Understanding your audience often discussed as one of the most important steps of the communication process; however, it is often the least well practiced and understood stage as well, largely because most documents (or other forms of communication) have multiple audiences, with multiple needs. In her Strategic Communication Framework, Debbie …
A systematic process can significantly improve your communication practices and outcomes, especially in technical communication contexts. In this short video, Debbie Davy briefly outlines the need for and describes her Strategic Communication Framework. Her framework was presented in depth at the IEEE PCS Conference in Limerick, Ireland in July 2015, …
Melissa Clarkson
Think about the last time you began to prepare a formal presentation for a group. There is a good chance the presentation included slides. If you were not reusing an old set of slides, you probably opened up PowerPoint or Keynote, picked a template, …
Three key practices for getting to know and really communicating with your team members
In my last post, I spoke about engineers’ and engineering students’ bias towards seeing ‘what’ their team members produce as opposed to ‘who’ their team members are and ‘how’ they can contribute …
Yvonne Cleary and Darina Slattery of the University of Limerick present the finding of their research into communication strategies in virtual teams, identifying common problems, and strategies for improving group communication in virtual spaces. Their talk was delivered at the IEEE PCS Conference in Limerick, …
Derek Ross of Auburn University gives us an overview of his Lufkin Award (2015) winning paper, “Conversations about place: Dialogic ethics and land ethics in technical communication,” co-authored with Russell Willerton, of Boise State University. Here, he defines land ethics, and discusses how they might …
Brian Price, Lecturer at Aston University, UK, explores the metaphor of the “information onion” in technical and engineering communication, which helps reveal important strategies for effectively delivering and designing information for your readers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5COPk-bwX0
His talk on “Peeling Back the Layers of the Information Onion: Using Complex Layered Visuals for …
Dr. Alex Ilyasova, Director of the Professional and Technical Writing Program at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, defines emotional intelligence and describes the important role that it plays in engineering work, particularly in communication within teams.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0Ynt3pzjpQ
Her research on this topic was delivered at the IEEE …
By Pat Truman
Three years ago…and I still remember four simple words a presenter said to me after his presentation. His efforts had engaged us for 90 minutes. We’d learned a lot. Our enthusiasm was audible. The session had flown by. I shook his hand and …
By Laurence Anthony
How many times have you seen a smoothly delivered presentation with great slides and a clear and logical structure suddenly becoming disappointing or disastrous during the Q&A? Everyone has experienced a presentation Q&A session in which an over- enthusiastic presenter dives in with …
