What “voice” should you project in your documents?

Much engineering communication is interactive and interpersonal.

You may use “we” in documents this semester. In the letter only, you may use “I.”

First graded assignment: Introduction and Problem Description

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Another type of “voice”: passive or active

Passive Voice literary longer more vague less active verb emphasizes the

thing acted upon sometimes, the

only accurate way to go

Active Voice the way we speak more concise says who did it more active verb emphasizes the

doer of the action all things being

equal, the way to go

Passive Voice Active Voice

Elapsed time is indicated by a pointer.

The project was completed by the installation crew.

It is suggested that readings be recorded hourly.

A pointer indicates elapsed time.

The installation crew completed the project.

I suggest you record readings hourly.

Voice is a choice.

Passive Voice is longer.

“It was discovered during QD’s initial modeling efforts that the reservoir was actually a retrograde condensate reservoir.”

Active Voice is shorter.

It was discovered during QD’s initial modeling efforts that the reservoir was actually a retrograde condensate reservoir.

Better: QD’s initial modeling efforts showed that the reservoir was actually a retrograde condensate reservoir.(13-14

words)

(17 words)

Passive voice can make writing ambiguous: Who is doing which testing?

The scope of this strategy does not cover testing all the functionality of the different sub components. It is expected that each component be tested prior to the solution integration test.

When to use which?

• to emphasize the agent of the action:

Previous researchers established the relationship between chemical qualities and model parameters.

Active Voice Passive Voice

• to emphasize the object:

The relationship between chemical qualities and model parameters was established by previous researchers .

The water sample was heated to a temperature of 100o C.

• to emphasize the action:

JMC Consulting recommends that BP adopt a risk-communication plan.