CPTC exam prep Flashcards
What are the 3 components of strategic planning?
Setting objectives (top-rank and secondary objectives) Creating a task list (use concept mapping) Developing a timeline
List, in order, the steps in the writing process.
1 - Researching and planning
- research topic
- define purpose
- develop reader profile
- tap into creative side
- devise strategic plan
2 - Organizing and drafting (choose genre)
3 - Improving style: plain or persuasive
4 - Designing the document: how to highlight need to know info
5 - Revising and editing: see the 4 levels of editing
6 - Finished document (not always listed as a stage of the writing process)
What are the core competencies covered in the CPTC exam?
1 - Project Planning 2 - Project Analysis 3 - Content Development 4 - Organizational Design 5 - Written Communication 6 - Visual Communication 7 - Reviewing and Editing 8 - Content Management 9 - Production and Delivery
5 W’s
Who was involved? What happened? Where did it happen? When did it happen? Why did it happen? How did it happen?
What are the elements of the project mission and objectives (aka rhetorical situation)
1 - Subject: the scope
2 - Purpose (mission statement): end results? who will be evaluating?
3 - Readers: what are their needs, values, attitudes?
4 - Context: what physical, mobile, economic, ethical and political contexts will influence readers?
What is a progress report?
Written to inform management about the progress or status of a project. These reports are written at regular intervals – weekly, biweekly, or monthly – to update management on what has happened since the last progress report. Usually includes summary of c
What is a white paper or briefing?
White papers and briefings are used to educate management or clients about an important issue. Straightforward and impartial, usually includes summary of facts, importance of facts, forecast of future importance of facts
What is an incident report?
Incident reports describe an event, usually an accident or irregular occurrence, and they identify what corrective actions have been taken. Usually include summary of what happened, why it happened, how it was handled, how the problem will be avoided in future
What is a laboratory report?
Laboratory reports are written to describe experiments, tests, or inspections. They emphasize facts. They describe the experiment (method), present the results, and discuss the results.
What is a writer-centered analysis?
Identifies the various people who may be interested in the document: primary readers, secondary readers, tertiary readers, and gatekeepers.
What is a reader-centered analysis?
Identifies your readers’ needs, values, and attitudes.
Readers are ________ of information.
Raiders
Explain the 4 types of readers?
Primary: ACTION takers. Make decisions based on your info (consumer buying a car)
Secondary: ADVISORS that can give advice or influence decision makers (car sales person)
Tertiary: EVALUATORS who have an interest in the document content, make judgements (consumer goods review magazine)
Gatekeepers: SUPERVISORS who sign off (usually your direct manager)
What are the different contexts in which your readers might experience your document?
Physical context: the physical location your readers will experience the document (eg at a desk? on a remote job site?)
Mobile context: refers to readers accessing/reading the document on a mobile divide of any kind (tablet, phone etc) and how the document works in that context
Economic context: economic issues/contexts that will influence your readers’ decisions - will accepting your ideas alter their financial situation at all?
Ethical context: how will your doc affect the rights, values, and well-being of the reader? Does your document involve any social or environmental issues that your reader might value/that might affect your reader’s situation?
Political context: political forces that influence the reader experience (only in version 5, not included in version 6).
What are strategies for global communication?
Listen carefully Be Polite Research the target culture Avoid humor Talk to your colleagues
What are the different technical communication genres?
Letters, emails, memos Technical descriptions and specifications Instructions and documentation Proposals Activity/brief reports formal reports
Explain the difference between letters, emails, and memos.
Letters are formal communication, usually to people outside the company, written by someone acting as a representative of the company ( used to make requests or inquiries, accept or refuse claims, etc)
Emails are informal (can sometimes be formal though). Used for day to day communications with customers and colleagues.
Memos are formal, used for people inside the company, used to convey decisions, meeting agendas, policies, internal reports, and short proposals. When a message is too important or proprietary for e-mail, most people will send a memo instead.
What is the difference between a technical description and a technical specification?
Specifications: used to describe a product in great detail, providing exact information about features, dimensions, power requirements, etc.
