Polishing Ideas: The Canon of Style, Essay Example

Introduction

Language often needs to be adapted in order to fit specific circumstances.  This can impact the writing style, tone, vocabulary and structure of composition.  In this paper it is demonstrated how a technical paper needs to be adapted for the assimilation by a general audience.

Modifying writing style

The most important attribute of converting a technical document to a general audience is that of clarity of communication.  The document needs to be readable, unambiguous and easy to read.  This means selecting words that are easy to understand. In some cases it is difficult to avoid the use of technical words, however these can be placed within a glossary of terms and provide a simple meaningful explanation of the technical term.

You should avoid long ‘run-on’ paragraphs and normally keep each of these to around 4-5 sentences. This creates a flow in the composition and makes it easier for your audience to read.  In addition you may wish to introduce bullet points to highlight specific key points.  These should be used sparingly and in academic writing it is generally preferred to use these inside the text separated by semi-colons.

Simplify the construction of your composition by developing a suitable outline of what you are going to write.  This means the development of a suitable hierarchy that will define Sections, Headers and Sub Headers.  This not only aids in the ease of navigation but also assists in getting the Table of Contents and index for the document in the right format.  A good well thought out outline will facilitate ease of writing and make the reading process more enjoyable for the general audience.

When writing it is important to maintain a vocabulary that is fitting for the audience comprehension. In a non -technical audience this means keeping the technical word content to a minimum.  It is also important to use bias free language and convey your message so that it will be appropriate for both genders and free from racial ambiguity. The writer also needs to retain technical credibility in the article composition so it is important that the content is not watered down too much from the important technical points.  This means retaining objectivity in your style of writing and writing in a confident positive manner without losing technical credibility.

Conclusion

The use of plain well-structured English is greatly appreciated by non-technical audiences.  It conveys transparency of thinking and shows a respect for your audience. Companies that hide their products behind a veil of technically obscure writing both confuse their audience and equally do not gain the ‘buy-in’ of their customers. Hence the important concept of sustainability and customer retention is based upon clarity of communications.