John Lannon is Professor Emeritus and former Director of Writing at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where he developed the undergraduate major in professional writing and later co-developed the M.A. program in professional writing. He has also taught at Cape Cod Community College, University of Idaho, Southern Vermont College, and University of Strasbourg. He has authored and coauthored five major textbooks in business communication, rhetoric, and technical communication, book reviews, filmstrips, and environmental documents and instructional software. He is the recipient of an NDEA Fellowship and Fulbright Lectureship. He holds a B.S., M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His initial training and work was in biomedical science and technology with the USAF. He has served as a communications consultant for various companies and government institutions.  He worked seven years in medical laboratories.

Laura J. Gurak is professor and founding chair of the Department of Writing Studies at the University of Minnesota, where she teaches courses in technical writing and digital communication. She holds an M.S. in technical communication and a Ph.D. in communication and rhetoric from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is author of two books from Yale University Press, one of which was the first book-length study of online social actions. Gurak is also co-editor of several edited collections and author on numerous conference presentations and papers. She is a recipient of the Society for Technical Communication’s Outstanding Article award. Gurak has authored and coauthored five textbooks in technical communication published by Pearson. She has worked as a software developer, technical writer, and communications consultant for various companies and organizations.

I. COMMUNICATING IN THE WORKPLACE

1. Introduction to Technical Communication 

2. Meeting the Needs of Specific Audiences 

3. Persuading Your Audience 

4. Weighing the Ethical Issues 

5. Teamwork and Global Considerations 

6. An Overview of the Technical Writing Process 

II. THE RESEARCH PROCESS

7. Thinking Critically about the Research Process 

8. Evaluating and Interpreting Information 

9. Summarizing Research Findings and Other Information 

III. ORGANIZATION, STYLE, AND VISUAL DESIGN

10. Organizing for Readers 

11. Editing for a Professional Style and Tone 

12. Designing Visual Information 

13. Designing Pages and Documents 

IV. SPECIFIC DOCUMENTS AND APPLICATIONS

14. Email 

15. Workplace Memos and Letters 

16. Résumés and Other Job-Search Materials 

17. Technical Definitions 

18. Technical Descriptions, Specifications, and Marketing Materials 

19. Instructions and Procedures 

20. Informal Reports 

21. Formal Analytical Reports 

22. Proposals 

23. Oral Presentations and Video Conferencing 

24. Blogs, Wikis, and Web Pages 

25. Social Media 

V. RESOURCES FOR TECHNICAL WRITERS

Appendix A: A Quick Guide to Documentation

Appendix B: A Quick Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics

Works Cited

Index

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