Read chapter 1 in Markel’s Technical Communication, 11e

Overview

You may have heard the terms “business writing,” “technical writing,” and “professional writing.” These types of writing fall under the domain of technical communication, which is the subject of this course. This activity, “Is it tech comm?” familiarizes you with the concepts and forms of technical communication.

The Society for Technical Communication (STC), the worlds largest and oldest professional organization for technical communicators, defines tech comm as any form of communication that exhibits one or more of the following characteristics:

Communicating about technical or specialized topics, such as computer applications, medical procedures, or environmental regulations.

Communicating by using technology, such as web pages, help files, or social media sites.

Providing instructions about how to do something, regardless of how technical the task is or even if technology is used to create or distribute that communication.

What to do

1. Use this Adobe Is It Tech Comm worksheet to help you define and analyze examples of technical communication based on the definition from the Society for Technical Communication and Markels Six Characteristics of a Technical Document.