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• Technical communication


  A field that provides information to users who need assistance to accomplish a defined goal or task
• Technical communication


  • The focus is to assist users who need specific information on using products, completing tasks, operating equipment, and completing other types of activities
• Flow of communication


  1. Sender-Encoding the message

  2.Channel

  3. Barrier

  4. Receiver-Decoding the message
• Engineering work is critically dependent upon communication skills
• Engineering communication skills


  Essential for presenting concepts and designs, and critical to the engineering design process
• Engineers with the ability to clearly communicate can confidently present their ideas to decision-makers in presentations, meetings, and reports
• Graduate engineers spend

  25-50% Problem solving of some kind

  50-75% of their time communicating (writing and reading reports, letters, memos, proposals, presentations, discussions with colleagues, managers, clients)
• Five general types of communications for engineering

  • Problem Sets- calculations that you turn in for your homework sets
  • Oral Reports-write formal reports,include milestone and design reports,lab reports
  • Lab and Design Notebooks- written records of lab reports and design development
  • Graphical Presentation of Technical Material- learn techniques of graphing data,measurements and equation: how to choose coordinates,labels,and symbols,learn to make engineering drawing
• Oral presentations and written reports

  Differ in terms of linearity, pace control, message presentation, audience engagement, and feedback
• The form of scientific communication follows its function
• The grammar of scientific communication also follows its function
• Good technical writing practices

  • Planning
  • Clarity
  • Brevity
  • Simplicity
  • Word Choice
  • Active Voice
  • Committing to Writing as a Process
• Examples of needless complexity in technical writing

  • Nouns: utilization, functionality
  • Verbs: facilitate, finalize
  • Adjectives: aforementioned, individualized
  • Adverbs: firstly, secondly, heretofore
• Elements of effective oral presentations

  • Audience Analysis
  • Time & Focus
  • Organization
  • Practice
• Audience analysis for oral presentations

  Considering purpose, desired change in audience, their knowledge, their wants, and what will interest them
• Audience Analysis


  Determining the purpose, knowledge, wants, and interests of the audience
• Audience Analysis


  1. What is your purpose?

  2. What change in the audience do you want to effect?

  3. What do they know?

  4. What some of them do not know?

  5. What do they want?

  6. What will interest them?
• Communication skills


  Abilities to give and receive information effectively
• Types of communication skills

  • Verbal communication
  • Nonverbal communication
  • Written communication
  • Visual communication
• Verbal communication


  • Involves the spoken word, including tone, diction, and pacing
• Nonverbal communication


  • Involves body language, including posture, eye contact, gestures, handshakes, and facial expressions
• Written communication


  • Involves the written word, including letters/emails, notes, or texts
• Visual communication


  • Delivers information, points and messages by graphical representations or visual aids, such as slide presentations, physical models, drawings or illustrations
• Tips for improving communication skills

  • Consider your audience
  • Study nonverbal cues
  • Ask questions
  • Watch and learn
  • Get feedback
  • Be deliberate
  • Practice
• Conflict management


  Facing and resolving conflicts that arise in the workplace
• Constructive conflict management techniques

  • Always being open for discussion
  • Remaining unbiased
  • Addressing issues immediately
  • Actively listening before a response
  • Optimism
  • Effective negotiation
  • Solution-based strategic thinking
• Conflict resolution


  The ability to see and address both parts of a conflict and come to a solution that satisfies everyone to some degree
• Conflict resolution skills


  • Active listening
  • Nonverbal translator
  • Leadership
  • Teamwork
  • Neutral impartiality
  • Emotional stability
  • Patience and calm demeanor
  • Respect
• Emotional stability


  • If you're a "hot head" or are easily upset and enraged, then conflict resolution is probably not going to be something you can do
• Patience and calm demeanor


  • If a conflict gets heated, it can't get solved without someone who not only has emotional stability but can practice it with patience and a calming manner
• Respect


  • Even if others are being downright rude or ridiculous, a good leader will show them respect
• Steps for conflict resolution

  1. Clarify the problem

  2. Look beyond the conflict

  3. Establish a goal

  4. Identify possible solutions

  5. Make an agreement
• Active listening


  A process of connection where both the speaker and listener can leave the interaction feeling satisfied with their understanding
• Active listening skills


  • Giving your undivided attention to the speaker
  • Paying attention to nonverbal cues
  • Making eye contact
  • Repeating points for clarification
  • Asking questions
• Some ways you can practice active listening include: pay attention, keep an open mind, don't interrupt, ask questions when appropriate, summarize, work on empathy, don't forget non-verbals
• Reliability


  • Your team needs to know wholeheartedly that they can rely on you
  • Being a reliable part of a team means accomplishing the job requirements and finishing assignments before their deadline
• 5 common qualities of dependable and reliable people

  • Their word is gold
  • They take responsibility for their actions
  • They're flexible when needed
  • They're honest with the people around them
  • Their goals are a priority
• Respectfulness


  • Being respectful to everyone at your job makes for a much more comfortable work environment
• Ability to build rapport


  • Rapport in your professional life can be summed up as working in productive harmony with your supervisor and coworkers
  • Techniques for building rapport include: maintaining eye contact, friendliness, being honest, asking coworkers questions about themselves, finding commonalities, displaying empathy and interest, following up on past conversations
• Accountability


  • The willingness to accept responsibility for your actions
  • Accountability is the foundation for a culture of trust, cooperation, and responsibility
  • Accountable individuals often prioritize the success of the team over themselves