Technical communication: principles and practice

514 Pages·2015·28.628 MB·English

by  Raman, Meenakshi, Sharma, Sangeeta

Technical
Communication
Principles and Practice
THIRD EDITION
Meenakshi Raman
Professor and Head
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
BITS, Pilani (K.K. Birla Goa Campus)
Sangeeta Sharma
Associate Professor
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
BITS, Pilani
3
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Third Edition published in 2015
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About the Authors
Meenakshi Raman is presently Professor and Head, Department of Humanities
and Social Sciences at the Goa campus of the Birla Institute of Technology and
Science (BITS), Pilani. She has several years of teaching experience and has
been teaching courses on professional and technical communication at various
levels.

Sangeeta Sharma is presently Associate Professor, Department of Humanities
and Social Sciences at BITS, Pilani. She is also the Coordinator of the Centre
for Women Studies and has been teaching courses on communication and
advertising at BITS, Pilani. Dr Sharma has several years of teaching experience
and has published several articles on communication.
Features of
C H A P T E R
2
Barriers to Communication
Chapter Outline
All chapters in the
book begin with a
OBJECTIVES INTRODUCTION chapter outline that
You should study the Having studied the basic principles of technical communication gives an overview
chapter to know
in Chapter 1, we now move on to a very important factor related to of the contents
what communication
• communication. Imagine you are a junior executive who has just joined covered in the
barriers are and what
as a trainee in an automobile company. You go to meet your boss, to
causes them chapter.
seek permission for visiting the automobile exhibition being held in
• hcoomwm tou anvicoaidti on failures Delhi. While you are talking, two of your colleagues also arrive to gCOetN VERSATIONS AND DIALOGUES 107
caused by noise your boss’ signature on some bills. You fall silent while he signs the
how to classify ‘Hellboi wllsh.e An fister they leave, you resume talking but you findI nt haa t tyeoleupr hboonsisc conversation, the two
• comImlluunsictartaiotnio bnasrr iers Rajdhahnai sc onmoitn rge?a’lly grasped wh‘Rmaatoj dvyheoa.u Int ’ihl lw asovtaeny ts’aid earlier. Yopua lrattieers ancaalnynseo tt hisse e each other’s facial
Illustrations, situation, and realize thatw hyeoruer i t ciso.’lleagues’ interveenxtpiorens slieodn st oa nyodu r other aspects of body
boss’ lack of concentration. As the sender, you hadl apnagtuieangtel.y tThrieids tmo akes it all the more
interspersed with the express your wish. But because of the inSttaetreruption ibmy pyoorutra ncot llefoagr ueths,e m to incorporate the
text in the chapters, the receiver, your boss, could not decodCea pyiotaulr? messacgoer fruecllty .t oHneen acne dt haer ticulation in their voices,
make the book a more communication process failed. so that the purpose of the phone call is
This discussion brings us to the introduction ofa cthhiee vteedrm s u‘bcacrersisefru’ lly. For example, when
lively and interesting
in communication. A barrier is defined as somethinygo ut haarte pcroervreesnptso nodr ing with a new client for
read. controls progress or movement. This definition impthliee sfi trhsta tt iam bea, ryroieur need to create a desired
is something that comes in the way of the desireidm opurtecsosimone. aInnd t hgeiv e the client the correct
example given above, notice that the arrival of yopuicr tucorell eoafg yuoeus r woapse rations. If you are doing
138 TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION an event that prevented your boss from concentrattihnigs coovmerp tleetleeplyh oonne , your conduct assumes
what you were saying. So, we say that this incidenhtu wgea si ma pboarrtraienrc et.o Therefore, although you
thcea ncnoomt mseuen tichaet icoanl lebre tiwn eae nte yleopuh aonndic ycoounrv ebrossast.i oAnl,l yoofu u ns eheadv et oc ofomlleo w all the etiquettes that
