1 INTRODUCTION TO TECHNICAL WRITING Expresiv Writin and

e g Expressi
TECHNICAL WRITING ve
- communication written for and about words,
business and industry, focusing on products fictional
and services: charact
a. how to manufacture them, ers,
b. market them, manage them, imagery
c. deliver them, and , and
d. use them plots
- must be understood easily and quickly Expres Narratives, Seubjec
- Includes: memos and e-mail, letters, sive Descriptions tive,
reports, instructions, brochures and Writin based
g on
newsletters, the job search, web pages,
persona
fliers, PowerPoint presentations, graphics.
l
TECHNICAL WRITING IS… experie
a. an instructional manual for repairing nce,
machinery connota
tive and
b. a memo listing meeting agendas
expressi
c. a letter from a vendor to a client
ve
d. a recommendation report proposing a words
new computer system Connota Exposi Comparison/ Objectiv
TECHNICAL WRITING IS NOT… tive and tory contrast, e,
Denotati Writin analysis, connota
a. not literature; it’s neither prose which ve g cause/effect, tive and
recounts the fictional tales of characters argument/per denota
nor poetry which expresses deeply felt, suasion tive
universal emotions through similes and words
metaphor. Journa News stories, Objectiv
b. neither an expressive essay narrating lism features, e,
editorials written
an occurrence nor an expository essay
from
analyzing a topic
factual
c. not journalism, written to report the
observa
news tion,
d. does not focus on poetic images, short
e. describe personal experiences, or sentenc
report who won the basketball game es and
paragra
COMMUNICATION CONTINUUM ph,
Type Examples Traits some
of connota
writin tive but
g more
Connota Creativ Poems, plays, Connot denota
tive/ e stories ative
 tive letters, or reports, you won't find a thesis,
words but you'll see a subject line instead.
Denotati Techni Memos, Objectiv - Paragraphs are shorter in technical writing
ve/ cal letters, e,
Objectiv Wiring reports, written 4. STYLE
e instructions, about - Essays and technical writing use different
resumes, web product styles, including word choice, sentence
pages s or
structure, and paragraph length.
services
- Essays typically use longer, more expressive
, short
sentenc words, complex sentences, and detailed
es and paragraphs. In contrast, technical writing
paragra uses shorter, more straightforward words,
ph, simple sentences, and brief paragraphs. It's
denota all about meeting the needs of the audience
tive and the purpose of the writing
words
5. DOCUMENT DESIGN
- Refers to the physical layout of the
correspondence.
- Essays consist of words, words, and more
words, separated by indentations to create
paragraphs. Technical writing, in contrast,
uses highlighting techniques and graphics
for visual appeal to help the reader access
and understand the data
FIVE COMPONENTS OF TECHNICAL WRITING FIVE TRAITS OF TECHNICAL WRITING
1. DEVELOPMENT 1. CLARITY
- process of expanding and enriching your - Achieved through specificity
essays or documents by incorporating - The key to good technical writing is clarity.
traditional methods such as examples, - If your audience reads a memo, letter,
anecdotes, testimony, data, and research. report, or manual and says, "Huh?" it means
These techniques serve to support your the writer hasn't achieved much. If the
ideas, strengthen your arguments, and information isn't clear, readers might either
provide clarity to your writing. call for clarification or just ignore it. In both
cases, the writer's time and the reader's
2. GRAMMAR time are wasted, and the message is lost
- Good grammar is important in essays, but
it's even more crucial in technical writing. Example #1: Your company has written an
installation manual for product. The manual,
unfortunately, is not clear. When the reader
3. ORGANIZATION
fails to understand the content, 3 negatives can
- Essays have topic sentences, transitions
occur:
between paragraphs, and a thesis
statement. In technical writing, like memos,
BAD — The equipment is damaged. This Conciseness achieved through short sentences.
requires the owner to ship the equipment back.
You can shorten a sentence by avoiding:
The company will replace the equipment, costs
accrue, and public relations have been frayed. a. Avoiding Redundancy
- Why say, “The used car will cost the sum of
WORSE — The owner is hurt, leading to pain,
$1,000.00”? It is more concise to say, “The
anxiety, doctor’s bills, and bad public relations.
used car will cost $1,000.00.” In this
EVEN WORSE — The company is sued. The instance, “the sum of” is redundant.
company loses money, the writer of the manual
loses a job, and public relations are severed.

