From technical writing to technical communication
Technical communication is often reduced to technical writing. Technical writing provides product documentation and sits downstream of the sale.
Definition
Section titled “Definition”The goal of Technical communicationThe broader discipline that spans the entire product life cycle and reaches general audiences, prospects, and journalists — as distinct from technical writing, which produces user-facing product documentation after a sale.View in glossary → is to turn prospects into satisfied customers. The technical writer gives the market the information it needs to choose, evaluate, and use a high-tech product. Inside the company, they sit at the interface between R&D and marketing; outside it, they open a dialogue between the company and its many audiences. The three levels of technical documentation offer a useful framework for understanding where a company’s documentation stands today.
Technical communication is often reduced to technical writing - the product documentation produced once a sale is made. But technical communication starts earlier, before the sale, and stays with the product across its entire life cycle. Where technical writing speaks to users, technical communication also speaks to the general public, to journalists, and to prospects.
| Technical writing | Technical communication | |
|---|---|---|
| When | Once a sale is made | Before the sale, and across the product’s entire life cycle |
| Audience | Users | Also the general public, journalists, and prospects |
| Media | Product documentation | A range of media, each tailored to the reader’s level of expertise and role |
Technical communication supports both marketing and technical writing.
Key principles
Section titled “Key principles”A marketing dimension in every medium
Section titled “A marketing dimension in every medium”Its aim is to show that a product fits its audience. To do that, it draws on a range of media, each tailored to the reader’s level of expertise and role - general public, journalists, prospects, customers. The technical writer adapts the message to each one, and whatever the medium - text, illustration, film, animation - a marketing dimension runs through all of it. To support sales, every piece of communication has to work as a marketing tool too.
Logical and creative
Section titled “Logical and creative”But can the same person be both logical and creative? That duality is essential in musical composition, architecture, and software development - and it is just as essential for a technical writer. The work calls for:
- studying the fit between the audience’s needs and the company’s resources,
- strong creative and writing skills,
- rigorous project management,
- an industrial process for producing and promoting content.
Getting the most out of content
Section titled “Getting the most out of content”This blog looks at concrete examples of technical communication media: their marketing value, their fit with the target audience, and how to get the most out of them. Getting the most out of content means:
- producing quality content aligned with your audience,
- preserving existing content across its versions,
- reusing and recycling what you already have.