10
Communicating with Non-Specialist Audiences
The ability to explain complex, technical matters with ease and simplicity so that a non-specialist audience understands is one of the most important skills you can develop within a technical field. This ability to “translate” difficult-to-read technical discussions is important because so much of technical writing is aimed at non-specialist audiences. These audiences include important people such as supervisors, executives, investors, financial officers, government officials, and, of course, customers.
In writing environments, there are a number of ways to communicate specialized knowledge to non-specialist audiences. A way we will focus on doing this in one of our projects are through formal sentence definitions and extended definitions.
Extended, Formal, and Brief Definitions
When I described the definition method of development, I noted that there were many ways you could give a definition, such as through comparisons or examples. When you give a definition through a comparison or example, you are giving an example of an extended definition. Many types of extended definitions exist, and they help you to explain terms or jargon within your field to a non-expert audience. A list of different types of extended definitions is below. An example of the definition is included for each listed type of extended definition. Be aware that what you see below is not a comprehensive listing of different types of extended definitions you may use.
History
Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy was named after Ernest Rutherford, the Nobel Laureate in physics, whose early 20th century experiments in bombarding atoms of various materials with x-rays revealed the structure of the nucleus. As knowledge of the atom advanced, this procedure evolved into an excellent method of measuring the composition of objects without destroying them. Today this method is even used by art historians to analyze paintings and sculpture.
Word Derivation
Diastrophism is derived from the Greek worddiastrophe, whose root meaning is “to turn through.” Thus, diastrophism appropriately names the phenomenon of “turning through,” or deformation, of the earth’s crust that created oceans and mountains.
Contrast
Land treatment should not be confused with landfilling. In land treatment, refinery wastes are spread in a thin layer onto a designated plot of land. These wastes are then cultivated into the soil, where they are broken down and immobilized by soil organisms. Landfilling, on the other hand, is the storage of wastes in a constructed or natural excavation.
Basic Principle
Distillation processes make use of the principle that different liquids will vaporize at different temperatures. That principle allows one liquid to be separated from another by applying heat at the boiling temperature of the desired liquid.
Process Stages
Aeration-by-Turning consists of two stages: 1) tearing down the existing windrow, separating the internal and external l