Description: used by manufacturers to describe their products for patents, quality control, and sales. Establish a standard and exact set of requirements for a product or service.
In technical instructions and documentation, what is the difference between instructions and procedures/protocols?
Instructions: describe how to perform a specific task. They typically describe how to assemble a product or do something step-by-step.
Procedures/protocols: ensure consistency and quality in a workplace. For example, in hospitals, doctors and nurses might write procedures that describe how to handle emergency situations or treat a specific injury or illness. Scientists use protocols to ensure consistent methods in the laboratory.
What is a proposal? What are the different types of proposals?
Presents an idea or plan, contains description of the current situation, project plan, qualifications, and costs and benefits. Use both plain and persuasive style. They are legal docs (if agreed to, usually legally binding)
Internal/external proposal: internal for within a company; external for offerings to clients outside the company
Solicited/unsolicited: solicited is requested, like RFP; unsolicited is not requested, often used as a sales tool
Grant proposal: written by researchers and nonprofit organizations to obtain funding for their projects.
What is an activity/brief report? What are the different types?
Used to to objectively inform readers about (1) what happened, (2) what is happening, and (3) what will happen in the near future.
Progress reports
White papers and briefings
Laboratory reports
Incident reports
What is a formal report? What are the different types?
Typically describes a research methodology, presents results, discusses those results, and makes recommendations.
Research report Scientific reports Completion reports Recommendation reports Feasibility reports
What is the difference between primary and secondary research?
Primary source: Evidence collected from observations, experiments, survey, interviews, ethnographies, and testing
Secondary sources: Evidence drawn from academic journals, magazine articles, books, websites, research databases, DVDs, CDs, and reference materials.
What are the steps of the research process?
Define your research subject.
Formulate a research question or hypothesis.
Develop a research methodology.
Collect evidence through print, electronic, and empirical sources.
Triangulate your sources.
Take careful notes.
Appraise your evidence.
Revise, accept, or abandon your hypothesis.
What are the three types of evidence solid research draws upon?
Electronic, empirical, print
What is a concept map used for?
Brainstorming, forming logical relationships, build ideas, show where research is needed, shows the boundaries of a subject
What source is valuable for comparing/checking your sources?
Literature review
Explain the concept of triangulating your sources.
You need at least three different types of evidence (all three parts of the research triangle). Best to have electronic, empirical, print
What are the 6 opening moves of an introduction?
Move 1: Define Your Subject Move 2: State Your Purpose Move 3: State Your Main Point Move 4: Stress the Importance of the Subject Move 5: Provide Background Information Move 6: Forecast the content
** can be done in any order
Name the different patterns of arrangement
Cause and effect
Comparison and contrast
Better and worse (eg advantages vs disadvantages)
Costs and benefits
If…then (eg “If you believe in X, then you should do Y”) suggests no middle ground – use sparingly
Chronological order
Problem/needs/solution
Example
Note: different patterns of arrangement can be applied to different parts of a doc
What are the five closing moves in a conclusion?
Move 1: Make an obvious transition - signal to the reader that you are summarizing final points
Move 2: Restate your main point - to drive facts home
Move 3: Re-emphasize the importance of the subject
Move 4: Look to the future - the reader should leave the content on a positive note
Move 5: Say “Thank you” and offer contact information
What are the 8 guidelines for writing in plain sentences?
Eliminate nominalizations.
Eliminate prepositional phrases.
Eliminate redundancy in sentences
Sentences should be ‘breathing’ length.
Use active voice (‘doer’ in the beginning of the sentence)
Make the subject what the sentence is about
Put the subject of the sentence early in the sentence
What are the 4 types of sentences in a paragraph?
Transition sentences: make a smooth bridge from the previous paragraph to the present paragraph
Topic sentences: claim or statement that the rest of the paragraph is going to prove or support. Usually upfront, at the TOP of the paragraph
Support sentences: The bulk of any paragraph is typically made up of support sentences. These sentences contain examples, reasoning, facts, data, anecdotes, definitions, and descriptions
Point sentences: REstate the paragraph’s main point toward the end of the paragraph (therefore, consequently, in sum).
