How should you write and present a business proposal? What is the best way to take minutes? When should a work email be formal and when chatty?

Communicating in a clear, concise manner with colleagues and clients is a key aspect of professionalism and good business practice. Yet many South African companies do not train their staff to do this, leading to confusion and lost hours - and it affects how people view your ability to do your job.

Now, help is at hand with plain-language experts Bittie Viljoen-Smook, Johan Geldenhuys and Wena Coetzee in this user-friendly guide to all aspects of written English in the workplace. Your journey to presenting yourself in an excellent, effective way starts here.

Winner, 2019 Global Legal Skills Book Award, given by the Global Legal Skills Conference An essential handbook for international lawyers and students Focusing on vocabulary, Essential Legal English in Context introduces the US legal system and its terminology. Designed especially for foreign-trained lawyers and students whose first language is not English, the book is a must-read for those who want to expand their US legal vocabulary and basic understanding of US government. Ross uses a unique approach by selecting legal terms that arise solely within the context of the levels and branches of US government, including terminology related to current political issues such as partisanship. Inspired by her students' questions over her years of teaching, she includes a vast collection of legal vocabulary, concepts, idioms, and phrasal verbs and unpacks concepts embedded in US case law, such as how the US constitutional separation of powers may affect a court's interpretation of the law. The handbook differentiates basic terms in civil and criminal cases and compares terms that may seem similar because of close spellings but in fact have different meanings. For instance, what is the distinction between "taking the stand" and "taking a stand?" What is the difference between "treaties" and "treatises"? Featuring illustrations and hands-on exercises, Essential Legal English in Context is a valuable self-study resource for those who want to improve their legal English terminology before entering a US law school, studying US law or government, or working as a seconded attorney to a US law firm. Instructors can use the handbook in an introductory US legal English course.

This entertaining and highly readable book gives anyone writing in the sciences a clear and easy-to-follow guide to the English language. English is often regarded as one of the most difficult languages to master. Yet while the English language has a vocabulary of upwards of 500,000 words, it only uses nine parts of speech, and all of these words fall into one (or more) of those nine categories. Scientific English: A Guide for Scientists and Other Professionals, Third Edition contains many simple revelations like this that make effective scientific writing in English easy, even for those whose fluency is in another language. The book is organized around a basic guide to English grammar that is specifically tailored to the needs of scientists, science writers, science educators, and science students. The authors explain the goals of scientific writing, the role of style, and the various kinds of writing in the sciences, then provide a basic guide to the fundamentals of English and address problem areas such as redundancies, abbreviations and acronyms, jargon, and foreign terms. Email, online publishing, blogs, and writing for the Web are covered as well. This book is designed to be an enlightening and entertaining read that can then be retained as a practical scientific writing reference guide. Includes cartoons and humorous illustrations that help reinforce important concepts Provides a glossary that allows readers to easily reference the meanings of grammatical terms used in the book Incorporates a wide variety of quotations to provide humor, make points, or reinforce key concepts Includes an entire chapter on electronic media as well as new material on self-editing

This brief guide is ideal for science and engineering students and professionals to help them communicate technical information clearly, accurately, and effectively. The focus is on the most common communication forms, including laboratory reports, research articles, and oral presentations, and on common issues that arise in classroom and professional practice. This book will be especially useful to students in a first chemistry or physics laboratory course. Advanced courses will often use the same formatting as required for submission to technical journals or for technical report writing, which is the focus of this book. Good communication habits are appropriate in all forms of technical communication. This book will help the reader develop effective communication skills. It is also ideal as a reference on stylistic and grammar issues throughout a technical career. Unlike most texts, which concentrate on writing style, this book also treats oral presentations, graphing, and analysis of data.

There is increasing pressure on academics and graduate students to publish in peer reviewed journals, but many students and researchers who are new to quantitative methods struggle to write up statistics in reports, theses and journal articles. This book is an accessible reference text aimed at helping people write about quantitative research in applied linguistics, focusing mainly on writing for journals. Different types of statistical analysis are explained in detail along with annotated examples drawn from published and unpublished sources. The book offers advice on academic writing, how and where to get research published, and recommends additional resources helpful for both students and seasoned researchers.