Use the following links to learn and practise the animation schemes and use them judiciously
acyroous sa psupclyh isni tau aftaicoen-st ow-fhaiclee ccoonmvmerusantiicoanti. nHg ewrei tahr ep asoremnets ,e tfirqieunedttse, so trh at you need to follow in
in your presentations:
coalnleya kgiuneds . oLf ette ulesp nhoowni lce acranll sh:ow to avoid such communication failures
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint/CH100673441033.aspx (animation effects)
and ma• kUe soeu rp oinlitteer aecxtpiorensss imonosre s euffchec taisv e‘H. ow can I help you?’, ‘May I sCpDea kL itnok Ms r …?’, ‘You
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint/HA101077711033.aspx (transition effects)
We aallr ek nwoewlc otmhaet’ , e‘Thffeactnikve y ocoum vemryu nmicuacthio’,n ‘ Misa tyh Ie hneelrpv ey oouf? ’a, l‘Cl tohuel d Tyohue pclheaaspe tgeirvse me the
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint/ha010451151033.aspx (timing animation sequences)
Also refer to the PowerPoint bpuresisneenstsad taiecottnaiivsl isgt ioievfse …nin i ?na’, n te htocer. gCaDni.zation. Even a slight break in the com- include CD links
munication flow can lead to misunder-
Refer to Rehearsing Pr esentatioCnosm inm• tuIhnfe iyc Saotutiuo adnr eiesn tethsff’e eR crteeivscoee uivrecre,s .itdanendtiinfgy sy. oCuro nmammuen/yicoautri oonr gaisn iezffateicotniv’se n atmhae ta as isdo oinn base yttoeur pick
Refer to the CD for the followinongl:y if itu cpr etahtee sc tahlle (dee.gsi.r,e Hd arish here/Sales Division, Monarch & Co.). Avoid saying ‘hello’.
Sample 1: Detailed outline foimr pa asc•p te Boenec htch loee anrre ccaoenimvde prp.urteecri-sme iendo iynaoltyue rdi f e cxiotpm rcemrsesauitoneniscs a tathineod nd uessei rpedle aismanpta ctto noen of uvnodiceer wsthainled sipnega koifn tgh.e
the receiver. Often, managers get frus- concepts discussed
Sample 2: A profess ional presenta•t iDono onno tI nshteorunte.t search engines demystified
• Do not use slangs. in the book. A CD
Practice 1 • Do not interrupt the caller when he/she is speaking. icon in the left
• If you are transferring the call to somebody else, please ask the camllaerr gtoin h oofl dt hoen .text
Prepare the text of your sp eech with the o•u Ltliinsete gniv teon tinh eS acmalpleler 1p aint itehnet ClyD a.nd get any unfamiliar terms clarifieindd.icates digital
• Before you call up anybody, think what and how to discuss so that you stay focused on
support.
your objective.
Practice 2 • Do not slam the equipment when the call is completed. Place it softly.
• Do not eat or drink while speaking on the phone.
Practise and deliver the p resentation in S•a mDpole n 2o itn ttahlek C tDo toot yhoeursr farireonudnsd. S yeoeku twhehiri lceo smpmeaeknitns.g on the phone.
• Do not speak too quickly or too slowly. Use appropriate rate of your voice.
• Reduce the background noise if any.
SUMMARY • Pick up the phone as early as possible. Do not allow it to ring for a long time.
• If you do not return the missed call, apologize/tell reason when the caller speaks to you
Professional presentations and speeches enable outlining presentations, we must ensure that these
next time.
us to inform, persuade, or entertain our audience, three elements are in place, and are performing
• If the call is not meant for you, try to guide the caller for reaching the right person.
and thus form an integral part of our academic or their functions effectively.
professional career. Hence, we n eed to unders•t aInfd y ou areO tnhcee c, atllheer, apsrke stehnet aottihoenr pmeartseornia, l‘ Isis iti ng opolda cteim, e to talk to you?/Can I speak to
the fundamentals of such forms of communicatiyoonu forw fiev eh amvein tuot eus?n’derstand the nuances of effective
and aim for their effectiveness. • Alwaysd ekleiveepr ya, pwehnic ahn idn cnluodtee sp athde w mhoildee t aaknidn gm caanllnse.r of
Planning and preparation, s tructuring, deli•v eBrye, entphruessieansttiact iaonnd. T choeusret weoouusl.d involve paying attention
use of language, body language, voice, visual aids, to verbal, non-verbal, vocal, and visual elements
• Thank the caller before ending the call.
