Response to Vic Marcus

I agree when you said that oral presentation take a fair amount of planning and that you should be very prepared before you give one. Knowing what you are going to say and when you are going to say it helps presentations go a little smoother. Also with websites I think usability is at the top of list as far as importance. If the viewer doesn't like what they see, most likely they won't be back. Like everything else we have learned, you need to understand your audience.

Chapter 17 & 18 - 11.14.08

Chapter 17 is all about listener-centered oral presentations. Like the book says, the most important idea presented in this chapter is that of knowing the goals of your presentation. Obviously you start there. PowerPoint has become unwritten standard for giving oral presentations. Having the visual aspect to back up your oral presentation is like putting a pretty bow on a present. Being able to tie these two aspects together seamlessly and effectively is the trick. After reading this chapter I think I will have a better handle on how to make presentation a nice little package. A few of the other points in the chapter should come without saying. Like don't be afraid of being interrupted and rehearse. I really love PowerPoint presentations because it will usually take eyes of me and in turn allows me to relax. Does anyone else feel this way?

Chapter 18 is centered around reader centered websites and web pages. Like everything else we have learned, it is very important to define your objectives at the onset of the project. Planning is huge when designing a website. You have to be very careful about how it is laid out and how it jumps off the screen. It needs to be organized and detailed without being overwhelming. I think websites are either hit or miss. When a person jumps onto a site they either leave in the first 30 seconds or stay, browse and come back. Being able to communicate the information visually is the trick. I can't stand websites that are hard to navigate or are to hard to sift through all the information. I don't think I am alone on this one.

Response to Jessica Soule's 10.31.08 Post

I agree with you when you pointed out that in technical writing you are no longer writing for yourself, but for your reader. I think that is the single most important idea that we have learned yet. It has caused me to take a step back from my writing and really focus on whether or not my writing will reach the reader in the way that I intend. Like you said, you can save a lot of time in the long run if you can be effective the first time around. Testing can be a beneficial way to streamline this process, but just like reader centered writing, your focus group must be the right type of group.

Chapters 2, 9, 10 - 11.07.08

Chapter 2 is focused on taking a reader centered approach to resumes and job application letters. The first thing you need to do is identify who your potential employers are. You can accomplish this by making a list. Next you need to figure out your angle. Basically you need to tailor your resume based on the type of job you are applying for and figure out how best to describe your strengths to the reader. The chapter also points out that in most cases your resume only needs to be one page. Only if you have extensive qualifications should you prepare a second page. Job application letters can often be more important to a potential employer than your resume. If your letter can grab the attention of the person reading it than most likely they will look further. The process for creating a letter of this type includes planning, drafting, and revising. When writing a job application letter you need to be very conscious of who the reader will be in order to be effective.

Chapter 9 talks about perfecting the way you begin a communication. Mastering this step can go a very long way. If your opening can grab the readers attention you can be almost sure that they will continue reading. Eight guidelines are laid out in chapter 9. In my opinion guideline 2 is very important. I have said this a couple of times before in previous blogs but I will say it again. Don't waste peoples time. Get straight to the point and you save people a lot of time. You will also grab their attention and potentially they will keep reading. Guideline 3 is also important in this nature. "Tell your readers what to expect." If they know the scope of what they are reading, they save time once again and everyone is happy. The beginning of a communication is definitely the most important part.

Chapter 10 is the opposite of 8. Ten goes into how to finish a communication. Guideline 1 lays the foundation pretty well, " after you've made your last point, stop." This idea is especially important in proposals. Readers expect that after you have explained what you plan to do, the proposal is finished. Another good point that the chapter makes is how to tell your readers to get more information. It depends on the communication, but guiding the reader for more info is very beneficial. I have found the last guideline to be very useful in my professional life. Writers need to follow the standards of their particular profession.

