Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Are you a technical communicator?

Please comment on an instance in which you have communicated "technical" information to a non-expert audience. How did your knowledge of your audience affect the piece of communication (a document, video, verbal presentation, etc.) you produced?

16 comments:

  1. This summer I was working at a computer repair shop. Many of the costumers would ask questions which seemed more or less obvious to me so to answer them I would have to show them how to do things step by step and explain what I'm doing along the way.

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  2. I grew up on a farm that had animals ranging from barn cats to roping horses. I showed dairy goats around New Mexico and in Colorado. Every year at the New Mexico State Fair people always had questions about the different breeds of goat, lifespan, gestation period, milk, show techniques and so on. A lot of people really had no idea that there could be so much to a goat. It was fun to educate the curious non-expert audience about my animals. Knowing that my audience had little to no knowledge about dairy goats, I would usually give basic information first and then elaborate if they wanted to know more.

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  3. I have been working at the Registrar's Office this summer. We are typically the first office that new students visit due to our accessability. However, there are numerous steps for new students to complete before registering in our office. International students were particularly difficult to sort out. Once, a new international student came in to the office, placed his passport and visa on the desk, and told me he was here to register. I had to explain that he had about four other offices to visit, and they each had to make changes to his account before he could successfully register for classes. It is important to be a clear communicator in the office, otherwise the students get pretty confused.

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  4. Quite a few years ago, I worked at a children's summer camp (day care). One day, we were in desperate need of an arts and crafts project, so, because I know a thing or two about the ancient craft of Origami, I volunteered my services. Each of the "campers" received a square of paper, and I was frustrated and confused when no one began folding the paper correctly, based on my instructions. The problem was that I was using lingo such as "diagonal fold both ways" that my audience was unfamiliar with. I had to dumb down the instructions and provide a better visual aid- a much larger piece of paper- for the class to understand me.

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  5. Despite the popular conception of chess players as attractive, athletic go-getters just bursting with social acumen, my high school chess club failed to attract very many members once the older members had graduated. This left me in charge of educating potential members (along with the inexperienced coach) in the fine points of tournament play. Before competing, students needed to know not only the basic rules of the game; they also must know how to record a game in progress with algebraic notation, how to set a chess clock for a specific time control, and other fine points of etiquette in the tournament hall.

    My own familiarity with these matters, combined with limited teaching experience, made it difficult to communicate effectively with the uninitiated. What I described in a single phrase (e.g., "Capture en passant") was actually a complex action requiring several discrete steps. Because I did not take into account the limited knowledge of my audience, it is very likely that otherwise-interested students left the club with a false idea of chess players--that they are skinny little nerds, preoccupied with technicalities and jargon.

    Thank goodness I'd already lost my pocket protector.

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  6. This summer I was an engineering intern at Wilson a Company. Occasionally I would get to go on-site to do a field review of various quantities. During the reviews I would encounter various residents that were curious about what was doing. Understanding that my worksite is their home, I was able to tell people about what I was doing in a way that everyone could understand.

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  7. The summer before last I was asked to create a presentation for a superior's approval showing the basic function of my design project. Instead of giving figures like yield strengths of metals and shear stresses I described the basic concept of the design showing how it worked and how it improved safety.

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  8. During my senior year of high school, I was working at a veterinary hospital as a kennel technician. When I quit, I needed to train another girl for the job. I had to explain all about taking care of the sick animals and about the office work she would need to do.

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  9. I often student-teach at the dance school I attend, helping out with the beginning class. In order to describe the dances and steps, I have to break them down into individual movements with clear counts, rather than the larger sets of movements that would work when communicating with more advanced dancers. Even more importantly, my approach has to be tailored to the age group each student belongs to. The terminology that I can use efficiently with a group of older beginners is not the same as the vocabulary needed to communicate with a group of 3 - 5 year olds. Also, younger kids often get distracted easily and start chatting, therefore requiring a louder voice to keep their attention than would be needed for students above the age of 10. Thus, my presentation style and content are affected greatly by the characteristics of my audience.

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  10. I was teaching my friends how to tie in to their harnesses before doing some pretty high climbing. I used a nice rhyme and some climbing jargon while explaining: make a guy, give him a tie, poke him in the eye, put the rope through the tie in loops, then follow the knot around to make a double figure eight. They looked at me with glazed eyes. I had to show them, and with one friend, tie their knot to make sure it was correct because a fall could be pretty bad.

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  11. Last semester a friend was taking PChem lab and often needed help with the harder parts of writing the Excel formulas for the data analysis section of the lab. I had already taken the lab so I remembered basically what he needed to do with the data and was able to help him rewrite the Excel formulas. His version of Excel was different than mine so it was hard to describe what to do but it involved discussion of what needed to be done and then step by step explanation with me looking over his shoulder as he worked making sure it was done right. Some things are too hard to explain with words and just need examples and help.

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  12. A year or two ago I was trying to help my brother in his high school Calculus 1 class. I lost him somewhere between the Product Rule and the Chain Rule. Unfortunately, my use of higher mathematical jargon confused him. I had to tone down my use of technical terminology for him to understand what I was trying to explain.

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  13. I worked as an assistant manager for Vector Marketing this summer. As an AM, one of my main duties was to make sure others could do their jobs effectively. I had to change the way I described separate tasks depending on the person I talked to. Tasks such as explaining parts of products or certain lines that our employees say. Where I felt the most technical communication was when I had to give them directions over the phone on how to present material while they were in a demo.

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  15. I am a member of a forum website for stencil artwork. The website provides a place for discussion and help with stencils and stencil related related issues. As someone that has some experience, I can give advice, tips, and help to people in that environment.

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  16. About a year ago i had an aside job; to tutor math for my school, and most of the time i was getting a little carried away while doing demonstrations and used mahematical terms that were a little advanced for their levels.

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