Writing and Speaking in the Technology Professions: A Practical Guide, 2nd Edition

Preface xiii

PART I Getting Started: Writing the First Drafts

Can Engineers Write? 3

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-27(1) March 1984
Joan Knapp

Preparing to Write the Document: A Worksheet for Situational Analysis in the Workplace 7

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-27(1) March 1990
Ronald J. Nelson

Issue Trees: A Tool to Aid the Engineering Writer 12

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-37(2) June 1994
Joan Temple Dennett and Michael Hseih

Ready, Aim—Write! 21

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-31(1) March 1988
Ruth C. Savakinas

Beginnings and Endings: Keys to Better Engineering Technical Writing 24

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-40(4) December 1997
Marcia Martens Pierson and Bion L. Pierson

Could You Be Clearer? An Examination of the Multiple Perspectives of Clarity 30

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-35(2) June 1992
Ronald E. Dulek

The Grammar Instinct 34

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-45(2) June 2002
Alan D. Manning

Comparing the Two Cultures in Technical Writing 39

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-34(2) June 1991
Don Bush

PART II Construction and Content: Putting Documents Together

Creating a Doc Spec 45

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-42(2) June 1999
Liz Wing

Write a Good Technical Report 49

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-27(1) March 1984
Gael D. Ulrich

How to Avoid the Transitional Ax in Indirect Bad News Messages 55

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-34(1) March 1991
Thomas L.Wiseman

Job Hunting: Sharpening Your Competitive Edge 5

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-27(4) December 1984
Ron S. Blicq

How to Write a Recommendation 6

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-27(4) December 1984
Alan D. Wilcox

Some Guidance on Preparing Technical Articles for Publication 7

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-32(1) March 1989
Richard Manley, Judith Graham, and Ralph Baxter

Today’s Style Guide:Trusted Tool with Added Potential 8

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-41(1) March 1998
Jane Perkins and Cassandra Maloney

“Professional Communication” and the “Odor of Mendacity”: The Persistent Suspicion that Skillful Writing is Successful Lying 8

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-38(3) September 1995
Edmond H. Weiss

PART III Text and Graphics: Presenting Information Visually

Editing Visual Media 97

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-41(1) March 1998
Thomas R. Williams and Deborah A. Harkus

Visual Discriminability of Headings in Text 110

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-35(2) June 1992
Thomas R. Williams and Jan H. Spyridakis

Choosing the Right Graph 117

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-45(1) March 2002
Jean-Luc Doumont and Philippe Vandenbroek

Table Construction: Do’s and Don’ts 123

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-32(1) March 1989
Eva Dukes

Safety Labels: What to Put in Them, How to Write Them, and Where to Place Them 128

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-30(3) September 1987
Christopher Velotta

Editing Math: What to Do with the Symbols 134

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-33(3) June 1990
Barry W. Burton

Displaying Scientific Graphics on Computer 138

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-40(2) June 1997
Janet E. Lincoln and Donald L. Monk

PART IV Manuals and Procedures: Giving Directions that Work

Designing and Writing Operating Manuals 155

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-27(1) March 1984
Lidia Lopinto

Manual Dexterity—What Makes Instructional Manuals Usable 158

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-27(2) June 1984
James P. Gleason and Joan P. Wackerman

Selecting and Switching: Some Advantages of Diagrams Over Tables and Lists for Presenting Instructions 161

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-41(4) December 1998
Angelique Boekelder and Michael Steehouder

Using a Structured Design Analysis To Simplify Complex In-House Computer Manuals 174

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-35(1) March 1992
John S. Craig

Single-Source Manuals 180

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-37(2) June 1994
Gary Bist

The Effects of Screen Captures in Manuals: A Textual and Two Visual Manuals Compared 187

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-42(2) June 1999
Mark Gellevij, Hans van der Meij, Ton deJong, and Jules Pieters

The User Edit: Making Manuals Easier to Use 202

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-24(1) March 1981
Marshall A. Atlas

PART V Proposals: Writing to Win the Customer

Fifteen Questions to Help You Write Winning Proposals 207

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-26(2) June 1983
T. M. Georges

The Short Proposal:Versatile Tool for Communicating Corporate Culture in Competitive Climates 208

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-32(2) June 1989
Bernard E. Budish and Richard L. Sandhusen

Technical Writing and Illustrating Strategies for Winning Government Contracts 213

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-28(2) June 1992
Robert B. Greenly

Storyboarding Can Help Your Proposal 219

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-32(1) March 1989
Robert A. Barakat

Developing Winning Proposal Strategies 225

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-34(3) September 1991
Robert A. Barakat

Clarification Questions That Work 235

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-31(2) June 1988
Annette D. Reilly

Proposals: Write to Win 238

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-26(2) June 1983
Clark E. Beck

Broadening Employment Horizons:Transferring Proposal Writing Skills from For-Profit to Nonprofit Organizations 240

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-39(2) June 1996
Sherry Shebley Hamilton

PART VI Revising and Editing: Refining Your Documents

Theory and Practice of Editing Processes in Technical Communication 247

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-28(1) March 1985
Roger E. Masse

When the Basics Aren’t Enough: Finding a Comprehensive Editor 256

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-37(3) September 1994
Laurel K. Grove