Response to Holly Schmeck

I agree when you emphasized how important it is that your test readers represent your targeted demographic. If you don’t do this then you are obviously wasting your time. This idea represents a lot of what we have focused on in this course. Reader centered writing is very important and this idea has been drilled into me. Revision is very important and doing it thoroughly can save you a lot of time in the end.

Chapter 14 & 15 - 10.31.08

Chapter 14 is all about revising drafts. It talks about the 3 activities of revising. First you evaluate from the perspective of the intended reader, then decide your course of action, and finally make the changes. The chapter also points out that it is difficult to find mistakes in your own writing. I completely agree with and have encountered it myself. If time allows I will usually read the rough draft back to myself and correct and then pass it on to someone else to look over. This method has seemed to produce the best results. Like the book also states, reading aloud can be very helpful. I feel that this is the best way to take yourself outside of the paper. When you hear the words aloud you can get a better grasp of how your writing will come out on the other end.

Chapter 15 discusses testing drafts for usability and persuasiveness. Actual testing of your communications can save a lot of time and money in the long run. It lays out 8 guidelines that can help someone develop a scenario to test the particular communication. Guideline 2 discusses picking test readers that represent your target audience. I think this one is extremely important. If you test on readers that are not your target audience than the results will most likely be skewed. The purpose of testing is to hone the communication down and be very efficient. If you keep these guidelines in mind I imagine you can miles ahead of your competition.

Response to Rich Bowers

I have to agree with you regarding how difficult it must be to get into freelance writing. You are probably right when you stated that you have to start by writing stuff that will get printed. A freelance writer obviously has to build some sort of reputation to gain the type of freedom that allows them to write about what they love. I am sure it is not an easy path to get to that point, but once you get there I imagine it is extremely rewarding.

Freelance Writing 10.10.08

I missed the lecture on Monday but I have general understanding of what a freelance writer does. Freelance writing is a unique form of journalism. It has its up and downs. I am not much of a write but if I was, this is probably the medium I would like best. The ability to write about what you want, when you want is really enticing. No boundaries, no assignment, just writing about what you find interesting. I guess the downside is that you may not get any work at all. You can get turned down and be broke forever. You probably have to build up quite a reputation and a solid clientele to keep the income flowing in. Even beside the threat of unemployment, writing about what you love sounds a lot more like a career than being a slave to assignments.

Response to Robert Clemans Chapter 8 & 19

I also liked what the part about adding emphasis to the end of sentences to give them that added persuasive tone. That can be very important when writing communications at your employer. Your purpose in that arena is to have some sort of action as a result of your writing so learning to be effective with your senctence structure will take you a long way. Like you, I don't ususally create a project managment plan but after reading about it in the chapter I may just have to change my ways. This can be a very effective tool when you apply it in the workplace.

10.03.08 Chapter 8 & 19

Chapter 8 is all about how to develop an effective writing style. We have already learned about understanding your target audience, so the idea behind guideline 1 falls right in line with that. How formal and how personal need to be determined when you create your communications. Another important aspect to this s the voice that you use when writing. If you sound condescending to the reader they immediately will head to the defensive. It is more important to find a way to communicate to your reader in a way that will be received well and garner the response that you are after. In my experiences I have had communications from authority figures that throws you off from the very start. It automatically brought me to a combative state and I had to begin preparing my defense. When a communication is not written in the proper tone it usually has the opposite effect than what was intended. I feel that you can get much more accomplished by communicating in a way that is collaborative. Does anyone agree?

Chapter 19 covers managing client and service learning projects. Client centered projects have a different approach than projects for your employer. Most importantly you need to understand what your client wants. If you can't thoroughly do that you are dead in the water from the start. Getting started on a project like this requires that you also learn about the organization that you are preparing it for. Clients really appreciate it when they can tell that you did your homework and put a lot of though into the project. It can go a long way in persuading the client. Guideline 5 talks about constant communication with the client. I can say from experience that this is very important. Staying in constant communication can save you a lot of time. Rather than making assumptions, you get clarification on issues before the fact rather than after. Huge time saver. You never want to have to revise when the whole situation could have been avoided. Does anyone else hate wasting time at work?

