Professional and Technical Communicator
Artifacts
A Few Examples of My Skills
Design
Technical Communication Club Handout
It was a priority to first meet with our client and learn about the purpose and occasions of use for the documents we designed. It was important for us to consider the environment in which the documents would be used before we made smaller decisions about the graphics, color, and typeface.
The size and material we chose for the TCC handouts was important because these handouts will be passed out to students. We printed our handouts on card stock, so they appear more authentic, official, and less disposable. Students receive many flyers and handouts that are just thrown away because these printer-paper documents seem disposable. We also chose card stock because it is less likely to rip or crumple when put into a backpack which preserves both the quality and message of the handout.
Editing
Training Manual & Business Summary
Training Manual
Comprehensively we edited the document to be in chronological order for the newly hired employee. We did this because the newly hired employee was expected to learn items in a certain order. This also allows for easy revisiting and retraining of employees. We also updated the manual to include and remove menu items. The manual was not updated on what was and was not available at Caffé Torino. With the addition and removal of menu items we sorted the list into alphabetical order for easy reference.
For copy editing we ensured words were properly capitalized and abbreviated. This provides consistency and efficiency for employees. We also included accents for menu items where the employer wanted us to include them. This provides a transition for newly hired employees to start referring to items that the employer wants them to spell a certain way.
For design we incorporated white space in areas that required careful reading. White space allows the users’ eye to take a break and process what was read, so employing this is an effort to not overwhelm the user with information. Finally, we differentiated processes and lists by designing them accordingly. Processes were formatted with numbers to illicit steps to perform an action. Lists, on the other hand, were formatted with bullet points and an increased amount of leading between items. This showed relation through alignment and not through hierarchy.
Business Summary
This is an example of feedback editing. I have done this for my Teaching Assistant job that is listed on my resume and for friends and family.
For feedback editing I suggest design, grammar, and other comprehensive related issues such as headings and voice. This way of editing allows the author to continue their control over their document while receiving important feedback from an outside party. This also helps to encourage continual learning for your organization and keeps employees accountable for their work.
This is my preferred method of editing because it allows growth, opportunity, and genuine ownership of a document.
Leadership
Various Team Projects
I was a leader in majority of the team projects during my educational career. I took a director role for a document design project, and I took a compilation role during a research project.
One of my most recent experiences was when I worked with three other students and we created four documents for the Utah State University Technical Communication Club. I suggested that we begin by writing a list of what technical communication means. Teamwork and collaboration were some of the first skills we listed. From there we decided on the core shape of the documents, a hexagon. A hexagon is associated with bees that work together to create a hive and prosper from one another. Technical communicators are similar in the fact that we thrive and prosper based on interactions with one another. This exercise helped to generate a common meaning and thread for the basis of our project. Unfortunately this exercise sheet was lost but the influence still remains.
Another example of my leadership skills is my ability to take information from multiple members and gather it all into one document and edit it, I call this compilation. For this skill I use the final report for a team based research project about a fraternity's website. Each section was written by a different member of the team as we conducted the research. Once all of them were written and revised in separate documents I compiled and reviewed it for clarity, accuracy, and grammar once again as a whole document.
Lastly, I was the project manager for a team based project that worked with the Utah State University. This project was sensitive because it worked with survivors of sexual abuse. I integrated design skills by including the graphic and associated colors with the "Start by Believing" campaign. Before submission we read the proposal aloud specifically looking for grammar mistakes, active voice, and consistency.