Charles E. Beck

Enthusiasm in technical proposals: verifying a method of lexical analysis

Analyzing proposals for evidence of enthusiasm verified a method of lexical analysis and substantiated the presence of enthusiasm in social science/humanities proposals but not in science/engineering proposals. Proposal evaluators, both experts and nonexperts, react to technical accuracy as well as subjective elements in the proposal document itself. A study of word usage identified a lexicon that reflected enthusiasm in proposals, then analyzed 1000-word samples of text for the presence of this vocabulary. Testing this method on government requests for proposals (RFPs) and business salesmanship texts determined a range of values for an enthusiasm index (EI). Subsequent analysis of fifteen technical proposals as a group revealed no significant difference between the RFPs and the proposals themselves. However, a breakdown by subject yielded a significant difference between those from social science/humanities and those from science/engineering. The successful proposals contained occurrences of enthusiastic lexicon, but the method only examined this one indicator of enthusiasm. >

Test of the Eye-Movement Hypothesis of Neurolinguistic Programming: A Rebuttal of Conclusions:

The findings of Thomason, Arbuckle, and Cady interpreted as disproving the eye-movement hypothesis are based on a misunderstanding of the neuro-linguistic programming model. Their finding of consistent patterns tends to support the hypothesis that eye movements reflect internal processes regardless of specific stimuli.

Implications of Metaphors in Defining Technical Communication.

Examining the limitations of some common metaphors for technical communication and exploring new alternatives lead to a new definition of technical communication. In current studies of the field, four metaphors appear dominant through explicit or implicit use: transmitter, channel, balance, and bridge. But each of these metaphors is limited in some way when used to describe the field. These limitations arise from complexity, directionality, or originality of the process. Some alternatives provide a new way of viewing the field: lock, translator, transformer, synthesizer, conductor, and orchestrator. The latter term leads to a tentative definition of the field: Technical communication is the process of orchestrating linguistic, visual, or auditory codes to accommodate information to the user.

A Systems Model for Knowledge Management: A Rhetorical Heuristic Process

An Integrative Mental Model of Knowledge Management can provide a way of visualizing the interrelated elements that comprise a knowledge management system. This original model, building on a Rhetorical Process Model of Communication, includes both the objective and subjective elements within human cognition. In addition, it clarifies the purpose and method elements at the center for any effective knowledge system. The model centers on the purpose elements of intentions and audience, and the method elements of technical tools and human processes. The output of Knowledge Management includes objective products and subjective interpretations. Feedback verifies the timeliness and efficiency in the process of building information and knowledge.

Creating a climate for teamwork

It is noted that professional communicators frequently create a defensive climate for one-on-one communication. A defensive climate stifles the communication process; team members tend to withdraw rather than risk sharing their ideas. On the other hand, a supportive climate encourages openness and the exchange of ideas with a feeling of trust. It is pointed out that according to J. Gibb (1961), the communication climate appears as a continuum from defensive to supportive. Understanding the six dichotomies that make up this continuum, the communicator can develop a climate for effective teamwork, whether among members of a writing group or between writers and subject experts. It is concluded that, although the professional communicator does not have complete control over the communication process, understanding how to build supportive climates can improve the potential for effective teamwork.<<ETX>>

Conducting an editing workshop

A guided workshop in editing can give students and report writers an objective means of evaluating their drafts to improve the quality of writing. In each of four steps, the workshop uses three processes (identification, analysis, rewriting) to examine overall logic, verb usage, sentence openings, and conjunctions. Practical tips for objectively examining drafts provide the greatest improvement in editing ones own work.

Creating the technical report

Beginning writers must start somewhere, and Schmidts text provides an excellent starting point. For the professional or the student recently assigned to write a report, Creating the technical report is clear, concise, easy to read, and extremely practical.