Learning how to write clearly and concisely is an integral part of furthering your research career; however, doing so is not always easy. In this second edition, fully updated and revised, Dr. Silyn-Roberts explains in plain English the steps to writing abstracts, theses, journal papers, funding bids, literature reviews, and more. The book also examines preparing seminar and conference presentations. Written in a practical and easy to follow style specifically for postgraduate students in Engineering and Sciences, this book is essential in learning how to create powerful documents.

Writing for Science and Engineering will prove invaluable in all areas of research and writing due its clear, concise style. The practical advice contained within the pages alongside numerous examples to aid learning will make the preparation of documentation much easier for all students.
Written in modular format, so you only need to access the relevant chapterCovers a wide range of document and presentation typesIncludes easy-to-understand rules to improve writing

This important new text invites readers to step back from their busy professional lives and look at technical communication philosophically, to ask fundamental questions such as what does it mean to communicate? and how do language and graphics - the ""signs"" or ""tools"" of the technical communicator - relate to action in a technological world? Through this excursion in the theory of technical discourse, you will discover a fresh approach to reports, manuals, and proposals produced and consumed daily in business, government, and research organizations around the world. The authors examine familiar genres in two relatively new ways.

This book addresses four main topics: professional ethics, technical writing, presentation skills, and online writing. These topics are woven throughout the book and some of them are the main subjects of one or more chapters. The overarching theme of this book is to provide well-tested, best-practice techniques and strategies for main topic areas while focusing on information that can be immediately applied to help the IT professional improve a particular skill. Technical Writing, Presentational Skills, and Online Communication: Professional Tools and Insights is a collection of work aimed at any professional that deals with ethical issues, writes up a technical project, gives or develops a presentation, or writes material for an online audience. While focusing on practical information and process, the goal is to improve the reader s ability and knowledge in each of these four areas. This book presents the big picture relating to the chosen topics so the audience will have an excellent framework and foundation in the areas of professional ethics, technical writing, presentation skills, and online writing.

Guidelines for Reports by Autopsy Pathologists is intended to help the autopsy pathologist produce reports that communicate well. Having evolved from a coll- tion of faculty critiques of the autopsy reports, summary and opinion reports, scene reports, and death certi?cates produced by residents in anatomic pathology and f- lows in forensic pathology, the book emphasizes topics that have been troublesome for trainees. For clinicians, the medical record describes their work product. For autopsy pathologists, the written report is the work product and demands an acco- ingly higher standard of composition. Most reports produced by pathologists can be divided into objective and subjective elements, or, in other words, ?ndings and opinions. The pathologist must have a clear understanding of the linkage between the two. When composing a report, the autopsy pathologist should serve the goal of c- municating to the parties who will read the report, namely, the case pathologist him- or herself (at a later date), attorneys, the family of the decedent, and other physicians. I believe that careless and imprecise thinking leads to sloppy language, and that sloppy language leads to careless and imprecise thinking. In my experience, pathologists who learn how to clearly express and organize their ?ndings and op- ions in a written format make more detailed and focused observations at the autopsy table.

Success in scientific and engineering research depends on effective writing and presentation. The purpose of this guide is to help the reader achieve that goal. It enables students and researchers to write and present material to a professional modern standard, efficiently and painlessly, and with maximum impact. The approach is not prescriptive. Rather, the emphasis is on a logical approach to communication, informed by what needs to be achieved, what works in practice, and what interferes with success. Over 400 examples of good and bad writing and graphing are presented. Each is from a published research article and is accompanied by analysis, comment, and correction where needed. Journal reviewers' critiques of submitted manuscripts are included to illustrate common pitfalls. Above all, this is a "how-to" book, comprehensive but concise, suitable for continuous study or quick reference. Checklists at the end of each chapter enable the reader to test the readiness of a dissertation, journal submission, or conference presentation for assessment or review. Although oriented towards engineering and the physical and life sciences, it is also relevant to other areas, including behavioural and clinical sciences and medicine.