b. Prepositional Phrases
- Prepositional phrases create wordy
sentences. Consider the following examples
2. CONCISENESS (note that the prepositional phrase is in
- Do you understand this letter? bold type):
- Do you remember what you read?
- Did you even finish reading it?
- It is a tool (in technical writing) for the
readers used to accomplish whatever job
they are doing.
- In contrast to traditional essays, effective
technical writing uses short words and
short sentences
- Successful technical writing tries to avoid c. Passive voice
multisyllabic words such as “mul-ti-syl-lab- - Weak for at least two reasons: (1) they are
ic.” wordy and, (2) they replace strong verbs
- Some multisyllabic words cannot be with weak verbs
changed but can be avoided

3. ACCESSIBLE DOCUMENT DESIGN

- In addition to clarity and conciseness, a
third trait of effective technical writing is
accessibility (page layout the way the text
 looks on the page). Look at the following 5. ACCURACY
paragraph: - Effective technical writing must be correct,
whether grammatically, mathematically,
electronically, etc.
- Errors in technical writing make the
company and the employee look bad. Errors
can lead to damages, injuries lawsuits, or
just embarrassment and
misunderstandings

4. AUDIENCE RECOGNITION PROOFREAD YOUR WRITINGS!

- Who is writing to whom? What does the i. Use the computer’s spell check, remember,
audience know, need to know, and want to however, that a spell check will not catch
know? form if you mean from, to if you mean too,
Three types of audiences: or except if you mean accept.

a. High Tech Peers Communicating ii. Let it sit for a day or a weekend, review.
- know as much about a subject matter as
you. iii. Use peer evaluations, others will see the
- They have the same job title, same errors we miss.
education, same years of experience, and
the same level of expertise. iv. Read it aloud, sometimes we can hear
For example, a medical doctor writing to errors.
another medical doctor would be writing High
Tech to High Tech v. Read it backwards, then you read words
out of context. You cannot anticipate the
next word
b. High Tech and Low Tech Peer
- who work in your company know
something about the subject matter.
- They may not have the same job title,
education, years of experience, or level of
expertise.

For example, a medical doctor writing to a staff

nurse would be writing High Tech to Low Tech

c. High Tech and Lay Reader

- are your customers.
- They are completely out of the loop. e.g., a
medical doctor communicating with a
patient., a medical doctor communicating
with a patient.

Use PRONOUNS in technical writing

2 GRAMMAR REVIEW

SUBJECT – VERB AGREEMENT 4. In sentences that BEGIN WITH THERE OR

HERE, the verb should agree with the
1. When a sentence has two or more subjects
subject that follows the verb.
joined by “AND”, the verb of the sentence
should be plural. Examples:
CORRECT: There are many pieces of evidence to
Examples:
consider.
CORRECT: Building a savings account and
INCORRECT: There is numerous objections to his
lowering one's tax bracket are two benefits of a
plan.
tax-sheltered annuity.
CORRECT: There are many opportunities for
INCORRECT: Continued inflation and a high
development in this city.
interest rate affects the housing industry.
INCORRECT: Here is the guidelines we should
CORRECT: John, Alan, and he play in the band.
consider.
INCORRECT: John, Alan, and he plays in the
band.
5. In sentences that follow a
SUBJECT/VERB/NOUN COMPLEMENT
2. When a sentence has two subjects joined
PATTERN, the main verb should agree with
with “OR”, the verb should be singular.
the subject of the sentence.
Example:
CORRECT: Dr. Margaret Woods or Professor Examples:
Janice Green is going to be our next president. CORRECT: The chief drawback of going to Paris is
INCORRECT: Either John or I are going to be high prices.
nominated. INCORRECT: Literary agents is a necessary evil.

3. Any MODIFIER THAT COMES BETWEEN THE CORRECT: Bikers are a threat in that town.
SUBJECT AND VERB OF A SENTENCE DOES INCORRECT: Bikers is a threat in that town.
NOT AFFECT THE SUBJECT-VERB
RELATIONSHIP; single subjects still take 6. When the subject of a sentence is a
singular verbs and plural subjects still take COLLECTIVE NOUN, such as team, majority,
plural verbs. group, committee, and so on, you should
consider how you are using the word and
Examples: make your decision about verbs accordingly.
CORRECT: Skiing or backpacking, two of the If the subject seems to ACT AS A SINGLE
area's most popular sports, is sure to be UNIT, use a singular verb; if you want to
included in the trip. indicate that the INDIVIDUAL PARTS OF THE
INCORRECT: The best one among so many GROUP ARE ACTING SEPARATELY, the verb
options were hard to choose. should be plural.