and rehearsals are the key drivers for the success during the presentation. Our aim should be to keep
of a presentation. While planning, we must be all these threads intact, neither too loose nor too
aware of the occasion, audience, and purpose for tight. An important aspect to take care of is self-
the presentation. Thereafter, we need to work confidence while presenting publicly. We should
on the thesis statement, which is the central idea strive to overcome stage fright and nervousness
of the presentation. After this we start collecting while presenting. Oral presentation is an art that
appropriate main and supporting material to requires careful planning, preparation, and a great
prepare the presentation. deal of practice. This tool is both valuable and
Any communication consists of an introduc- relevant. With care and practice, we can achieve
tion, a main body, and a conclusion. Likewise, when wonders with our oral presentations.
EXERCISES
1. How important is it to have good presentation 2. What are the five important aspects to be consid-
skills? ered while planning for your presentation?
316 TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION
Reports must be precise, based on facts, relevant, The structure of a report can be broken down
reader-oriented, objective, easy to understand, well into prefatory, main text, and supplementary
formatted, and well illustrated. There are various information segments. Some of the constituents of
categories of reports such as informative and these segments are optional sections, such as the
analytical, periodic and special, oral and written, frontispiece and the copyright.
formal and informal, and group and individual. Once we have understood the characteristics,
They can be presented in manuscript, letter, memo, categories, format, and structure of reports, we
the Book or pre-printed format. choose the most appropriate type of report based
Identifying the scope and purpose, knowing the on the purpose at hand. Using the material prepared
audience, identifying the sources of information, during the prewriting stage, the first draft of the
organizing the material, interpreting the data report is prepared. This draft is then edited and
collected, and drawing an outline are the prewriting refined to create the end product, which is a high-
steps that lead to the preparation of an effective, quality technical, business, or professional report.
convincing report.
Exercises
EXERCISES
A series of practice 1. Indicate the difference between the following re- 6. Transport facilities
exercises highlight the ports: 6.1 Rail, road, air
(a) Oral and written (b) Formal and informal 6.2 Raw materials
major topics covered in (c) Individual and group (d) Long and short (a) Building
2. Discuss the various types of reports. Give an ex- (b) Infrastructural
the chapter. The questions
ample of each. 7. Recommendations
enhance learning and can 3. What is a project report? Write a project report on 8. Conclusions
the recent project you have done in your college. 5. Develop the material given below into a formal
be used for review and
4. A company is considering a proposal to establish out-line with appropriate numbers and correct
classroom discussion. a new factory in your town. The Managing Direc- indentation. The outline is not arranged logically.
tor has asked you to write a report on suitability of Rework the out-line into its logical form.
the place for the establishment of this factory. For Animals I Have Had As Pets
this report, an outline is provided below. Study I. Members of the cat family
it carefully and rewrite it in accordance with the (a) Baby lion
principles of co-ordination, subordination, phras- 1. Three days old
ing, numbering, ordering, etc. 2. Mother died at local zoo
Establishment of a New Factory (b) House kittens
Outline 1. Five of these
1. Introduction II. Members of the dog family
2. Fire fighting and Communication facilities (a) Two young dogs, mixed breed
(a) Telephone (b) A poodle
(b) Fax (c) German shepherd
(c) Films (d) Other dogs
(d) Games III. Canaries
3. Education and Entertainment facilities (a) Two males
4. How is the market (b) Three females
A. Potential (c) Parakeet
B. General IV. Guppies
5. Labour from Local and other plants V. Members of the reptile family
5.0 Raw materials (a) Young grass snake
5.1 Cost (b) Green lizard
Companion CD
The CD contains the following:
Videos on group discussion
and professional presentations
Audio clips comprising
listening and speaking
practice, phonetics, telephonic
conversations, role play, and
negotiation skills
Text supplements including
samples of various formal written
documents as well as additional
topics of interest
Preface to the Third Edition
Communication is the glue that binds together various strata of society and also several levels of workforce
in any organization. There are various forms of communication that not only reflect the knowledge
and accomplishments of an individual, but also act as the public face for organizations, exhibiting their
policies and achievements. Though technology has permeated and has been acting as a dominant force
in organizational communication, we still need to follow the basic principles of effective communication
irrespective of the channel—listening, speaking, reading, and writing—it uses for the process. Technical
communication or communicating technical contents has become immensely important for the students
and professionals in order to carry out their assigned tasks successfully. By acquiring the necessary skills in
technical communication, students and professionals can communicate with clarity, precision, and accuracy,
thereby gaining the ability to convey their ideas and points of view with effectiveness and efficiency.