For courses in Technical Communication. This version of Technical Communication: Process and Product has been updated to reflect the 8th Edition of the MLA Handbook (April 2016)* A focus on oral and written correspondence in all fields Technical Communication: Process and Product shows students how to produce all forms of written and oral technical communication with easy-to-follow instructions. Interesting scenarios and examples featuring real people on the job make the text relatable to students of all majors. The Ninth Edition builds upon the authors' proven methodology, emphasizes the writing process, and shows students how it applies to both written and oral communication. By showcasing real employees in communication scenarios across a wide range of disciplines - from engineering, to consulting, banking, construction, and biotechnology - the authors showcase the importance of strong communication skills within every field. * The 8th Edition introduces sweeping changes to the philosophy and details of MLA works cited entries. Responding to the "increasing mobility of texts," MLA now encourages writers to focus on the process of crafting the citation, beginning with the same questions for any source. These changes, then, align with current best practices in the teaching of writing which privilege inquiry and critical thinking over rote recall and rule-following.

Designing Science Presentations: A Visual Guide to Figures, Papers, Slides, Posters, and More, Second Edition, guides scientists of any discipline in the design of compelling science communication. Most scientists never receive formal training in the design, delivery and evaluation of scientific communication, yet these skills are essential for publishing in high-quality journals, soliciting funding, attracting lab personnel, and advancing a career. This clear, readable volume fills that gap, providing visually intensive guidance at every step-from the construction of original figures to the presentation and delivery of those figures in papers, slideshows, posters and websites. The book provides pragmatic advice on the preparation and delivery of exceptional scientific presentations and demonstrates hundreds of visually striking presentation techniques.

This study compared the effects of anonymous e-peer review with identifiable e-peer review on student writing performance and perceived learning satisfaction. It also investigated whether anonymous e-peer review facilitated a greater amount of critical peer feedback. Quasiexperimental design was used to test group differences on the dependent variables. Participants were forty-eight freshmen enrolled in two English composition classes at an American urban university. The two intact classes taught by the same instructor were randomly assigned to the anonymous e-peer review group and the identifiable e-peer review group. The results of the experiment showed that students in the anonymous e-peer review group outperformed their counterparts in the identifiable e-peer review group on writing performance; students in the anonymous e-peer review group provided a greater amount of critical feedback and lower ratings on their peers' writing. No significant differences between the anonymous e-peer review group and the identifiable e-peer review group were found on student learning satisfaction.

As the field of Technical Writing has evolved, so has the eighth edition of Technical English. Known for its direct, no-nonsense writing style, plentiful and varied examples, and step-by-step instruction, Technical English leads students through the many facets of technical communication. The Eighth Edition retains much of the vision of the previous editions-it encompasses written, oral, and visual communication-but also reflects current practices in the field of technical writing. With continued emphasis on workplace communication, the focus remains on the entire writing process from planning through revision. Technical English emphasizes efficiency in the search for and evaluating information, designing and preparing graphics and other visuals, and choosing appropriate communication technology and media. In addition, the eighth edition suggests guidelines for research, employment, and grammatical usage

This book answers every question a doctoral graduate new to publishing could have about writing for a conference, from "Why would I want to publish at a conference?" to "What do I wear?" Conferences are often a researcher's first foray into publishing. Each year, about 50,000 new doctoral graduates arrive to the publishing landscape, most with little or no understanding of how the conference publication process works. Yet until now, there have been no publications devoted to this specific subject. Writing for Conferences: A Handbook for Graduate Students and Faculty serves as an essential guide for graduate students who want to publish the results of the research projects of their graduate program to maximum effect. It explains the conference publication process step-by-step and answers all of the questions asked by students inexperienced in publishing. The book is also a valuable reference manual for previously published authors, providing insightful sections on ethics in publishing, dress and grooming, presentation tips, and networking techniques to develop further research and career opportunities. Presents vignettes from many published authors that highlight their real-life experiences Dedicates an entire chapter to documenting the timeline of publishing Includes over 80 tables that augment the text Contains sidebars that reinforce key points and definitions Provides bibliography references at the end of each chapter Includes a glossary of key terms