Technical letters are used for communicating scientific or engineering results that are limited in scope. The letters may describe a single experiment or investigation of which the results need to be rapidly communicated. Technical letters are a common form of communication for engineers or scientists in industry. Technical letters can also be used for undergraduate laboratory report writing in which a less formal presentation is appropriate. This chapter describes the organization and basic format of a technical letter. Two examples of letter reports are given at the end of the chapter.

Organization

Organization of the letter should begin with why the letter is being written, conclusions of the investigation, and what actions the recipient needs to address. This first paragraph is sometimes called an action summary. The body of the letter should support the conclusions and recommended actions. The letter can be organized into three levels of presentation. At the first level, the first paragraph and the figures provide the necessary information to understand the conclusions and recommendations of the investigation. Figure captions must be informative and summarize the findings presented in the figures. At this level, a supervisor can ascertain with minimal reading the major findings of the investigation. The body of the letter should provide greater depth. There should be a summarizing paragraph at the end of the letter. Appendices, where calculations, derivations, and special test procedures are presented, constitute a third portion. Information in the appendices should be supplemental and referenced in the text.

The ability to communicate clearly is the most important skill engineers and scientists can have. Their best work will be lost if it is not communicated effectively. In this chapter, elements of the technical style of writing are examined. Technical writing differs in presentation and tone from other styles of writing; these differences are described first. The most important elements of the technical writing style to be discussed are conciseness and unambiguity. The chapter ends with a discussion of proofreading and some helpful hints in developing technical writing skills.

Presentation and Tone

Technical communication differs from fiction in many ways. In mystery novels the reader is kept in suspense because the writer has hidden important clues that are explained at the end of the story to produce a surprise. In contrast, the readers of technical writing are given the important conclusions at the beginning, followed by evidence supporting those conclusions. The following example illustrates the difference. The simple question Do we have any mail today? can be answered by a man sitting on his porch in two ways.

He could say: “I got up out of my chair and sauntered out to the mailbox. I looked up before opening the box and saw the mailman going down the street past our house. When I opened the mailbox there was nothing in it, so I don't think we'll have any mail today.”

There is an excellent (and humorous) book, Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss (2003) that gives British rules for punctuation. The title emphasizes the importance of punctuation. The meaning of the title would be completely changed if the comma after Eats were omitted. Some excellent resources for American punctuation rules are Webster's Standard American Style Manual (1985) and The ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors and Editors (Dodd 1986). The following is a brief summary of punctuation that should serve as a starting point.

Commas

Commas have several uses. One is to substitute for and or or in a list of nouns. For example, The experiment required a volt meter, some wire, an oscilloscope, and a battery or The alloy usually contains aluminum, titanium, or niobium. Commas are also used with lists of adjectives. For example, The flag was red, white, and blue. The comma before the final and or or is called the serial comma. Americans tend to use the serial comma, whereas the British do not. The writer should pick one usage and be consistent.

Commas are also used to join separate clauses. The volt meter was read after one minute, and the reading was recorded.

Pairs of commas are used around a parenthetical comment such as The engineer, a graduate of Cal Tech, was very clever or The author, L. H. Van Vlack, wrote many other texts.

This chapter is an introduction to statistical analysis. Reporting of average values relative to a trend line does not convey the significance of a measurement. Calculation of uncertainty or confidence levels is required. This chapter discusses Gaussian and Weibull distributions, which are the two most commonly used in science and engineering. The chapter concludes with a discussion of uncertainty analysis where reported values and confidence levels depend on one or more measured quantities. This chapter is not meant to be a complete work on statistical analysis. It should, however, provide the necessary background for undergraduate students to include statistical analysis when writing lab reports. The professional may also find this chapter a useful resource when writing technical reports.

Errors and Calibration

Random and systematic are the two principal types of errors that occur during experimental measurements. Random errors, sometimes called accidental errors, may be introduced by variations in the instruments or by the person making the measurement. For random errors, positive and negative deviations occur with equal probability. If the measurements are biased toward either positive or negative deviations, then a systematic error may be present. Either the instrument or the person making the measurement can introduce both random and systematic errors. When random errors occur, a statistical analysis of the measurements is often used to determine the precision or uncertainty of the measurement. Accuracy of the measurement can only be determined by measuring a standard of known value.

The purpose of a resumé is to obtain a job. Only a small fraction of resumés result in job interviews. The reader of resumés spends an average of 30 seconds on each one. To be successful, a resumé should be short, with the important information listed first. It should be well organized and neat. Often a resumé is tailored to a specific job, which would require rewriting the resumé for each new position.

Organization

The first step is to gather the pertinent information and organize it. Then this information should be divided into headings such as Personal Information, Work Experience, Education, Skills, Honors, and Activities.

Personal Information

The person's name, without titles, should appear at the top of the page in a larger font than the rest of the document; use this larger size type for the headings as well. Next list home address, phone numbers, email address, and fax number (if applicable). Citizenship may be listed, but this is not required. Personal information such as age, sex, and general health need not be listed either.

