Technical Writing: Clear, Concise, and Precise Writing

Professional & Technical Writing:
Clear, Concise, and Precise Writing
Table of Contents
About Professional & Technical Writing (PTW) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7
Dense Writing & Oppenheimer’s Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Ig Nobel Prize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Writing Clearly
Being Clear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
â§«Plain Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-12
How to Write Clearly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
â§« Active or Lazy Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
â§« Passive Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-17
â§« Passive & Active Voice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-23
â§« Topic Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-25
â§« Stress Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26-29
Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 2
Table of Contents
Writing Concisely
Being Concise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Lardy Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32-33
â§« Unnecessary Repetition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
â§« Redundant Words & Phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
â§« Dead Phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
â§« Unnecessary Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Writing Precisely
Being Precise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
â§« Low-level vs. High-level Expertise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40-41
â§« Using Terms Consistently . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
â§« Level of Specifics & Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 3
About Professional & Technical Writing (PTW)
For years, college students have been trained to write academically (i.e. essays).
They’ve written to hit a page or word count and, consequently, have resorted to BS
writing. Writing nonsense sentences, redundant writing with rephrasing and
restating what they’ve already said, just to hit an elusive number. No more!
Professional and Technical Writing is NOT Academic Writing.
Readers of PTW are BUSY! They are managers, co-workers, clients, customers, and
other busy people who don’t have time to waste wading through lardy/fluff
writing. They have better things to do and, honestly, they don’t want to read what
you’ve written – so keep documents clear, concise, and precise.
PTW readers don’t read every word of a document, they skim, they use headers,
they hunt for the information they want/need to make decisions or answer a
question. They read PTW like a newspaper. They hop around and you, as a PTW
writer always need to keep the reader in mind.
4
Flesch–Kincaid Readability Tests
Flesch-Kincaid readability tests are designed to indicate how difficult a passage in
English is to understand. There are two tests: Flesch Reading-Ease and FleschKincaid Grade Level.
The tests use algorithms to determine the number of years of education a reader
would need to understand a document.
It is these two tests that both Microsoft Word and
popular writing helper Grammarly use to determine
the readability of a document.
You can check your document’s readability in Word by
following these instructions:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/get-your-documents-readability-and-level-statistics-85b4969e-e80a-4777-8dd3-
f7fc3c8b3fd2
5
Flesch-Kincaid Scores
In the Flesch Reading-Ease test, higher scores indicate materials that are easier to
read; lower numbers mark passages that are more difficult to read.
Here’s a table to make the everything a bit easier to understand:
6
Flesch-Kincaid Scores in the World
Average Scores
• Reader’s Digest magazine = 65 → 8
th & 9th grade
• Time magazine = 52 → 10th
-12th grade
• Harvard Law Review = low 30s → college graduate
• State of Florida law requires insurance policies MUST have a
score of 45 or greater → college level
• Average for Harry Potter series = 72.83 → 7
th grade
• Highest Score: Philosopher’s Stone = 81.32 → 6
th grade
• Lowest Score: Order of the Phoenix = 65.88 → 8
th & 9th grade
7
Dense Writing & Oppenheimer’s Research
8
Ever read a published research article and
wondered what you just read? Not surprising.
Many people, particularly academics, like to write
technical and dense articles that score low on the
Flesch-Kincaid Index.
So, does dense writing help or hinder authors? Daniel Oppenheimer, a Psychology
professor at Princeton wondered also. He did some research and published his
findings in the Journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology with the title:
“Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity:
Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly”
Ig Nobel Prize
9
In 2006 Oppenheimer was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize.
These awards are given for research that first makes
people laugh, then makes them think.
Oppenheimer gave the perfect acceptance speech. Here
it is, in its entirety:
“My research shows that conciseness is interpreted
as intelligence. So, thank you.”
So, writing concisely = smart . . . and your readers will
thank you too!
Being concise is one of three concepts to achieving a
readable professional and technical style. Clarity and
preciseness are the other two.
Be Clear
10
To be clear means to be plain in what you are
writing. Be straightforward. Plain language
strives to be easy to read, understand, and use.
Plain language is so important and vital in clear
writing that laws have been written about it. In
many countries, laws mandate public agencies
use plain language to increase access to
programs and services.
The United Nations’ “Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities” includes plain
language as one of the “modes, means, and
formats of communication.”
