Technical Writing for Engineers and Scientists

Though it's been on the market a long, long time, I still think this is one of the best books ever written for people skills.  As promised in the free UBC Persuasive Writing webinar, here is a full listing of the principles as found in this book. If you have any work at all to do with persuading people – from corporate proposals to child rearing, and you have not read this book recently, it's my number one suggestion for the one book worth buying this year, or any year.  1. Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain. 2. Give honest, sincere appreciation. 3. Arouse in the other person an eager want. 4. Become genuinely interested in other people. 5. Smile. 6. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language. 7. Be a good listener. encourage others to talk about themselves. 8. Talk in terms of the other person's interests. 9. Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely. 10. The only way to get the best of a...

Certain style points for metric are different from the Imperial measurement system. Though some folks seem to intend to cling to historical styles (e.g. writing metric based on Imperial practices) for decades to come, here I would like to set the record straight and clarify the correct styles, according to international metric standards. 1. Put a space before a metric unit. This includes all metric units. Use 910 m,  not  910m. (This is often done incorrectly in news media, but that does  not make it acceptable in scientific papers. Use the correct international convention for formal writing.) This convention extends to degrees of temperature. Add a space before degrees Celsius (°C). For example, use 82 °C, not 82°C. Note: For Fahrenheit, most people would omit the space. That is still acceptable if you are writing degrees Fahrenheit. When you write in Celsius, use a space. If you have both Celsius and Fahrenheit in a paper, I suggest that you use the space for both for c...

This is page 41 from Client-Pleasing Reports and Communications. Enjoy! Feel free to e-mail me at christabedwin at gmail.com if you have any questions.  

Matthew Stevens has done a masterful and amusing job of collecting together the many concerns of a scientific editor. I recommend this book highly!  http://sabotin.ung.si/~sstanic/teaching/CIS/references/Stevens-Subtleties_of_Scientific_Style.pdf

Choosing a non-offensive font is important in technical writing. Your primary goal should be that the design you choose does not distract your reader.   Here is a link to a good article about Serif and Sans Serif fonts, and design considerations for when and why you might choose each type: https://www.impactplus.com/blog/sans-serif-vs-serif-font-which-should-you-use-when SPECIAL MENTION Here is a link to the Dyslexie font, which is well regarded as an effective and worthwhile investment for anyone with dyslexia. https://www.dyslexiefont.com