CORRECT: Students who come from another Examples:

country are frequently ignored. CORRECT: The team is headed toward the
INCORRECT: The arrangements that he made conference championship.
without my permission was not satisfactory.
INCORRECT: The team are headed toward the Example: She spent most of her money on food,
conference championship. books, and bus fare. France, England, Sweden,
and Spain have all joined the Common Market.
CORRECT: The majority indicate that they are
satisfied. 2. Use COMMAS to set off interrupting,
INCORRECT: The majority indicate that they is nonessential phrases or clauses in a
satisfied. sentence. If a phrase is not necessary to the
basic meaning of the sentence, set it in
7. In a sentence or clause in which the subject commas; if it is essential to the meaning of
is a pronoun, the verb must agree with the the sentence, omit the commas.
pronoun in number. Those pronouns that
sometimes give trouble are the ones that Examples:
seem to refer to NUMBERS OF PEOPLE, BUT NONESSENTIAL PHRASE: Johnson, for all his
TECHNICALLY REFER TO ONLY ONE. These problems, was an effective president in many
are everyone, no one, anybody, anyone, ways.
nobody, and everybody, each, neither, ESSENTIAL CLAUSE: The person who is elected
either. in November will be the 37th president.

Examples: NONESSENTIAL CLAUSE: Commuting students,

CORRECT: Everybody is responsible for the many of whom have fulltime jobs, make up 90
report. percent of the student body.
INCORRECT: Everyone at the meeting are agreed ESSENTIAL CLAUSE: Students who have jobs get
on two. better grades.

CORRECT: Each of the participants is eligible for 3. Use a COMMA to set off an introductory
credit. qualifying word or phrase in a sentence.
INCORRECT: Either Davis or Nelson are going.
Examples:
8. The pronouns NONE OR ANY may take  Unfortunately, John is not as bright as he
either singular or plural verbs. thinks he is.
 On the whole, the crowd took the bad news
Examples: fairly well.
CORRECT: None of the problems is serious.
CORRECT: He decided that none of the 4. Use COMMAS to set off interrupting
contestants were right. phrases or clauses within a sentence
CORRECT: Any of my students is qualified to
write the proposal. Examples:
CORRECT: Are any of the applicants women?  Graham, chairman of the board, lives in
Bermuda.
PUNCTUATIONS  Mark Twain portrays Merlin, Arthur's court
magician, as a comic figure.
1. Use COMMAS to set off items in a series.
So are TRANSITION WORDS or phrases that
point or qualify.
Example:
 The salmon, for instance, is a game fish.
 It can be said, however, that Eleanor never
admitted defeat.

5. Use COMMAS to mark off divisions when

you are writing titles, dates, and addresses.

Example:
 The feast of the Great Pumpkin started on
October 31, 1965.
 Classes will begin on Tuesday, September 4.
 Wright Morrow, Dean of Humanities, will
address the club. Rose lives at 13
Washington Square, Austin, Texas.

6. Use COMMAS to mark off direct quotations

in a dialogue

Example:
 "Take what you want and pay for it," Max
said.
 "Leave that where it is," Clark shouted, "and
get out."
3 WRITING PROFESSIONAL experience, the EDUCATION SECTION is
COMMUNICATIONS: RESUMES often placed above the work section.

RESUMES
- Purpose:
a. to serve as an overview or quick summary
of your skills, experience, and education as
they relate to your career objective;
b. to function as a marketing tool that
conveys your personal brand