Writing Clearly, Concisely, and Precisely:
Plain Language
11
Writings that use plain and clear language are still formal, but are easier to read
and inspire reader confidence. Clear communication improves a user’s experience
with the organization, ultimately creating trust in the company/organization.
Plain language improves efficiency and minimizes reader confusion. Here’s what
rewriting in plain language can look like:
Why Plain Language is Important
12
Today, the average U.S. adult reads at the 9th
-grade level. To ensure more citizens
can access information, many adult educators, legal writers, and social program
developers use clear and plain language when developing public documents.
In the 1970s, consumer-rights groups won legislation that required plain language in
contracts, insurance policies, and government regulations. During this same time,
American law schools began requiring students take legal writing classes that
encouraged them to use plain language as much as possible and avoid legal jargon,
except when absolutely necessary.
Presidents Nixon, Carter, Clinton, and Obama have all spoken out, written Executive
Orders, memorandums, or signed acts all centered around the need for plain
language to be used by federal agencies and in federal documents.
How to Write Clearly
13
To write clearly and plainly, you need to use:
• mostly active verbs,
• mostly active voice (but know when passive is a better choice),
• topic position
• stress position
Are your Verbs Active or Lazy?
14
Lazy verbs are generic and vague:
• The results of this study show . . .
• This study dealt with . . .
• The test involves . . .
Active verbs are specific and reveal analytical thinking:
• The results of this study challenge . . .
• This study characterizes . . .
• The test measured . . .
Here is a useful active verb list to use if you need to find the right active verb.
Are you using Passive Verbs Appropriately?
15
To be verbs are passive because they cannot convey action on a state of being:
is, are, was, were, etc.
When defining a word or something else, a passive verb is fine:
• An elephant is a large mammal with a prehensile trunk.
• A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object.
• Chemists are scientists trained in the study of chemistry.
• Customers are those currently using our services.
Are you using Passive Verbs Needlessly?
16
Needless use of passive verbs:
A new process for eliminating nitrogen oxides from diesel exhaust engines
is presented. Flow tube experiments to test this process are discussed. The
percentage decrease in nitrogen oxide emissions is revealed.
Revised with active verbs:
This paper presents a new process for eliminating nitrogen oxides from the
exhaust of diesel engines. To test this process, we performed experiments
in flow tubes. These experiments revealed a 99 percent decrease in
nitrogen oxide emissions.
Don’t confuse passive verbs with passive voice
17
Not every sentence that uses a
passive verb is in passive voice.
You should use mostly active voice
but know when passive is a better
rhetorical choice.
Active Voice
18
Active voice means the subject of a sentence is
doing the action.
• John washed the car
“John” is the subject, and he is also doing
the action.
Passive voice means the object being acted
upon is the subject and who is doing the action
is not given (or added with a “by” phrase).
• The car was washed.
The car was washed by John.
“Car” is now the subject and is doing the
action is either not given or added using
the “by” phrase.
About those Grammar Checkers . . .
19
Grammar checkers will count the number of passive verbs (is, are, were, was, etc.).
But a passive verb is not the same as passive voice.
• John is washing the car.
• The volcano is erupting.
The two sentences above use passive verbs but are in
active voice (remember, if the subject is doing the
action, it’s active).
Instead of using a grammar checker to determine if you
are writing in passive voice, try using the zombies’ test.
Zombies’ Test for Passive Voice
20
If you can add “by zombies” at the end of your sentence, it’s passive.
• The experiment was conducted in the lab.
(Is it passive?)
• The experiment was conducted in the lab
by zombies. (Yes!)
But, just because a sentence is in passive voice
doesn’t mean you should change it to active voice.
You need to know when to use mostly active voice
vs. when a passive voice is a better rhetorical
choice.
When to use passive voice
21
In professional and technical writing (and scientific writing), passive voice is
preferred when what was done is more important than who did it.
Examples:
• DNA was extracted . . .
• Test holes were bored . . .
• Samples were taken . . .
• Surveying was done . . .
When to be careful with active voice
22
When using active voice with an inanimate object, avoid the Frankenstein effect.
Reasonable:
• The oscilloscope displayed the voltage.
• The oscilloscope measured the voltage.
Not reasonable. An oscilloscope doesn’t display
or measure…It’s Alive!!!
• The oscilloscope calculated the voltage.
