Rather than being “bare bones” or “just the data,” the most effective technical reports are actually heavy on framing and transitional language. That is because technical reports are not usually intended to be read straight through. Instead, information in each section should be as “stand-alone” as possible, so that readers can easily identify the information they need and also locate an explanation of its purpose. Abstracts, introductions, and conclusions all provide information about the structure and purpose of the document so that it’s clear to readers how everything is laid out and logically organized.
Not only should engineering communications include sufficient focus and framing language and be logically organized, they should also be elegantly designed at the sentence and paragraph levels. Tone should be professional (in the third person to add professionalism and objectivity, where appropriate). Meaning should be easily accessible, arguments should be well-constructed, and language should be “polished.”
Below are some resources to help you get started composing documents that flow logically, are clear and precise, and use objective, professional language. In addition, browse the drop down menu under the “Composition” tab to get specific information and resources pertaining to organization and framing, augmentation, sentence-level clarity, IEEE formatting, and revision/editing strategies
- D. F. Beer, Ed., “Construction and Content: Putting Documents Together,” in Writing and Speaking in the Technology Professions, Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2015, pp. 43–44.
- D. F. Beer, Ed., “Getting Started: Writing the First Drafts,” in Writing and Speaking in the Technology Professions, Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2015, pp. 1–2.
- D. F. Beer, Ed., “Revising and Editing: Refining Your Documents,” in Writing and Speaking in the Technology Professions, Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2015, pp. 245–246.
- J. T. Dennett and M. Hseih, “Issue Trees: A Tool to Aid the Engineering Writer,” in Writing and Speaking in the Technology Professions, D. F. Beer, Ed. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2015, pp. 12–20.[5] J. G. Nagle, Handbook for Preparing Engineering Documents: From Concept to Completion. John Wiley & Sons, 1996.
- L. K. Grove, “When the Basics Aren’t Enough: Finding a Comprehensive Editor,” in Writing and Speaking in the Technology Professions, D. F. Beer, Ed. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2015, pp. 256–259.
- R. Irish and P. E. Weiss, Engineering communication: from principles to practice. Oxford University Press, 2013.
- J. M. Lannon and L. J. Gurak, Technical Communication, 14 edition. Boston: Pearson, 2016.
- R. E. Masse, “Theory and Practice of Editing Processes in Technical Communication,” in Writing and Speaking in the Technology Professions, D. F. Beer, Ed. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2015, pp. 247–255.
- R. J. Nelson, “Preparing to Write the Document: A Worksheet for Situational Analysis in the Workplace,” in Writing and Speaking in the Technology Professions, D. F. Beer, Ed. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2015, pp. 7–11.
- D. Rathjens, “Reverse Engineering: The Outline As Document Restructuring Tool,” in Writing and Speaking in the Technology Professions, D. F. Beer, Ed. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2015, pp. 265–268.
- K. Riley, “Seven habits of highly effective writers,” IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 47–51, Mar. 1999.
