Technical Writing: A Communication Key

Technical writing is a vital part of everyday business operations. It encompasses almost any writing done for your job from emails and memos to incident and recommendation reports. Succeeding in today’s world requires excellent communication skills. Those that have the skills required tend to go farther in their careers than those that do not. Technical writing is just one of the many tools available to help anyone succeed. Technical writing follows the fundamentals of any piece of writing. The author needs to remember key concepts such as audience and purpose. These concepts apply to all technical writing. When the audience isn’t considered before writing a set of instructions, the information contained within those instructions can easily be lost. An example of this would be if you were to write a set of instructions on how to brush your teeth for an eight year old child, but used terminology geared towards a medical student. Most eight year olds do not know the word bicuspid. Similarly, purpose must always be considered in your writing. Knowing the purpose of your writing will help you decide what information should and should not be included in the writing. Using the example of brushing your teeth, you wouldn’t want include the history of the toothbrush in your instructions. Email has become one of the most widely used communication tools in the world today. It can be used to share ideas and opinions across the globe in a matter of seconds. With as quick, simple, and cost effective as email is, it has quickly fallen below the standards of acceptable writing. People often send email without regard to the writing process. Emails constantly contain spelling and grammar errors, a lack of formatting and a lack of formal greetings. Remembering to keep emails professional and up to the standards of the business world can make the sender standout among their peers.