Are you using the topic position?
23
The beginning of a sentence or paragraph sets up
the topic, so it’s referred to as the topic position.
Readers use the topic position to get a sense of
where a sentence or paragraph is going to take
them.
If you don’t use the topic position, readers will get
lost or confused.
Try reading this
24
She first tried setting loose a team of gophers. The plan backfired when a dog
chased them away. She then entertained a group of teenagers and was delighted
when they brought their motorcycles. Unfortunately, she failed to find a Peeping
Tom. Furthermore, her stereo system was not loud enough. The crab grass might
have worked, but she didn’t have a fan that was sufficiently powerful enough to
blow the seed. She made obscene phone calls that gave her hope until the number
was changed, so she decided to hang up a clothesline. It was the installation of
blinking neon lights she bought that did the trick. She eventually framed the ad
from the classified section.
• It doesn’t make any sense, right? That’s because it needs a topic sentence.
Now try it with a topic sentence added
25
Sally disliked her neighbors and wanted them to leave the area. She first tried
setting loose a team of gophers. The plan backfired when a dog chased them away.
She then entertained a group of teenagers and was delighted when they brought
their motorcycles. Unfortunately, she failed to find a Peeping Tom. Furthermore,
her stereo system was not loud enough. The crab grass might have worked, but she
didn’t have a fan that was sufficiently powerful enough to blow the seed. She made
obscene phone calls that gave her hope until the number was changed, so she
decided to hang up a clothesline. It was the installation of blinking neon lights she
bought that did the trick. She eventually framed the ad from the classified section.
• All of the details now make sense because the topic sentence provides the point of
the paragraph.
Are you using the stress position?
26
Readers place greater emphasis on
information that is at the end of a sentence,
paragraph, or chapter.
It’s where they look to figure out the point a
writer is making. This placement is known as
the stress position or stress emphasis.
If the ending leaves readers wondering what
the sentence or paragraph means, it’s like
never arriving at a destination.
How to check the stress position
27
Look at the end of your sentences. Are the words in the stress position saying what
you want to emphasize? If not . . . trim the end!
Psychologists claim environment controls our social behavior in the
way we act in situations we are in every day.
Since “social behavior” means the way we act in situations, the words at the end
are unnecessary and throw the emphasis off in this sentence.
Dead phrases are often in the stress position
28
Job opportunities in computer programming are getting scarcer, it
must be remembered.
Dead phrases sound preachy and pompous and don’t say anything meaningful, so
remove them.
Get read of dead phrases can show up ANYWHERE in a sentence. Sometimes they
show up at the beginning of a sentence (“As stated previously,”) or clutter up the
middle.
Get rid of any dead weight in your writing.
Preposition strings make finding emphasis hard
29
The condition of the patient was documented in the patient profile written
by the nurse on duty during the after-hours shift. (22 words)
Eliminate strings of prepositions by being direct, which makes the stress position
clearer.
The after-hours nurse documented the patient’s condition in the patient
profile. (12 words)
Summary: Is your writing clear?
30
Check if you are writing:
• mostly active verbs
• mostly active voice (though you know when
passive is preferred)
• topic sentences
• and check if what you want to emphasize
(your point) is in the stress position
Be Concise
31
To be concise means to be brief (of short length)
yet still comprehensive (containing all
information). So, how do you do both things?
Write only the words necessary to meet your
audience needs and your purpose for writing.
No more. No less.
One of the biggest obstacles to developing a
concise writing style is padding your sentences
with lard.
Writing Clearly, Concisely, and Precisely:
Lard’s great for cooking, not writing
32
Lard in cooking can add to the flavor and taste of a dish, in writing . . . not so much.
Padding sentences with words or phrases that don’t contribute to meaning is lardy
writing.
Yes, but we only eat
it, we NEVER write it.
We love lard!
What causes lard?
33
In professional and technical writing, your
reader is busy! So wading through lardy
language hurts your credibility as a writer. Get
to the point, tell the busy reader what they
need to know, and move on!
The most common reason students develop the habit of writing lard is trying to
reach word or page counts.
When teachers state a word or page count, they are telling you how much
development within your writing is expected. Filling a page with redundancies and
lardy language just makes your main point or argument harder to locate and/or
follow. It hurts your writing and it’s a bad habit.
