© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 1 Chapter 13 Revising for Readable Style Technical Communication, 9/e John M. Lannon PowerPoint prepared by Jimidene Murphy

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 2 Revise for Clarity Basically, just remember the “KISS” method of clear, concise writing: HORT and IMPLE T EEP K I S S

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 3 Revise for Clarity  Avoid ambiguous phrasing  Avoid ambiguous pronoun references  Avoid ambiguous punctuation  Avoid telegraphic writing  Avoid ambiguous modifiers

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 4 Revise for Clarity  Unstack modifying nouns  Arrange word order for coherence and emphasis  Use active voice often  Use passive voice as little as you can  Avoid puffy sentences

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 5 Revise for Conciseness  Avoid wordy phrases  Eliminate redundancy  Avoid needless repetition  Avoid sentences starting with “there”  Avoid passive-voice sentences starting with “it”

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 6 Revise for Conciseness  Delete needless prefaces  Avoid weak verbs  Delete unnecessary “to be” sentences  Avoid excessive prepositions

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 7 Revise for Conciseness  Fight noun addiction  Turn negatives into positives  Clean out “clutter” words  Delete unnecessary qualifiers such as “It seems…”

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 8 Revise for Fluency  Combine related ideas  Vary sentence construction and length  Use short sentences for special emphasis

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 9 Be Picky About the Words You Use  Use simple and familiar words (although you may think long fancy words make you look smarter, the reader will get annoyed)  Avoid useless jargon that readers won’t recognize  Use acronyms and abbreviations selectively  Avoid triteness  Avoid misleading euphemisms  Avoid overstatement  Avoid imprecise wording. Be concrete.

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 10 Adopt the Proper Tone  Unlike strictly academic writing, you can use a few contractions  Address readers directly  Use “I” and “we” when necessary  Use the active voice  Emphasize the positive  Avoid an overly informal tone  Avoid personal bias  Avoid any sexist or otherwise offensive language

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 11 Other Tips to Consider  Remember cultural context  Remember legal and ethical implications (you are legally liable for what you say and write)  Use automated editing tools effectively, but DON’T DEPEND UPON THEM ENTIRELY! Know your grammar and spelling

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 12 Any Questions? For additional help reviewing this chapter, please visit the Companion Website for your text at