- the best way to create eye-catching resume

is not through gimmicks or flash, but rather
through SUBSTANCE AND CUSTOMIZATION
- most seasoned recruiters SCAN A RESUME 2. FUNCTIONAL RESUME
IN ABOUT 7 TO 20 SECONDS because they - Centers around WELL-DEVELOPED SKILLS
have many documents to review AND ACHIEVEMENTS SECTION, in which
- a SINGLE ERROR can be all that is needed to skills are organized into categories
discard your resume and your candidacy - Still includes an Employment Experience
- However, recruiters also have an eye for key section and likely an Education section, but
details, so they will quickly recognize a well- these sections are streamlined to include
constructed resume and discard one that is only the basic information about each
poorly designed position held or each school attended
- It focuses on SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE,
TYPES OF RESUMES rather than on chronological work history. It
1. CHRONOLOGICAL RESUME describes RESPONSIBILITIES,
- it is a traditional format whose principal ACCOMPLISHMENTS, AND QUANTIFIABLE
section is the EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE ACHIEVEMENTS under categories in the
SECTION skills section
- In this section, JOBS are listed in reverse - It typically OPENS WITH A
chronological order (starting with the most SUMMARY/PROFILE DETAILING
recent positions/schools and working STRENGTHS (ONE TO THREE SENTENCES)
backward), and ACHIEVEMENTS/SKILLS are and demonstrates how you match the
detailed underneath each position requirements of your potential job by
- PRESENT EXPERIENCE under headings by including relevant achievements and
job title, company, location, and dates of accomplishments
employment
- EDUCATION is another common category
that, like all sections on a resume, is also in
reverse chronological order
- While the chronological resume dedicates
the majority of its space to providing
relevant details from previous work
 f. Be strategic and consistent in your use of
capitalization, bold, italics, punctuation, and
underlining

g. Place one more space between sections

than within a section to create visual
groupings of information. This way your
reader will be able to easily distinguish
between the key sections of your resume
and between the items in each section.

h. Write sentences fragments that begin with

DRAFTING AND DESIGN
active verbs and leave out sentences’
- As you modify your chosen resume type and
subjects. Example: “I eliminated the
template, keep in mind the following
duplication of paperwork in my department
information on basic design features and
by streamlining procedures” would become
conventions:
“Eliminated paperwork duplication in a
struggling department by streamlining
a. Use tables to align sections, then hide the
procedures.”
boarders to create a neat presentation
i. Place your name at the top of the resume
b. Choose a font in your resume and your
to make it obvious to readers that you are
cover letter to create coherence
the subject of each verb

c. Choose a font that looks serious and

j. Quantify your skills and achievements, as
professional and is easy to read. Popular
explained previously. This means including
professional font choices for resumes
references to technologies and equipment
include Arial, Cambria, Garamond, and
you have used; types of documents you
Times New Roman. These typefaces are
have produced; procedures you have
widely-used and considered appropriate for
followed; languages you speak, types of
resume content as they make information
clients you have worked with.
appear organized and concise
k. Avoid filler words, or fluff that does not
d. When describing work experience (and
show meaningful skills. Filler words include:
possibly education), include bullet points.
team player. Results-oriented, fast-paced,
Start your bullet with an action verb
and self-motivated. If you MUST use these
describing a skill or achievement, and then
phrases, find concrete examples to back
describe the positive impact of your
them up. For example, instead of using
achievement
team player, include a time you
“collaborated with peers to save the
e. Avoid relying on graphics or ornate design
company over $500/month on delivery
feature. Too many design features may
methods” or “co-managed a team of six to
make the resume look busy
interview/hire vendors for annual company
picnic.”
 - Highlight the most relevant jobs you have
l. Make sure your resume is completely error held and downplay less significant
free. Proofread your resume several times, experience
use spell check, and ask an exceptional - this section is arguable the MOST
proofreader to review it. IMPORTANT OF YOUR RESUME because
recruiters often look for past experience as
WHAT TO INCLUDE AND EXCLUDE? a predictor of future work experience
1. RESUME HEADER - the conventional method of listing your
- Should include four items: full name, work experience is in reverse chronological
address, email address, phone number, order (as with your education section).
and possibly your professional website or - List your most recent job experience first
LinkedIn page. and include the following information:
- In your first name is difficult to pronounce, a. The name of the company
you could include nickname in quotation b. The city and state and, when outside
marks or parentheses (e.g. Koringkong the country.
“Kong” Cruz) c. The years of employment (if you have
- NAMES are typically bolded and centered had several jobs at one company,
on the page, but aligning your name right include the overall years of experience,
or left is also appropriate, depending on for separate jobs, note specific years of
the template or style you have chosen. experience)
- You may include your school address or d. Three to seven bullet points describing
your permanent home address, or both. your responsibilities and the results of
- It is also important to choose a professional your work. Depending on years of
e-mail address because employers frown experience.
upon addresses such as
([email protected]) 4. OPTIONAL SECTIONS:
a. OBJECTIVE STATEMENT
2. EDUCATION SECTION - If you are unsure about including an
- Include your GPA, typically if its is 3.0 or objective statement, or if it would be too
better, along with your expected graduation vague and general, it is best to omit it
date, major(s), and minor(s). you may altogether. Here are a few examples of
include your overall GPA, or you may decide possible objective statements:
to list the GPA of your major.  An entry-level accounting position in
- If you transferred from another college, auditing, allowing me to use my
you should list both schools in this section. analytical and detail orientation to
The first school you list is the current school ensure accuracy in all reports and
you attend, followed by previous school. reviews
- If you attend graduate school, law school,  a communications internship at a top
and so forth, your postgraduate institution media company that will allow me to
would be listed first use my knowledge and experience to
produce and edit clear and effective
3. EMPLOYMENT SECTION communications