Collaborative Writing in the Workplace 260

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-32(3) September 1989
Charles R. Stratton

Reverse Engineering: The Outline As Document Restructuring Tool 265

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-29(3) September 1986
Dietrich Rathjens

How Writing Helps R&D Work 271

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-30(2) June 1987
Herbert B. Michaelson

The Paradox of Revision: A Study of Writing as a Product in the Revision of Manuals 271

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-39(1) March 1996
Alice I. Philbin and Melissa M. Spirek

Online Editing: Mark-Up Models and the Workplace Lives of Editors and Writers 279

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-38(3) June 1995
David K. Farkas and Steven E. Poltrock

PART VII Oral Presentations: Speaking Effectively to Groups

A Quick and Easy Strategy for Organizing a Speech 289

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-33(3) September 1990
Richard A. Lindeborg

A Good Speech is Worth a Thousand (Written) Words 293

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-27(1) March 1984
Bert Decker

The Engineering Presentation—Some Ideas on How to Approach and Present It 296

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-26(4) December 1983
Ronald C. Rosenburg

Authenticity Beats Eloquence 299

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-30(2) June 1987
Susan Dressel and Joe Chew

Handling a Hostile Audience—With Your Eyes 301

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-32(1) March 1989
Gilda Carle

Improving Oral Marketing Presentations in the Technology-Based Company 304

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-31(2) June 1988
Michael F. Warlum

Illustrations in Oral Presentations: Photographs 308

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-41(3) September 1998
Thomas Walsh

Producing a Video on a Technical Subject: A Guide 312

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-36(2) June 1993
Danny Dowhal, Gary Bist, Peter Kohlman, Stan Musker, and Heather Rogers

PART VIII Listening, Meeting, and Teamwork:Working with Others to Get Results

You Haven’t Heard a Word I Said: Getting Managers to Listen 323

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-37(1) March 1994
Jo Procter

Becoming an Effective Listener 326

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-23(2) June 1980
Marion E. Haynes

Toward Better Meetings: A Psychologist’s View 330

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-24(3) September 1981
Eugene Raudsepp

Presenting the Successful Technical Seminar 333

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-26(1) March 1983
Thomas Ealey

Project Characteristics and Group Communication: An Investigation 336

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-45(2) June 2002
Tom L. Roberts, Paul H. Cheney, and Paul D. Sweeney

Between Silence and Voice: Communicating in Cross-Functional Project Teams 351

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-34(1) March 1991
Linda Loehr

A Dialogue Technique to Enhance Electronic Communication in Virtual Teams 357

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-43(2) June 2000
Bernard C. Y. Tan, Kwok-Kee Wei, Wayne W. Huang, and Guet-Ngoh Ng

Videoconferencing as a Communication Tool 370

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-40(1) March 1997
Jan A. Sprey

PART IX Global Communication: Conveying Meaning Internationally

World Language Status Does Not Ensure World Class Usage 379

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-35(1) March 1992
Joann T. Dennett

English Language Education for Specific Professional Needs 380

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-44(3) September 2001
Thomas Orr

When Culture and Rhetoric Contrast: Examining English as the International Language of Technical
Communication 385

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-42(4) December 1999
Kirk St. Amant

The Organization of Japanese Expository Passages 389

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-42(3) September 1999
Waka Fukuoka and Jan H. Spyridakis

Measuring the Translatability of Simplified English in Procedural Documents 398

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-40(1) March 1997
Jan H. Spyridakis, Heather Holmback, and Serena K. Shubert

Babel in Document Design: The Evaluation of Multilingual Texts 407

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-43(3) September 2000
Leo Lentz and Jacquelin Hulst

Aligning International Editing Efforts with Global Business Strategies 417

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-35(2) June 1992
Carol Leininger and Rue Yuan

Tackling the Needs of Foreign Academic Writers: A Case Study 425

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-40(1) March 1997
Shimona Kushner

PART X The Internet: Making the Most of Cyberspace

Stylistic Guidelines for E-Mail 433

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-77(4) December 1994
Renee B. Horowitz and Marian G. Barchilon

“Who’s Reading My E-Mail?” A Study of Professionals’ E-Mail Usage and Privacy Perceptions in the
Workplace 439

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-40(1) March 1997
Patricia A. Chociey

Customer Partnering: Data Gathering For Complex On-Line Documentation 446

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-40(2) June 1997
JoAnn T. Hackos, Molly Hammar, and Arthur Elser

Challenges in Developing Research-Based Web Design Guidelines 455

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-43(3) September 2000
Mary B. Evans

The Web and Corporate Communication: Potentials and Pitfalls 466

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-39(1) March 1996
Gary Ritzenthaler and David H. Ostroff

Editing A Web Site: Extending the Levels of Edit 473

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-41(1) March 1998
Steven L. Anderson, Charles P. Campbell, Nancy Hindle, Jonathan Price, and Randall Scasny

Web Accessibility for People with Disabilities: An Introduction for Web Developers 484

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-44(4) December 2001
Jeff Carter and Mike Markel

A Conceptual Framework for International Web Design 493

IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. PC-44(2) June 2001
Fatemah M. Zahedi, William V. Van Pelt, and Jaeki Song

Index 515

About the Editor 519