HUIC STEM/STEAM & Education 2020L.Stocco – The University of British Columbia

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Docu-ShowThe Evolution of Technical Communication

Motivation

Modern industry is collaborative. Many OEMs manufacture very little product. Instead, they spec and integrate products from specialist suppliers. Suppliers must develop products, AND communicate their products to promote their adoption. This form of communication is fundamental to the health of both large and small organizations but is overlooked in academic curricula which focusses instead on conventional, formal reports.

HUIC STEM/STEAM & Education 2020L.Stocco – The University of British Columbia

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Academia Industry Hi-Tech

Conventional Technical Communication

Internal R&D

• Expert Audience

• Formal Report– The process of preparing REPORT

improves quality of PRODUCT

– Reference material

• Papers & Patents– Full details

– INTERESTED parties

HUIC STEM/STEAM & Education 2020L.Stocco – The University of British Columbia

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Academia Industry Hi-Tech

Modern Technical Communication

Collaborative R&D

• Mixed Audience– Expert

– Boss

– Investor

• Slide Decks– TED style talk

– Online meeting

– Investor pitch

– Presentations (with handouts)

– Lectures (with notes)

HUIC STEM/STEAM & Education 2020L.Stocco – The University of British Columbia

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You Need a Slide Deck Because …

• ACME Inc. is considering hiring you to develop a POC to solve a problem.

• A successful proposal will win a 2 year development deal.

• You must convince them to adopt:– Your product / technology

– Your services / technical capabilities

• You may be:– The founder of a start-up

– Working for a start-up

– Working for a large corporation that supplies even bigger OEMs

You Need an Eng Report Because …

• You won the contract 2 years ago.

• You have completed the detailed design & development project.

• You must document your work:– Internal Documentation

• Detailed high & low-level RCGs

• Detailed design description with references

• Test matrix

• Formal tests & results

– External Documentation• Summary of internal documentation provided to customer (with bill for services)

• IEEE Paper

HUIC STEM/STEAM & Education 2020L.Stocco – The University of British Columbia

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TED / Pecha-Kucha

• Attractive

• Slide contains– Pictures

– Labels

• Absent– Detail

Summary

• Pech-Kucha– 20 slides / 20 seconds

• Raises Awareness

• Slides are backdrop for speaker

• Notes unnecessary

• No detail

• Teaches PREPARATION– Good student exercise

HUIC STEM/STEAM & Education 2020L.Stocco – The University of British Columbia

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Online Meeting

• Informative

• Slide contains– Pictures

– Labels

– Necessary detail

• Absent– Verbage

Summary

• Mixed audience– Can never know who will attend

• Assume prior knowledge– Expert attendee

• Prepare for back-fill– Lay-person attendee

• Slides provided ahead of time– Acts as meeting agenda

HUIC STEM/STEAM & Education 2020L.Stocco – The University of British Columbia

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Investor Pitch

• Exciting

• Slide contains– Problem solved

– Results

– Financials

– Team

• Absent– Technical details

Summary

• Very short

• Which problem is solved– Not so important how

• Business details– Risks / Rewards

– Timing

– People

• Notes unnecessary– Decision based on first impression

HUIC STEM/STEAM & Education 2020L.Stocco – The University of British Columbia

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Presentation

• Know your audience

• Slide contains– Annotations

– Necessary detail

• Absent– Verbage (main slide)

Summary

• Handouts– Script in notes section

– Reading notes mimics attending presentation

– Stands on its own

• 2 Copies of slide deck– Detailed notes for handout (& prep)

– Brief notes for real-time reminder

• Last slide– Repeat most impactful slide

– Avoid flipping in Q&A

HUIC STEM/STEAM & Education 2020L.Stocco – The University of British Columbia

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lecture

Summary

• This presentation is formatted as lecture notes.

• Students bring notes to lecture for annotation.

• Title on 1st or 2nd slide

• Summary (2nd) slide– All formatting options available

– Equations

– Repeat details presented using:• Chalk board

• Physical example

– Leave room for annotations

Leave blank for hand annotations

HUIC STEM/STEAM & Education 2020L.Stocco – The University of British Columbia

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TED

ONLINEMEET

PITCH

TALK LECTURE

questions