1. Technical Communication 1
ENGR 1181
Class 4

2. Technical Communications in the Real World
Communication, both oral and written, is extremely important in the business world. The best communicators are often the most successful people. Steve Jobs was an excellent communicator.
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3. Today's Learning Objectives
After today’s class, students will be able to:
Define technical communication, especially in engineering.
Explain at least three differences between technical communication and high school writing.
Discuss at least two specific uses for technical communication in engineering.
Describe and distinguish between written and oral forms of technical communication.

4. What is Technical Communication?
A method of sharing information about specialized subjects
Examples include:
Project contract or bid proposal
Assembly instructions for a toy
User guide for software
Drug prescription
Technical articles and publications
Sharing research at conferences
Presenting research or job status to management/clients
Be sure to support the idea that it is a way to present and share information and the our different written forms of technical writing we will be using.
Will review the four types later.

5. Technical Writing and Speaking
For the purposes of this class, technical communication involves:
Writing executive summaries, memos, reports, and project notebooks
Verbal presentation to colleagues
Completing these different types of technical writing and speaking will prepare you for your future careers and possible post-graduate research

6. Technical Communication vs. High School Writing
Expository
Informative
Double spaced
Often Single Spaced
Essay format
Professional format
Descriptive
Concise and precise
Length requirement
Short is preferred
Instructors should take time to stress the difference between the writing the students did in high school versus the writing they will be doing now.
No more trying to reach a certain length, using fluff and adding and exuberant amount of detail, or taking into account the users emotion when performing the lab.

7. Key Techniques Technical Communication Style: Use 3rd Person
Use Past Tense
Avoid Emotional Statements
Use Passive Voice Deliberately
Use Short Sentences
Use Bulleted and Numbered Lists
Introduction To Ethics

8. Written Communication In This Class
Four types of written documents:
Executive Summary
Lab Memo
Lab Report
Project Notebook
Start simple and gradually increase in detail, content sections, and overall size
Executive Summary
Lab Memo
Lab Report
Project Notebook

9. Using the Technical Communication Guide
The Technical Communication Guide aids students and contains:
An introduction to technical communication
An explanation of the different types of written and verbal presentation assignments in the class
A description of helpful software tools and grammatical rules
Can be found on the ENGR 1182 ‘Content’ page.
Navigate it by using the index and clicking on the section you wish to go to.

10. Written Communication
Executive Summary:
This short document (1-2 pages) provides a brief overview of the lab and contains key facts, results, and conclusions.
Lab Memo:
This document is formatted like a standard business memo. Its purpose is to report the data, observations, and results obtained in lab.
Lab Report:
This document is a more detailed version of the Lab Memo; unlike the Lab Memo, its format is that of a condensed formal report.
Project Notebook:
This large document (in a 2-3 inch binder) serves to record your team’s activities and progress through completion of an extensive design/build task.
Executive summary: provides an overview of a larger project or study, gives a synopsis of a large document in a brief and concise form
Lab memo: a little larger than a summary; contains data, observations and results in a brief format
Lab reports: prepared for team projects and procedures which require extensive processes and tasks
Project notebook: The project notebook serves as a way of documenting your team’s activities and progress through completion of an extensive design/build task.

11. Written Communication Practice
In-Class Activity: Practice Grading Session
Sample lab documents (i.e. Executive Summaries) are available on the course website
Follow the instructions
Refer to the Tech. Comm. Guide to practice evaluating the documents
Both the graded memos and ungraded ones can be found on the site and stress why the specific items are marked off.
Introduction To Ethics

12. Technical Verbal Communication
Verbal communication is a large part of the engineering field, as well as other professions.
What to present and how to present it
How to effectively communicate information in a presentation.
Using visuals to supplement the speaking points.
Practice with good presentations versus bad.

13. Why Verbal Communication?
The purpose is to get practice communicating ideas concisely and effectively.
There are two opportunities in ENGR 1181/1182 to present using different media:
Ethics case
Advanced Energy Vehicle (AEV) project

14. Using the Technical Communication Guide
The Technical Communication Guide aids students and contains:
An introduction to technical communication
An explanation of the different types of written and verbal presentation assignments in the class
A description of helpful software tools and grammatical rules
Can be found on the ENGR 1182 ‘Content’ page.
Naigate it by using the index and clicking on the section you wish to go to.

15. Presentation Organization
Cover/Title slide
Introduction to the speaker or team
Purpose statement/overview slide
The main “body” of the presentation
Conclusion/Recommendations
References
The verbal presentation is an opportunity for each student team to practice communicating their ideas concisely and in a way that is captivating to the audience.

16. Planning Presentations
Audience
Message and Supporting Detail
Purpose
Organization Strategy
Figures/Graphics/Illustrations
Other Media?
Students should address the situation in which they are presenting and adjust their presentation accordingly to be sure that the information is effectively presented.
The presentation should be organized in a flowing/coherent order.
Students should avoid using clipart and other items of that nature and should use images that relate to the slide topic or topic in general.
Classroom image:

17. Quality Content Found in Communications
Clear message presented
Content focused on message
Information is obvious while the presenter gives details and explanations
Titles indicate sequence of topics
Title/text font consistent by information type
Research is cited
Content free of typos, spelling errors etc.

18. Important Takeaways Different from High School Writing
concise and precise
contains bulleted and numbered lists, as needed
Specifically styled and formatted (e.g. lab memo)
3rd person, past tense, and passive voice
free of emotional statements
Used for written and verbal communication
Use the Technical Communications Guide  Resources Page

19. Preview of Next Class Excel - Graphing!

20. What’s Next? Review today’s lecture.
Open the in-class activity from the EEIC website and we will go through it together.
Then, start working on homework.