an audience, the harder it becomes to tailor a speech to that audience.
It is also important to note that with a diverse audience, there is a range of education levels, income levels, and perspectives. We live in such a diverse world with different people experiencing different things.
provides a reader with clear and easy access to information so they understand both the document’s and the author’s purpose and respond accordingly
I think this is a great definition of technical writing because it is essential that the reader understands the text. If the author uses confusing language or knowledge that everyone might not have, then the reader might be discouraged from reading or fail to understand the concept. Using general knowledge and writing for a general audience is best to ensure everyone can understand the text.