b. SKILLS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

- includes but bot limited to the following
information: Be sure to notify those who have agreed to
i. Computer Skills: Most employees serve as references that they may be receiving a
expect Microsoft Word, Excel, and call or email from a potential employer
PowerPoint, but include additional
software knowledge (e.g.,
Dreamweaver)
ii. Language Skills: Include your honest
level of fluency (e.g., Spanish, English,
French beginner)
iii. Study Abroad: Include the name of the
university, city and country, and the
coursework
iv. Community Service: Include any
volunteer work, such as park cleanups,
walk-a-thons for various causes, or
fundraising events of any kind. Be
specific about your result including
dollars raised, hours spent, leadership
position, end-user experience
v. Licenses and Certifications: Individuals
can achieve literally hundreds of
professional licenses in the areas of
health care, finance real estate,
insurance, etc.

b. REFERENCES
- Simply include a references page with your
resume, it may save an interested employer
the trouble of having to ask in the first
place
- a PROACTIVE IMPRESSIVE STRATEGY would
be to create a single-page document that
includes the following information
i. Header (that matches the resume
header) to include your name,
address, and contact information
ii. Reference’s name
iii. Reference’s company and title
iv. Reference’s relationship to you
(e.g., manager, peer)
v. Reference’s contact information,
including e-mail address and phone
number
4 WRITING PROFESSIONAL WHEN IS E-MAIL NOT AN APPRROPRIATE
COMMUNICATIONS: EMAILS FORM OF COMMUNICATION TO USE?