Response to Melissa Bonneville

I have also stumbled across good sources of research when I really wasn't looking for it. It is kind of funny how that happens sometimes. When you start delving into a particular subject and check its sources you find even better information. Who doesn't enjoy doing research in the comfort of their own home using the Internet? It is great because no matter what time of day, you can do some research. You really have to be weary of the information found on the Internet though and make sure that it is credible. I have found though that when I head to the library to do research I am for more productive than I am at home. Also at the library you have access to the most credible information that really lays out a solid foundation for quality research.

9.26.08 Chapter 6 & 7

Chapter 6 focuses on reader-centered research. The first point the chapter wants to make clear is that research at work greatly differs from research at school. Obviously your audience is much different in a workplace setting so you need to adjust accordingly. You need to be effecient and you need to be able to produce results that are easy for your audience to find valuable. In order to accomplish this the chapter sets out 7 guidlines that can help guide you to your goal. Of the 7 that it lays out the one that I find most important and that I use the most in my career is "Define your research objectives." If you don't know what you are looking for ahead of time you will waste a lot of time. On occasion at work I will begin to look into a particular product and then end up way off point. For example if all I need to find is the features of a product, sometimes I end up looking into how it is installed or reading case studys of past installations. Does anyone else find themselves doing the same thing?

Chapter 7 is all about transforming your plan into a deliverable. I found the statement about persuasiveness to very true. "Regardless of a segment's size, readers mentally process its persuasive claims and evidence in the same way." How true is that? It kinds of reminds me of what I got from chapter 20. Get to the point as efficiently and effectively as you can. If you can say what you need to in one paragraph, don't stretch it to a page and a half. People don't have time for that. Another important aspect to this is organization. I am learning that headings with bold words go a very long way with the reader. It is important for the reader to be able to pick out the information that is most important to them very easily. When you can organize your communications in a way that is consistent with the way that your regular readers expect, you will be miles ahead.

Rhetoric

Rhetoric is a very prevalent form of communication in technical writing. The definition comes in many forms. The one I found to apply best here is "The ability to use language effectively." Rhetoric is also Greek for persuasion. There are three forms of Rhetoric. Ethos comes from ego and is defined as I, we or our. The second form is Pathos and comes from emotion. The final form is Logos which stems from logic. All three are styles of writing that can be used to persuade. Like we learned in class, rhetoric can be found in all forms of technical communications. I use it everyday in my career especially in my e-mails. The form I use most is probably Logos. An example of how I use it in my career is "This project is out of town, we don't have the manpower to staff it and the drawings are not fully engineered." I think when the reader reads that statement they probably understand that I don't think that this is a project we should get involved with. I think I have always used rhetoric and have never really realized it. Now that I understand where it comes from and how to best utilize it I am sure that I will use it even more.

Chapter 4 &16

After reading chapter 4 I have a better grasp on the importance that planning plays in writing. Chapter 4 focuses on how to reader-centered approach to planning. It lays out guidelines on how to plan communications in order to better reach your reader. I could really identify with guideline one, "Identify the information your readers need." That has to be the most important piece of this whole puzzle. When writing you have to grasp what your readers will want to hear. Once you do that you can write to them specifically and make the communication to the point and more efficient.

Chapter 16 concentrates team communication. It discusses two types of team structures, leadership and distribution of tasks. The main difference between the two is that in a leadership structured team a single person is designated as the leader and usually make the decisions and in a distribution of tasks structure, decision making is usually done as a consensus. Depending on the size of the team, I usually prefer to work on teams where task and decision making is done collaboratively. I think that sharing responsibility in a group setting encourages all members involved to be active and allows for good results. I think it would be interesting to do some research and what things employees really enjoy about teams and also what they don't enjoy.

