Mike Markel - Practical Strategies for Technical Communication with 2020 APA Update: A Brief Guide

The photo on the front cover shows a laptop, a pair of on-ear headphones, a cell phone, a hard disk, a USB drive, a tablet, and a notebook computer.

Text on the back cover reads, The best-selling concise guide to technical communication

As you enter the working world, youll need to keep pace with successful strategies for communication, whether that communication is happening through chat, email, or media, or across cultures or across the hall. Practical Strategies for Technical Communication is here to help, with a concise, accessible guide to everything you need to know about considering your audience, document design, research, and style.

LaunchPad with Learning Curve. What can LaunchPad do for you?

launchpadworks.com

Engage. Practice. Learn. With an interactive e-book, tutorials, Cases, Document Analysis Activities, and adaptive quizzes, LaunchPad helps you get the most out of your course. Students can purchase access to LaunchPad for Practical Strategies for Technical Communication, Third Edition, at launchpadworks.com. To order or purchase the print book packaged with LaunchPad, use ISBN 978-1-319-22438-7.

Visit macmillanlearning.com to explore additional resources to help you achieve morein the classroom and beyond.

The spine of the book consists of the title of the book, edition, and the names of the authors.

ISBN: 9781319104320

The text reads, Get the most out of your book with LaunchPad for Practical Strategies for Technical Communication, Third Edition.

LaunchPad Learning Curve with the logo. Where Students Learn

LaunchPad for Practical Strategies for Technical Communication, Third Edition, provides new ways to engage with your course. Read the interactive e-book, watch video, track assignments, and practice skills. Features include:

Interactive exercises and tutorials for reading, writing, and research

LearningCurve, offering adaptive, game-like practice

Cases and Document Analysis Activities to help apply the concepts in a chapter

If Practical Strategies for Technical Communication did not come packaged with an access code, students can purchase access at launchpadworks.com.

The first section in the table of contents is titled Thinking Visually.

Characteristics of a Technical Document 9

Measures of Excellence in Technical Documents 10

Principles for Ethical Communication 30

Advantages and Disadvantages of Collaboration 34

Determining the Important Characteristics of Your Audience 56

Characteristics of an Effective Graphic 195

Delivering the Presentation 442

The second section in the table of contents is titled Choices and Strategies.

Responding to Readers Attitudes 53

Choosing Appropriate Research Techniques 78

Choosing Types of Questions for Questionnaires 97

Choosing Effective Organizational Patterns 104

Creating Navigation Aids 158

Choosing the Appropriate Kind of Graphic 206

Choosing a Type of Correspondence 237

Choosing the Appropriate Type of Definition 385

The third section in the table of contents is titled Ethics Notes.

Distinguishing Plagiarism from Acceptable Reuse of

Information 23

Pulling Your Weight on Collaborative Projects 38

Maintaining a Professional Presence Online 45

Meeting Your Readers Needs Responsibly 69

Reporting and Analyzing Data Honestly 99

Avoiding Burying Bad News in Paragraphs 111

Euphemisms and Truth Telling 139

Using Type Sizes Responsibly 168

Designing Legal and Honest Online Documents 187

Creating Honest Graphics 198

Writing Honest Business Correspondence 240

Writing Honest Job-Application Materials 265

Writing Honest Proposals 299

Reporting Your Progress Honestly 323

Presenting Honest Recommendations 344

Ensuring Your Readers Safety 405

Answering Questions Honestly 445

The fourth section is titled DOCUMENT ANALYSIS ACTIVITIES

Presenting Guidelines for Using Social Media 29

Critiquing a Draft Clearly and Diplomatically 41

Examining Cultural Variables in a Business Letter 65

Evaluating Information from Internet Sources 89

Revising for Conciseness and Simplicity 144

Analyzing a Page Design 179

Analyzing a Graphic 221

Analyzing an Interactive Graphic 222

Following Netiquette in an Email Message 254

Preparing a Rsum 280

Analyzing an Online Portfolio 281

Writing the Proposed Program 302

Proposal Delivered as a Prezi Presentation 303

Report Presented as a Website 319

Interactive Graphic 319

Writing a Persuasive Directive 320

Analyzing an Executive Summary 355

Recommendations Presented as a Video 356

Presenting Clear Instructions 416

Mechanism Description Using Interactive Graphics 417

Process Description Using Video Animation 417

Instructions Using Video Screen Capture 417

Instructions Using a Combination of Video Demonstration and Screen Capture 417

Definition Using Video Animation 417

Integrating Graphics and Text on a Presentation Slide 439

The fifth section is titled Checklists.

Ethical and Legal Obligations 31

Collaboration 47

Audience and Purpose 71

Research 99

Organization, Coherence, and Style 145

Designing Print and Online Documents 190

Graphics 230

Correspondence 257

Job-Application Materials 287

Proposals 315

Informational Reports 337

Recommendation Reports 381

Definitions, Descriptions, and Instructions 419

Speakers Preparation 446.

Missing something? Instructors may assign the online materials that accompany this text. For access to them, visit launchpadworks.com.

Document-based cases are presented online, where you can familiarize yourself with each scenario, download and work with related documents, and access assignment questions in a single space.

• CASE 1: Using the Measures of Excellence in Evaluating a Rsum
• CASE 2: The Ethics of Requiring Students To Subsidize a Plagiarism-Detection Service
• CASE 3: Accommodating a Team Members Scheduling Problems
• CASE 4: Focusing on an Audiences Needs and Interests
• CASE 5: Revising a Questionnaire
• CASE 6: Emphasizing Important Information in a Technical Description
• CASE 7: Designing a Flyer
• CASE 8: Creating Appropriate Graphics To Accompany a Report
• CASE 9: Setting Up and Maintaining a Professional Microblog Account
• CASE 10: Identifying the Best-of-the-Best Job-Search Sites
• CASE 11: Revising a Brief Proposal
• CASE 12: Writing a Directive
• CASE 13: Analyzing Decision Matrices
• CASE 14: Choosing a Medium for Presenting Instructions
• CASE 15: Understanding the Claim-and-Support Structure for Presentation Graphics

Document-Based Cases for Technical Communication, Second Edition, by Roger Munger, features seven realistic scenarios in which you can practice workplace writing skills.