Thoughts about Writing and Speaking

Producing an excellent document or presentation about a project is a project in itself Sadly, clients, owners, customers, and stakeholders are sometimes denied the value of excellent technical work and the participants in that project are denied the satisfaction of seeing their efforts come to fruition because the document and/or the presentation, the crucial link between the professionals who performed the work and those who could implement it, is weak. The quality of the document or presentation should be at least as high as the quality of the technical work described. 

How much time—absolute or elapsed—have you invested in acquiring your technical expertise Whatever your answer, the relative time required to learn writing and speaking fundamentals is miniscule. The writing tips and speaking tips presented in this chapter provide the fundamentals. Leverage those fundamentals by proactively seeking opportunities to practice-practice-practice them. The ball is in your court  

Some of the most accomplished engineers of all time have paid as much attention to their words as their numbers, to their sentences as to their equations, and to their reports as to their designs. 

Alexander, A. 2001. Keeping Errors at Bay. IBD s 10 Secrets of Success column, Investor s Business Daily, May 15. 

Anholt, R. R. H. 2006. Dazzle em With Style The Art of Oral Scientific Presentation Second Edition. Elsevier Amsterdam. 

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