Response to Holley Schmeck Chapter 3 post

You brought up a good point when you mentioned how important it is to understand your audience. I completely agree. When you are writing you have to keep that in the back of your head at all times. Writing can be so much more successful when the reader can relate to what you are writing. I also liked your point about persuasion in writing. Persuasion is such a valuable tool to have in your bag. It can save you time and energy. These two ideas rank right at the top because they are so useful.

Chapter 3 Reading

After reading chapter 3 I could really relate to guideline three. It states "Define your persuasive goal: Analyze your reader's attitudes." The book seems to be right on when it says that persuasiveness is the second of the two essential on the job writing styles and that persuasiveness is present in every communication at work. I completely agree. When I write some sort of communication at work I am usually trying to persuade the reader into doing something. Most commonly it is an action. Things brings me to what we talked about in class, rhetoric. I don't think I fully realized how present it is in my career until we broke it down in class. It was interesting to break rhetoric down into the three categories. Rhetoric is very important to be able to recognize and write in a persons professional life. I think that if you can master it, you are probably more likely to get what you want more often and faster than if you didn't. This raises a question. Is ethos, pathos or logos the most common in the workplace?

Writing To Me

I have never been a huge fan of writing. I am glad I got that one out of the way... It has always been hard for me to actually put pen to paper becuase the words never seem to come out like I intend. Writing is healthy and unfortunately never exercise my right to do it. Maybe this class can change that.

If I had to choose a preferred style of writing, this would be it. No research, no guidelines, just writing. It seems to be the only style where the words really come out of my head with no reservation. I know in the future I am going to be required to write in both my educational life and professional life and maybe this class will lift the gate in my head that has always prevented me from enjoying writing.

This whole blog thing is pretty neat. I have always heard about blogs but never really explored reading one, let alone writing one. I have already started to check out other blogs because I am curious about what others have to say because I now understand what these things can be about. It is really just people letting stuff out of their heads to share with other people. This could end up being therapeutic.

09.05.08 - Chapter 1, 20, 22

Chapter 1

After reading Chapter 1, I really understand the importance of effective communication. (Because the book says I will earn more money!) All kidding aside, communication is the foundation of any one's career. Without the ability to to convey important messages in the workplace, you might as well stay at home.

There is a significant difference between writing for your educational life and writing for your professional life. Mainly your audience. In your career your communications are usually sent to multiple people and convey a essential business related message. E-mail, memos, transmittal's, and Fax's are some of the most common forms of communication that a person will deal with in the workplace. Other forms you might come across are PowerPoint presentations, spec books, and manuals. In any case, effective communication is key.

In my professional life I am constantly honing my communication skills both verbal and non-verbal. E-mail takes up a lot of my time and is the main form of communication between me, my co-workers, vendors, reps and distributors. I need to be clear and concise in my communications because none of the parties involved have time to try and decipher ineffective communications.

Chapter 20

Chapter 20 tackles reader centered correspondence such as e-mail, memos and letters. It discusses seven guidelines involved in making sure your correspondence gets the job done. The one I found that is the most important to me is "State your main point up." I don't think I can express in this blog without pictures how important this is. Don't beat around the bush. People in the workplace have better things to do than wait for you to either spit or spell it out. I learned that one really quickly once I got out into the workforce and it is chapter 1 in my career bible.

Formatting your communications is very important as well. They need to be neat and professional without being overbearing. Developing templates for your different types of correspondence can be very beneficial when you are in a hurry. You just fill out the new information and go.

Chapter 22

Reader-centered proposals are the focus of chapter 22. This is probably the single most important part of communication. Usually when you are preparing proposals they are very formal. You are either giving proposals to your co-workers, managers and most often, your customers. Being successful in writing proposals is the backbone to any business. If you thing about it, customers expect to be treated like royalty and if you deliver anything less you are either costing the company money or you are standing in the unemployment line.

Since my goal is to attain a degree in MIS, I understand how important this will be in my future. I know that if I don't develop the skills necessary to be effective at writing proposals I might as well go get a job at the zoo taking care of monkeys.