What is it called when each sentences contains something the reader knows and something they don’t know.
The given/new method
What are the 4 techniques of persuasive writing?
Elevate the tone
Use similes and analogies
Use metaphor
Change the pace
What is a node page on a website?
Node pages divide a website’s content into larger topic areas. They are typically linked to the homepage.
For example, a university’s home page will have links that go to node pages like Colleges and Departments, Libraries, Students, and Faculty and Staff. These are all nodes in the website.
What are the basic types of pages on a website?
Homepage Node pages Pages Navigation pages Splash pages (only in V5 of book)
What are the 5 principles of Design?
Balance Alignment Grouping Consistency Contrast
Describe what it means for a document to be balanced.
Design features must offset each other to create a feeling of stability. Unbalanced = tension. Symmetry is not required but the top/bottom/sides should “weigh” the same. TIP: use page grid to keep things balanced.
In design, what is alignment? What are some strategies for alignment?
Images and words on the page should be aligned to show the document’s structure or hierarchy, create relationships among items.
Align items vertically to show different levels of info in a document
Align items horizontally to connect them visually/make them a unit
Use margins, indentation, lists, headings, and graphics to create two or three levels in the text.
Only use centering for titles = creates alignment issues otherwise
What is grouping?
(we know this concept as chunking) Related images and words should be placed near each other on the page.
Divide the content into scannable blocks
Items placed near each other are seen as a unit (eg, image + caption)
Also referred to as “using white space” to frame items on a page. There is white space in margins, around lists, etc.
Use headings to group info. Headings = access points.
In design, why is consistency important? What are some strategies for achieving consistency?
Design features in the document should be used consistently, so the document looks uniform. This creates a sense of order, predictability, reduces clutter
Strategies:
Headings should be predictable
Pages should follow the same grid
Use design elements like font, list formatting, headers/footers, consistently
In design, what is contrast? What are some things you should be aware of when using contrast?
Items in the document that are different should look significantly different/distinct, makes them stand out.
Use contrast carefully, as too many contrasting elements can create clutter
Colour, shading, background images are good ways to add contrast, but use sparingly
Make sure the text and background contrast enough to make text readable
What is a culturally deep document?
A document created primarily for a target culture, uses their language, symbols, and conventions, reflects their preferences and expectations. Must be designed with the help of a designer/consultants who are familiar with the culture.
What is a culturally shallow document?
usually follows western conventions, but adjusts some elements to reflect the preferences/expectations of other cultures, avoids cultural taboos. Best for docs that need to cater to a variety of cultures = most common.
What are some things to be cognizant of when creating a culturally shallow document?
Use of colour: different colours have different meanings across cultures (eg red = anger in Japan but happiness in China and death in Egypt). See fig. 17.19
Use of people: avoid big smiles, very emotional expressions, suggestive behaviour, flashy clothing, interactions between men/women that send mixed signals (eg in Islamic culture, limit images of people - usually only used when needed, such as for ID)
Use of symbols: symbols have different meanings across cultures (eg OK hand signal is positive in North America, offensive in other cultures - same with crescents, crosses, white flowers). Better to use simple shapes.
Direction of reading: if the direction of reading for a culture is right to left, design elements like weight and balance need to be adjusted.
What are the 4 basic guidelines for using images in your documents?
Tell a simple story: readers should be able to quickly figure out what the graphic says, should present info in a concise way (applies to graphs or images).
Reinforce (not replace) the text: written text should tell readers the story that the graphic is trying to illustrate.
Be Ethical: graphics should not be used to hide information, distort facts, or exaggerate trends (graphs could skew data, photos could be digitally altered).
Be labeled and placed properly: graphics should be placed and labeled in a way that allows readers to easily move between text and graphic.
In design, some items “weigh” more than others. Give some examples of elements that weigh more than others.
Right > left Top > bottom Big > small Pictures > written text Graphics > written text Colour > black and white Items with borders > items without borders Irregular shapes > regular shapes Motion > static items