Eliminate Unnecessary Repetition
34
Look for any words or phrases you have repeated and think about whether the
repetition is serving a purpose or if it’s just padding.
Example of Unnecessary Repetition:
• The length of the transistor is related to its junction depth. The junction
depth can be reduced by lowering the implant energy.
Revised to eliminate Unnecessary Repetition:
• The length of the transistor is related to its junction depth, which can be
reduced by lowering the implant energy.
Eliminate Redundant Words and Phrases
35
already existing
alternative choices
at the present time presently
basic fundamentals
currently at this time
completely eliminate
continue to remain
had done previously
introduced a new
mix together
now at this time
private industry
the reason being because
silver in color
start out
still persists
whether or not
first began
period of time
empty space
This is not a comprehensive list, so carefully check your own writing.
Are you writing dead phrases?
36
A dead phrase has a pompous tone and is
not saying anything necessary. Here are
some examples:
• it is my intent to show
• as a matter of fact
• as is well known
• as stated earlier (or previously)
• it is noteworthy
• it goes without saying
• to begin/in conclusion
And many other phrases . . .
R I P
Dead
Phrases
Are you writing unnecessary modifiers?
37
In professional and technical writing,
unnecessary modifiers are too vague.
But, they may be useful in other types
of writing such as academic essays.
So, if you are analyzing your prior
writing for unnecessary modifiers,
keep the purpose and genre of your
writing in mind.
Examples (not all of them):
• Actually
• Really
• Basically
• Very
• Definitely
• Somewhat
• Probably
• Extremely
• Practically
Summary: Is your writing concise?
38
Check your writing for:
• Lardy language
• Redundant words and phrases
• Dead phrases
• Unnecessary modifiers
Be Precise
39
To be precise means to be exact and accurate. In
technical writing, how precise you need to be is based
on the audience you are writing for.
• When writing to audiences with a low-level of
technical expertise, do not use technical
terminology that is so exact the audience would
not understand what you mean.
AND
• When writing to an audience with a high level of
technical expertise, use technical terminology
that is more accurate than common words and
phrases.
Writing Clearly, Concisely, and Precisely:
Low-level expertise = less precise language
40
A bid proposal to homeowners about the cost of
paving their driveway would not use these technical
terms:
• The cost to pave your driveway using a mix of
aggregate bonded with calcium to form a
agglomerate will be . . .
The word “concrete” is precise enough.
So consider who your audience is and how precise
you really need to be.
High-level expertise = more precise language
41
Needs to be more precise:
• Our research presents a new technique for
studying the complex phenomena associated with
the development of sparks and other gas
discharges.
Audiences with a high-level of technical expertise
would question why the author is conflating sparks
and gas discharges because these are different, so the
writing is not precise.
Gas discharge vs. spark
Are you using terms consistently?
42
Although young drivers say they believe that distracted driving is a problem, our
tests revealed that over 90% of teenage drivers still engage in distracted driving
behaviors. The objective of this study was to survey the effectiveness of involving
students in the production of public service announcements (PSA). The PSAs were
aimed at changing the disconnect between what drivers say they believe and what
they do. Our experiment revealed that when students produced PSAs, these
announcements were more effective in changing this disconnect.
• Was it a test, study, survey, or an experiment?
• Were they young drivers, teenage drivers, all drivers, or just students?
NOTE: In some disciplines the word “study” refers to all of the research that was done and the
methodology then names the specific type of research that was done (i.e. a test or experiment etc.).
Level of specifics and detail
43
To determine if specifics and details are at the right level, you need to think about
audience and your purpose for writing.
Example:
A mailing address is specific and contains the details necessary for someone to
send you mail or a package.
The specifics and details of a mailing address, however, may not be specific enough
for someone to locate your cubicle or office on the 64th floor of an office building,
in the southeast corner by the elevator.
Different audiences — Different purposes — Different needs.
Summary: Is your writing precise?
44
Check :
• If you are writing technical terminology
appropriate to the audience’s level of
technical expertise.
• If you are being consistent I using terminology.
• If the level of specifics and details are
appropriate to meet audience needs and your
purpose for writing.
Presentation adapted from “ENGL 317 ADA Project 1 Slidedoc 2” created by Karen Thompson at the University
of Idaho, Accessed 11, April 2021. https://www.slideshare.net/thompsonkaren/engl-317-ada-project-1-
slidedoc-2
45

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