Instead of viewing the writing process as mysterious and intimidating, you can ap- proach it in systematic stages that ensure much more effective results.
This is not to say that writing doesn't take does, writing talent alone is not enough. Writing in a technical environment requires more than just a burst of creative energy. It necessitates collaborating with many groups and working within a series of deadlines. Doing that well means considering many dif- ferent needs and planning ahead meticulously.
Analyzing Your Audience
A major component of the planning process is analyzing the needs of your audi- ence. When busy executives have only a few minutes to read a report, they don't want to wade through pages of dense prose to find the one or two important items they need. Decision makers want key information placed up front, and they want the rest of the document in an easy-to-read format that saves them time. Similarly, users of equipment want to know how to assemble and operate a
don't want to read a lot of background theory or marketing hype. Finally, no read- ers want documents that are written in language that either patronizes them or sails over their heads. You must learn to gauge the technical expertise of your audience and to write at a level exactly suited to their needs.
It's also important to realize that technical writing styles and requirements dif- fer from profession to profession and often from company to company. Although the standards for good writing are universal, groups that work together in special- ized areas develop their own subset of standards for communicating with each other. Engineers use professional language different from that of scientists, and health professionals such as nurses, physical therapists, pharmacists, and doctors have their own expectations of how technical documents should be written. Un- derstanding the expectations of these different "discourse communities" allows you to tailor your prose to communicate more effectively with the members of that community. Taking the time in advance to research your audience's expectations is a critical step, even when you think you already understand what everyone needs and wants.
A common mistake some writers make is to assume they understand their read- ers without taking the time to be sure. "1 know what these people want; I work with them every day." Or, "I've used this product so often myself I know exactly what the users need." Or even, "The audience is so broad I can't possibly pin down specific characteristics; it's just the general public with no special qualities." In each of these instances, writers can produce better documents if they check their assumptions. Readers' needs are often surprising. Keep in mind, too, that documents are usually read by more than one audience: primary audience is the reader you write di-
rectly for and the secondary audience is the reader(s) who need(s) to read it to con- tribute to some other aspect of the project. For instance, a medical treatment re- port goes to the doctor first, but the attending health professionals (nurses, therapists, and so on) may need to read it as well.
14 Chapter 1 / Planning
Creating an Audience Analysis Grid
Before sitting down to establish specific plans for a document, take time to research the eight questions shown in the grid below, which accurately defines the audience.
1. WhD will read your document? 2. What are their job functions?
3. What are their levels of expertise and experience? 4. What do they need from the document?
5. What is the "bottom line" information they need? 6. Do they have any biases or prejudgments?
7. Under what conditions will they read the document? 8. With what other relevant documents are they familiar?
Primary Audience
Secondary Audience
1. Who Will Read Your Document? Be specific about your actual readers. If pos-
sible, name them and picture them in your head as you sit down to compose. Write as if you arc talking to them rather than to a computer or a yellow writing tablet. By picturing them, you place your words in a more real situation and are more likely to address their needs.
As mentioned above, you will often have multiple audiences, some primary (the people for whom your document is specifically intended) and some secondary (other people who may have reason to read or part of the document). For ex- ample, your report may be read by people who need to analyze the de- tails of what you've written and by those who need to know only the conclusions and recommendations. If you think about this in advance, you can make decisions about the document that can accommodate both types of readers. You can decide whether it would be better to "frontload" the document (see Chapter 3, pp. 57-64) by putting the recommendations first, or to with the background discussion. You can also decide how detailed the abstract should be and whether you also need an executive summary for those who need to know only the basics. (See Chapter for a discussion of ab- stracts and executive summaries.) With informa- tion all of your potential readers, you can better decide what to emphasize and what to downplay, what organization and what page de- sign is most appropriate, and so forth.
important to note that nearly all documents have multiple
you may not even know some of the people who will read your work. Always design documents so that someone not familiar with you or your
can understand the content.
2. What Are Their Job Functions? Under-
standing the nature of your can tell you more precisely what they are looking for in
]
Analyzing Your Audience your work and how they use it. For example, if you know that your readers are decision makers, then your material will focus on recommendations for action. If your readers are primarily technicians, you might feature procedures and analyses. 3. What Are Their Levels of Expertise and Experience? Find out as accurately as possible the technical knowledge of your readers. You don't want to use terms they might not understand, nor do you want to explain to them things they already know. Along the same lines, if you know that the audience members are seasoned in the job, you can perhaps include advanced or anecdotal information they will understand because of their long experience. If they are new to the position, you may want to write longer introductions and give more background material. 4. What Do They Need from the Document? Different readers need different
things from your work. Some may want details; others may want just the basic points. In some cases, your audience may have a specific for ex- ample. How much will the project cost? How can we get the most for our money? If you feel you are the low bidder on the project, you should find a way to feature the cost savings throughout the document, instead of burying it only in the budget sec- tion on the last page. The key here is to put up front what the users need.
5. What Is the "Bottom Line" Information They Need? you had to say one thing that your audience needs more than anything else from the document, what is it? Be sure to make this information the most emphatic and easy to find.
6. Do They Have Any Biases or Prejudgments? The answer to this question gives you an essential sense of your readers' emotional attitudes toward your work. Are they inclined to believe you, or are they potentially hostile to your ideas? What are ( their fears? Their hopes? Knowing such attitudes in advance allows you to couch the information in terms and in a format that will soften the negatives and enhance the positives. For example, if you are recommending to management that they spend more money for employee benefits (such as subsidized parking or subway passes), it would be a good idea to know whether the company is in good enough financial shape to accommodate such requests easily. If money is tight,
is likely to be a hostile audience, and you need to lead them carefully to your point of view by emphasizing the ultimate payoff in employee satisfaction and pro- ductivity. On the other hand, if you have been asked to research the most cost-ef- fective methods for putting your company's product information on the Internet, your audience will be eager to read your recommendations. No soft-pedaling is necessary.
7. Under What Conditions Will They Read the Document? In busy offices, people often work in cubicles with phones ringing, coworkers gossiping, and other distrac- tions. These readers need documents that don't require peace and quiet for intense
16 Chapter 1 / Planning
concentration. Other readers may have both the luxury of time and a quiet office space. This group would be happy to delve into the details of extended discussions. Documents for the first group should be and formatted for quick un- derstanding, while documents for the second can contain longer paragraphs and more extensively developed and explained logic.
8. With What Other Relevant Documents Are They Familiar? Does your audi-
ence often use or read similar documents? Is there a standard format that everyone expects to see? By understanding your readers' expectations, you can choose to conform with or to break the on the effect you want to create. Once you determine what other documents your audience is familiar with, you can refer to them with confidence, knowing that your audience will know what you're talking about.