As I read and watched the instructional materials for modules 3 and 4, I encountered several things that surprised and delighted me.
These materials influenced my approach to graded work in this course, and I expect they will continue to influence how I work as I move forward into my career in technical communication.
Plain Language as Text Elements
The concise breakdown of the text elements associated with plain language in Leslie O’Flahavan’s LinkedIn course, “Writing in Plain Language,” surprised and delighted me. O’Flahavan’s explanation of the key text elements of plain language surprised me and delighted me by distilling the key elements of plain language into ten rules.
The impact of such a short list of changes on the readability of a text surprised me. My understanding of plain language before this course was much more subjective and holistic. While this list is not exhaustive, it’s very nice to have a sort of checklist for individual elements of plain language adherence.
Influence on Graded Work
O’Flahavan’s explanation of plain language heavily influenced my approach to creating plain language versions of technical content about Freedom of Information Access requests produced by three US agencies. My revisions to implement plain language in these documents were directly based on O’Flahavan’s explanations of the word and sentence level elements associated with plain language.
Meaning to Career Goals
I expect the ability to explain and implement the text elements of plain language to be one of the single most important skills in my career in technical communication. Plain language is a near universal goal in technical communication; a more objective framework for implementing plain language feels invaluable.
Four Dimensions of Tone of Voice
Kate Moran’s article “The Four Dimensions of Tone of Voice” for the Nielsen Norman Group also surprised and delighted me, for similar reasons. Before reading this article, I only consciously considered the formal vs casual dimension as a spectrum; I thought of serious vs funny, respectful vs irreverent, and matter-of-fact vs enthusiastic as binaries if I considered them at all.
This article broadened my understanding of tone of voice by introducing me to the idea of considering these dimensions with the same focus and nuance as the formal vs casual dimension. The ability to analyze these dimensions of tone of voice more objectively delights me. Including these additional dimensions allows me to analyze and discuss tone of voice much more precisely.
Influence on Graded Work
Understanding the four dimensions of tone of voice, and especially how they can interact, had a significant influence on my approach to creating three tone of voice versions of a company’s introductory content.
When I was creating my formal, casual, and funny versions of this content, I repeatedly consulted and used ideas from Moran’s article. For example, when implementing a formal tone in the content, I also made the message mostly serious, respectful, and matter of fact. My casual version was also more enthusiastic to help emphasize the difference in tone. Last, I made my funny version casual, enthusiastic, and more irreverent than the other versions to fit with the additional humor.
Meaning to Career Goals
I expect the ability to analyze multiple dimensions of voice precisely to be very important in my career in technical communication. Different rhetorical situations call for distinct tones, and as a technical communicator, it is vital to tailor the tone as accurately as possible to the exact situation. Using multiple dimensions to analyze tone of voice makes it possible to detect slight changes that may cause noticeable differences in reader reactions.