COMM11003Professional & Technical

CommunicationLesson 1

Introduction to communication concepts

in a technical context

Who am I?

• Lyn Costigan• Contact hours are:

•anytime by appointment

• Contact details: •phone 07 4150 7032•e-mail l.costigan@cqu.edu.au

Course Housekeeping

• Two assignments (Ass 1 – Week 6/Ass 2 – Week 12)

• Weekly exercises must be done in workshops.

• You are expected to read more widely than the text books.

• Team Debates in Week 12 for internal students.

Course Housekeeping

• Refer regularly to the course website. • You may be grouped with ‘buddies’. You

should work together to solve problems, and when approaching tutors for advice.

• Contact tutors if you are having difficulties with your buddies.

Course Housekeeping

• DO NOT PLAGIARISE • We want to see your best work, not

someone else’s.• You will fail if you plagiarise.• Be aware of correct presentation of

assignments and referencing.

What is communication?

• Communication is a complex area, with many differing theories.

• Put very simply, communication is a ‘transaction’ between two or more individuals.

• Sender (idea) > Message (meaning) > Receiver (listen, read) > Response (feedback)

• We are dealing with people communicating about the technical.

What is technical communication?

• Deal with information in a technical context.

• Challenge is to adapt information to the level of their audience.

• Professions:• Writers/editors• Multimedia/web developers• Usability engineers and interface designers• Proposal writers

Why is it relevant?

• Good communication means understanding.

• Technology is managed in business environments.

• Important in an environment where:

• Ideas are complex•Misunderstanding is potentially dangerous

Types of communication…

• Oral• Visual• Written• Non-verbal• Interpersonal• We will cover these at an

introductory level in this course.

Communication ‘products’

• Written (report, paper, letter, memo)• Online (web page, e-mail)• Visual (film, photograph, graph,

image)• Oral (speech)• A product is part of the

communication process as a whole.

Genre

• Genre is a predictable combination of content, structure, style, and relationship with audience.

• Defines how we tell a story.• Genre in film – western, drama, thriller• Genre in literature – poem, novel, play• Genre in business and technical

communication – technical reports, user manuals, instructions, proposals

Social Literacy

• Understanding of social practice (‘norms’).

• To be socially literate is to understand the rules of the society to which you belong.

• ‘What is acceptable?’• Individual motivated by desire to

be accepted by a group.

Cultural literacy

• Based around established concepts of what is important knowledge within a group.

• What you should know in order to function in a cultural environment.

• Seen in practice by need to ‘prove yourself’ in order to be accepted.

• Individual is motivated by desire to be respected by a group.

Why are cultural and social literacy important?

• Need to have both social and cultural literacy to communicate effectively across a broad range of people.

• Be accepted by and be accepting of different groups.

• Technical communicators need to understand, not judge, their audience.

Basics of successful communication

• Successful communication requires:• Listening• Assertion• Conflict resolution• Collaborative problem solving• Appropriate skill selection

(Bolton, 1987)

• Also • Organisation• Awareness of audience• Review of material

Readings

• Textbook: Business Communication: Building Critical Skills•Module 1 – Business Communication,

Management, and Success •Module 2 (part) – Audience and the

Communication Process p.24 - 25

Exercise 1This exercise requires you to analyse a user manual using the PAIBOC principles (in your textbook).

Your submission should be no longer than half a page, and should be written using full sentences.

See your study guide for full details.