Today, writing for the web as well as communicating through the social media are on the rise more
than ever before. Job-seeking students and professionals are increasingly using the social networking
platforms, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, SkillPages, etc., to draw the attention of prospective employers.
Moreover, the job providers also try to discover potential candidates through these web forums. For
instance, besides preparing their traditional résumés, fresh graduate students can also prepare social
résumés, which are different in format, structure, and length from the conventional résumés, and upload
them on these forums, thereby publicizing their suitability to a particular job. Similarly, writing wikis,
blogs, etc. has also become very popular these days to stay connected to prospective clients or employers.
About the Book
The third edition of Technical Communication: Principles and Practice has been designed not only to
serve the purpose of being a textbook for courses on technical and professional communication but
also to satisfy the requirements of day-to-day communication needs. It introduces the students as well
as professionals to the role of four communication skills—listening, speaking, reading, and writing
(LSRW)—which enhances their ability to communicate on academic and professional fronts. The
ever-increasing importance of social media has also made us focus on honing the skills required to
communicate through the web.
New audio exercises as well as videos have been included in the companion CD with a view to help
the students acquire the necessary linguistic and soft skills.
New to This Edition
• New sections such as brochures, bulletins, newsletters, writing for the web, and non-traditional
résumés
• Concise content with simple and easy-to-understand language
• An audio on phonetics and a video on professional presentation in the companion CD
• New multiple-choice questions for practice as well as flash card glossary in the online resource
centre
iv PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION
Coverage and Structure
The text is divided into four parts containing 17 chapters.
Part I: Introduction to Technical Communication
Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the basics of technical communication, discussing its importance,
process, levels, and flow of communication. Chapter 2 discusses the various communication barriers and
how to overcome them. Chapter 3 focuses on the non-verbal aspect of communication, including body
movements, space, and vocal features.
Part II: Listening and Speaking
Chapter 4 discusses the various types and aspects of active listening. Chapter 5 presents the fundamentals
such as phonemes, accent, and intonation of speaking through numerous examples. The characteristics
of voice and the strategies for achieving confidence, clarity, and fluency in speech are also discussed
in this chapter. Chapter 6 explains the two important forms of communication, namely conversations
and dialogues, which combine both listening and speaking skills. The nuances of giving an effective
presentation are discussed in Chapter 7. The strategies to win interviews and the techniques to actively
participate in various forms of group communication are discussed in Chapters 8 and 9, respectively.
Part III: Reading and Writing
Chapter 10 highlights all the important aspects of reading, including skimming and scanning, and
presents reading strategies that help improve comprehension skills. Chapter 11 covers the building
blocks of effective writing, whereas Chapter 12 discusses the art of précis writing. Chapter 13 introduces
report writing, including its objectives, types, importance, formats, and structure. The types, structure,
and style of technical proposal are discussed in Chapter 14. Chapter 15 analyses technical letter writing
and gives examples of various types of business letters, including claim, adjustment, and sales letters.
It also discusses email writing as also the etiquettes to be followed while communicating through it.
Writing effective research papers and technical descriptions are discussed in Chapter 16.
Part IV: Review of Grammar
Chapter 17 covers the essentials of grammar and vocabulary including tenses, impersonal passive voice,
and concord, and listings of idioms, homophones, homonyms, one-word substitutes, and confusables.
About the CD
The CD content is closely linked to the main text. A CD icon in the left margin of the text indicates
digital support. This content, which would be very useful for laboratory sessions, is divided into four
modules as follows:
Videos This module contains videos that can be used to train the readers for group discussions,
interviews, and professional presentations.