EMAILS a. Your message is long and complicated or

- A VALUABLE COMMUNICATION TOOL, its requires additional discussion that would
widespread use in academic and business best be accomplished face-to-face. For
settings has introduced some new example, if you want feedback from your
challenged for writers supervisor on your work or if you are asking
- Used for many different purposes, including your professor a question that requires
contacting friends, communicating with more than a yes/no answer or simple
professors and supervisors, requesting explanation, you should schedule a meeting
information, and applying for jobs, instead
internships, and scholarships b. Information is highly confidential. E-mail is
- The use of e-mail for ADVERTISING NEVER private! Keep in mind that your
PURPOSES has clogged communication message could be forwarded on to other
channels, preventing some e—mails from people without your knowledge. A backup
reaching their intended audience. copy of your e-mail is always stored on a
- Writers are challenged to make their e- server where it can be easily retrieved by
mail stand apart from “spam” and to grab interested parties, even when you have
and hold the attention of their audience deleted the message and think it is gone
forever.
WHEN IS E-MAIL THE APPROPRIATE FORM OF c. Your e-mail is emotionally charged, or the
COMMUNICATION TO USE? tone of the message could be easily
misconstructed. If you would hesitate to say
a. You need to send someone an something to someone’s face, do not white
electronic file, such as a document for a it in an e-mail.
course, a spreadsheet full of data, or a
rough draft of your paper. IMPORTANT COMPONENTS OF AN EFFECTIVE
b. You need to distribute information to a E-MAIL
large number of people quickly (for 1. SUBJECT LINES
example, a memo that needs to be sent - E-mail subject lines are like newspaper
to the entire office staff) headlines. They should convey main point
c. You need a written record of the of your e-mail or the idea that you want the
communication. Saving important e- reader to take away from your e-mail.
mails can be helpful if you need to refer Therefore, be as specific as possible
back to what someone said in an earlier - One-word subjects such as “Hi,”
message, provide some kind of proof “Question,” or “FYI” are not informative
(for example, proof that you have paid and don’t give the reader an idea of how
for a service or product), or review the important your message is
content of an important meeting, - If your message is TIME SENSITIVE, you
deadline, memo. might want to include a date in your
subject line, for example, “Meeting on
Thurs, Dec 2.”
 especially if the persona receiving the copy
is in a supervisory role.
2. GREETINGS AND SIGN-OFFS - For example, copying you boss on an e-mail
- Use greeting and sign-off. Don’t just start to a nonresponsive co-worker might prompt
with your text, and don’t stop at the end the co-worker to respond.
without a polite signature
- When in doubt, address someone more 4. Bcc (BLIND CARBON COPY)
formally to avoid offending them. Dear - Blind Copying e-mails or Bcc to a group of
Professor Smith, Hello Ms. Doe, Hi Mary people can be useful when you don’t want
Jane. everyone on the list to have each other’s e-
- If you don’t know the name of the person mail addresses.
you are addressing, or if the e-mail - The only recipient address that will be
addresses a diverse group, try something visible to all recipients is the one in the To:
GENERIC, YET POLITE: To whom it may field.
concern, Hello everyone - If you don’t want any of the recipients to
- Your CLOSING is extremely important see the e-mail addresses in the list, you can
because it lets the reader know who is put your own addresses in the To: field and
contacting them. use Bcc: exclusively to address your
- Always SIGN OFF WITH YOUR NAME AT THE message to others.
END OF YOUR E-MAIL. If you don’t know
the reader well, you might also consider ADDITIONAL TIPS FOR WRITING MORE
including your title and the organization you EFFECTIVE E-MAILS
belong to; for example:
Mary Watkins 1. Think about your message before you write
Senior Research Associate it
Bain and Company Joseph Smith - First, decide on the purpose of your e-mail
UNC-CH, Class of 2009 and what outcome you expect from your
- For your CLOSING, something brief but communication
friendly, or perhaps just your name, will do - Then think about your message’s audience
for most correspondence: Thank you, Best and what he/she/they may need for your
wishes, Regards, See you tomorrow message to have the intended result
- for a VERY FORMAL MESSAGE, such as a job - Jot down some notes about what
application, use the kind of closing that you information you need to convey, what
might see in a business letter: Sincerely, question you have, etc. then organize your
Respectfully yours thoughts in a logical sequence
- You can try brainstorming techniques like
3. Cc (CARBON COPY) mapping, listing, or outlining to help you
- Copying Individuals Or Cc on an e-mail is a organize your thoughts
good way to send your message to the
main recipient while also sending someone 2. Reflect on the tone of your message
else a copy at the same time - When communicating via email, lack of
- In professional settings, copying someone gestures and voice inflections can lead to
else on an e-mail can help get things done, misinterpretation of tone. For instance,
 sarcasm and jokes may offend your - Re-read messages before you send them.
audience Use proper grammar spelling, capitalization,
- For instance, beginning an e-mail to your and punctuation
professor or TA with “Hey!” might be - If your email program supports it, use
perceived as being rude or presumptions (as spelling and grammar checkers
in, Hey you!” - Try reading your message out loud to help
you catch any grammar mistakes or
3. Strive for clarity and brevity in your writing awkward phrasing that you might
- MISCOMMUNICATION can occur if an e- otherwise miss
mail is unclear, disorganized, or just too
long and complex for readers to easily
follow. Here are some steps you can take to
ensure that your message is understood:

i. Begin your email with a clear

statement of your purpose

ii. Provide context by including

relevant text or information

iii. Use paragraphs to organize

thoughts or consider sending
separate emails for unrelated
points

iv. End with desired outcome and any

necessary instructions, such as
response type or due dates.

4. Format your message so that it is easy to

read
- Use WHITE SPACE to visually separate
paragraphs into separate blocks of text
- Use BOLD FACE TYPE OR CAPITAL LETTERS
to highlight critical information, such as
due dates. (but do not type your entire
message in capital letters or boldface – your
reader may perceive it as “shouting” and
won’t be able to tell which parts of the
message are especially important)

5. Proofread