Technical Writing process

1. Audience Recognition and
Involvement
Sarthak
MCA II year
18419MCA033

2. In this presentation…
• Audience
• Objectives
• Audience Recognition
• Audience profiles
• Audience Involvement

3. Audience..
When you write any memo, letter or report
,some one reads it .
That individual or group of reader or listener is
your audience.

4. Objective
A primary difference between technical writing and other types of writing is the
importance of audience
• For other types of writing the audience is not required to act after reading
the text.
• When a technical document is submitted, the reader responds. Your audience
either makes a decision, answers a request, follows a procedure , or files the
document for future reference.
• In technical writing , the writers and readers are fused to get involved in the
business transection.

5. Audience Recognition…
• Whenever you are writing a technical document, ask yourself ,
Who is the reader?
What is his level of understanding?
What is his positing in relation to your job title?
• If you don’t answer these,
You will miss the mark.
Your writing may contain jargon and acronyms the reader wont understand
The tone of writing will be not appropriate for management

6. Audience profiles…
The following four profiles will help you to achieve better
audience recognition.
• High-tech audience
• Low- tech audience
• Lay audience
• Multiple audiences

7. High-tech Audience..
• Work in your field of expertise
• Same department or similar capacity in other
company
• Can be termed as colleagues because they have
–Same educational background
–Same work experience
–Same level of understanding

8. Continued..
• Are experts in the your field.
• High tech jargon, acronyms and abbreviations can
be used.
• Minimal details about standard procedures or
technical theories
• Little background information about a
project’s history.

9. Low–tech audience…
• Familiar with your field’s technology but do not know
the details.
• Include
 Bosses
 Subordinates
 Co-workers in other departments.
 Colleagues in other companies.

10. Continued…
• Familiar with your field’s technology without
knowing details.
• Preferable to define jargon, abbreviation and
acronyms.
• Define technical concepts.
• Need for providing background information

11. Lay Audience…
• Do not work for the company and have no knowledge about
your field of expertise.
• Include
 Customers
 Clients
 End users
• Writing to lay audience is difficult and demanding.

12. Continued…
• Unfamiliar with your field’s technology.
• Avoid jargon, abbreviations and acronyms or define
them thoroughly.
• Avoid high-tech terms or define them
thoroughly.
• Lay readers need background
information.

13. Multiple Audience
• Correspondence is not always sent to just one type of
audience.
• Challenging to write for multiple audience with different
levels of understanding
• Must give background knowledge because some of
readers may not be familiar with some concepts

14. Defining terms for different Audience levels
• High Tech Audience
– Use jargon, acronym or abbreviation alone.
– HTTP
• Low Tech Audience
– Use jargon, acronym or abbreviation with parenthetical definition.
– HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

15. Defining terms for different Audience levels
• Lay Audience
– Use jargon, acronym or abbreviation alone with extended detailed
definition.
– HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is a computer access code
providing secure communications on networks
• Low Tech Audience
– Use jargon, acronym or abbreviation with parenthetical definition.
– HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

16. Achieve audience involvement through…
• Personalized Tone
Modern technical writing is person to person communication
– Upon receipt of form, the company will issue a replacement policy.
– As soon as we get the form, we’ll send you your replacement policy.
• Reader Benefit
Motivate your readers by giving them what they want or need.
State benefit early or late in the technical document.

17. Thank you…