Listening and speaking practice This module contains various types of audio clips related to telephonic
conversation, negotiation skills, role play, and phonetics.
PowerPoint presentations This module contains PowerPoint presentations on body language,
listening, interviews, and group discussion.
Text supplements This module contains supplementary material to the main text, including samples
of various formal written documents, such as letters and technical proposals, as well as additional topics
of interest.
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION v
The videos on professional presentations, interviews, and group discussion can be viewed with VLC
Media Player or Windows Media Player.
The file ‘Text Supplements’ is a PDF (portable document format) document. Adobe Acrobat or its
Reader is required to view it.
Online Resources
The following resources are available to support the faculty and students using this text.
For Faculty
• PowerPoint Slides
For Students
• Multiple Choice Questions
• Flash card Glossary
• Additional Text Material
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Professor B.N. Jain, Vice Chancellor, Birla Institute of Technology and Science
(BITS), Pilani, and Professors G. Raghurama and K.E. Raman, Directors of Pilani and Goa campuses,
respectively, under whose aegis we were provided an environment conducive to complete this edition of
the book.
The staff at Oxford University Press, India deserves our special thanks for the tremendous effort put forth
to constantly update us on all the review matters throughout the making of this edition.
We appreciate the constructive suggestions given by the reviewers to add new topics and update the
second edition so as to suit the needs of the students.
We gratefully acknowledge Raunaq Dhar for providing the sample of a newsletter. Every effort has
been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material.
We apologize for any errors or omissions and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should
be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.
At the home front, we sincerely acknowledge the support and the encouragement we got from our family
members. Meenakshi Raman is running short of words to express her gratitude to her family members for
the unstinting cooperation and affectionate concern extended during the course of the project. Sangeeta
Sharma would like to acknowledge her husband Suresh Sharma for being a pillar of support at all times and
her children Amrit and Anuj for innocently enquiring about the progress of the book and reminding her
to complete the task. Her parents-in-law also need a special mention for never complaining about her deep
involvement in the work and taking away their time.
We sincerely hope that this revised edition with its updated, comprehensive coverage of all aspects
and types of technical communication will prove to be highly useful to the readers. Any suggestions for
improvement are welcome.
Meenakshi Raman
([email protected])
Sangeeta Sharma
([email protected])
References
Birdwhistell, Ray L. 1952, Introduction to Kinesics, University of Louisville Press, Louisville, Kentucky.
Hall, Edward T. 1966, The Hidden Dimension, Doubleday, Garden City, New York.
Oxford Dictionnary of Idioms, Oxford Paperbacks, 2000.
Sahni & Arshad, Advanced English Essays, Mahavir Printers & Publishers, pp. 424-428, Agra.
Steinberg, Roberta 2005, Complete Tools for the TOEFL Test, p. 281, Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi.
Strunk, William Jr and E.B. White 1999, The Elements of Style, Fourth edition, Longman.
http://www.azimpremjifoundation.org/html/calspeech.htm (Address by Azim Premji, Chairman,
Wipro Corporation, at the annual convocation 2004 of the Indian Institute of Management at
Kolkata, 3 April 2004 on ‘Continuous Transformation’.)
Brief Contents
Preface to the Third Edition iii
Preface to the First Edition vi
Features of the Book viii
Detailed Contents xi
PART I: INTRODUCTION TO TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION
1. Basics of Technical Communication 3
2. Barriers to Communication 25
3. Non-verbal Communication 39
PART II: LISTENING AND SPEAKING
4. Active Listening 53
5. Effective Speaking 73
6. Conversations and Dialogues 98
7. Formal Presentations 113
8. Interviews 140
9. Group Communication 176
PART III: READING AND WRITING
10. Reading Comprehension 223
11. Elements of Effective Writing 252
12. The Art of Condensation 274
13. Technical Reports 284
14. Technical Proposals 321
15. Formal Letters, Memos, and Email 349
16. Research Papers and Technical Descriptions 419
PART IV: REVIEW OF GRAMMAR
17. Grammar and Vocabulary Development 437
References 493
Index 495
About the Authors 499