Work Experience

Experience includes full-time and part-time jobs, internships, academic research positions, and volunteer work. List the employer, with months and years worked, position title, and responsibilities. For example, Sam's Café, September 2005 to June 2006, waiter or ABC Chemicals, June to August 2005, summer intern, preparing special orders. Jobs should be listed in reverse chronological order, with the most recent first.

This chapter covers some basic guidelines for presenting technical data. Tables, schematic drawings, photographs, and graphs quickly convey technical information and experimental results. A well-prepared table or figure immediately describes the significance of the work and provides a useful tool for the reader. Preparing tables and figures should be treated with the same care as writing a resumé. Technical reports are often the basis of patents, and the use of the standard international system of units (SI) is required for foreign and domestic patent applications. Appendix IV gives the international system of prefixes and units. Use of SI units is recommended, but the author should report in units and symbols most appropriate for the subject and the audience. Common uses of the Greek alphabet are provided in Appendix V. Results can also be reported using multiple units. This chapter also provides guidance for preparing graphs with multiple scales in different units.

Tables

Tables are helpful for presenting and archiving experimental data. Unlike graphs, tables preserve exact numbers for future analysis. Tables should be sequentially numbered (often with Roman numerals) in the order of presentation in the text. Alphanumeric numbering is used in long reports that are broken into sections. Each table should have a simple title at the top. Tables should be incorporated into the body of the text as soon as convenient after they are referred to (they should not be placed in the middle of a paragraph unless the paragraph breaks across pages), or they can be grouped at the end of the report.

At some point in the career of every scientist and engineer, they will be asked to present their findings to an audience of peers or a group of investors. In both cases, the purpose of the presentation is to sell ideas to the audience. Effective presentations maintain the attention of the audience. This chapter provides some basic guidelines for preparing an effective oral presentation.

Assessing the Audience

In planning an oral presentation, it is important to consider the knowledge level of the audience. Usually there is a wide discrepancy between backgrounds of different people. A talk should begin by telling the audience something they already know and then gradually work up to new material. A speaker should not try to impress the audience with his or her knowledge, since that will turn off most listeners. It is better to give a general talk that 95 percent of the audience can understand than an in-depth talk that only one or two people can comprehend. The number of equations in the presentation should be limited. Most audiences cannot digest more than three equations. Trying to cover too much material in the allotted time is a common mistake. A presentation should be pared down to one main theme.

Organization

Presentations must be carefully planned and organized to finish in time so that the audience can ask questions. Using too little time is preferable to using too much time.

Technical papers are a principal means of communicating within the scientific community. They are gener- ally archival in nature and follow prescribed formats dependent on the journal or publisher. Laboratory instructors may require a format similar to a technical journal, and students will find this chapter useful in preparing their technical reports. Corporations and government agencies may have different requirements; these are not addressed here. This chapter describes various formats and describes how the general subsections – abstract, background, experimental procedures, results, discussion, summary, acknowledgments, and references – should be written.

Format

There are various formats that can be used for technical papers. The format should use headings and subheadings that divide the text into convenient portions. Formats are designed for optimum communication to the reader and can provide easily recognizable locations in the text to which the reader can return after interruption. Also, important results can be associated with specific headings, helping the reader find information of interest. Although no set format is best for all technical reports, all formats require concise but complete documentation.

A simple format for a technical paper or report contains the following: title, abstract, introduction, results, discussion, conclusions, acknowledgments, references, and appendices. The title page contains the title of the paper and the authors' names and affiliations. Any figures and tables should be incorporated into the body of the text as soon after they are referred to as is convenient, or they can be collected at the end of the report.

This brief guide was written for science and engineering students and professionals to help them communicate technical information clearly, accurately, and effectively. The focus is on the most common communication forms and the most common issues that arise in classroom and professional practice.

Freshman chemistry or physics will be the introduction to technical report writing for many college students. The format for writing these laboratory reports is most often specified by the instructor. This guide will be useful in developing a good technical writing style and for preparing tables and figures for those reports. Upper-level courses often use the same formatting as is required for submission to technical journals or for technical report writing, which is the focus of this book. Graduate students and professionals encounter many of the same problems in technical communication. Good communication skills are required in all forms of technical writing and presentation. This book is designed to help the reader develop effective communication skills and to be a reference on stylistic and grammar issues. Unlike most texts on writing style, this book also treats oral presentations, graphing, and analysis of data.

The authors' intention is to give the reader the basics of technical communication in the first chapter and then to treat in detail the various forms of technical communication. The structure of the book is as follows:

1. Chapter 1 provides a general discussion of technical communication.

2. Chapter 2 covers writing technical reports and archival papers.

3. Chapter 3 discusses writing letter reports, which are common in industry.

4. Chapter 4 gives general guidelines for oral presentations.

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