| Technical writing is a specialized field | | | | represents thereading audience. |
| which not only demandsan in depth knowledge | | | | |
| of the subject on which you are writing,but | | | | - Add a glossary if necessary for your |
| also a good command of the written language. | | | | technical terms. Orplace short explanations |
| A common maingoal is to translate tec-speak | | | | of the terms in brackets within thepiece. |
| into everyday familiar jargon forthe average | | | | |
| reader. In other words, your content needs to | | | | - When possible, incorporate examples and |
| beunderstood. | | | | illustrations toget your points across. |
| | | | |
| To help keep technical translation plain and | | | | - If your data is complicated use graphs, |
| simple, here aresome tips: | | | | diagrams and / or flowcharts to make it |
| | | | visually expressive. |
| - Plan ahead. Determine the main focus, i.e. | | | | |
| what the readersneed to learn from your | | | | - Experiment with different software to |
| content. Ask yourself, what are | | | | enhance yourpresentations. For example, add |
| theirexpectations from the article? | | | | audio / video. |
| | | | |
| - Take care to match your content to the | | | | There are excellent technical writing books |
| level of knowledge ofthe audience. Dont | | | | out there. Checkwith your local public |
| underestimate your audience and write downto | | | | library for some and on Andbroaden the scope |
| them. But do watch the level of your | | | | of your projects with good technical |
| tec-speak. | | | | writingskills. |
| | | | |
| - Ask someone to proof read your material who | | | | You can also head to Content Propulsion Lab. |