Colons

Colons signal readers to keep reading because related thoughts or a list will follow. In this role, colons differ from periods, semicolons, and even commas, all of which signal a pause or even a full stop.

1. Colons link related thoughts, one of which must be capable of standing alone as a sentence.

Colons emphasize the second thought (unlike semicolons, which emphasize both thoughts equally, and dashes, which emphasize the break in the sentence and can emphasize the first thought).

Colons shift emphasis forward: They tend to make the second thought the most important part of the sentence. When such is the case, the colon indicates that explanation or elaboration follows:

The Franklin Shipyard needed one thing to remain solvent: to win the Navy’s supercarrier contract.

The Franklin shipyard needed one thing to remain solvent: It had to win the Navy’s supercarrier contract.

See CAPITALS.

NOTE: The two complete thoughts in the second example could also appear as two sentences:

The Franklin Shipyard needed one thing to remain solvent. It had to win the Navy’s supercarrier contract.

However, linking these thoughts with a colon emphasizes their close connection. Writing them as two sentences is less emphatic if the writer wishes to stress that the one thing Franklin needs is to win the contract.

2. Colons introduce lists or examples:

Our management-development study revealed the need for greater monitoring during these crucial phases:

1. Initial organization

2. Design and development

3. Fabrication and quality control

______________

The Mars Division’s audit of field service-personnel centers found the following general deficiencies:

1. Service personnel do not fully understand the new rebate policy.

2. Parts inventories are inadequate.

3. The centralized customer records are not operational, although the computer terminals have all been installed.

NOTE 1: A colon need not follow a heading or subheading that introduces a list. The heading itself is sufficient; a colon is redundant.

NOTE 2: The items listed do not require periods unless they are complete sentences. See LISTS.

3. Colons separate hours from minutes, volumes from pages, and the first part of a ratio from the second:

The deadline is 3:30 p.m. on Friday.

See Government Architecture 15:233.

The ratio of direct to indirect costs is 1:1.45.

4. Colons follow the salutation in a formal letter:

Dear Ms. Labordean:
Dear President Crouch:
Dear Clarence Johns:

See LETTERS.

5. Colons separate titles from subtitles:

Government Architecture: Managing Interface Specifications

Color

Color helps readers and viewers acquire and interpret information. Appropriate use of contrasting or complementary colors clarifies the structure and emphasis of a visual message. For example, if main headings are black and subheadings are blue, readers can easily grasp the organization of a document.

Color originates when an object emits or reflects different wavelengths of light. Light (as in a beam of sunlight) is made up of the colors of the spectrum. See figure 1. Light shining through a prism bends to a different degree depending on its wavelength, thus revealing all the different colors in the spectrum.

Figure 1. Colors of the Spectrum Displayed With a Prism. As in this figure, the rainbow colors in a spectrum always appear in the same order.

Colors are categorized as primary or additive. Additive color starts with the light of three primary colors: red, green, and blue. Mixing light of these colors in equal amounts makes white light (imagine three overlapping colored spotlights in a darkened room). See figure 2. Changing the mixture produces any color. For example, equal parts of red and green light make yellow light; red and blue make magenta; and green and blue make cyan.

Figure 2. Colors of the Spectrum Displayed by Mixing Primary Light Colors. Visualize multiple filters overlapping each other to produce different hues.

That is why color in a computer-generated graphic is designated by its RGB ratio (i.e., the ratio of red to green to blue). A graphic with an RGB ratio of 0-255-0 is pure green, where 0-255-255 is cyan. You can manipulate the RGB ratio with the color wheel or the custom color field in your software program.

1. Establish a color scheme and then add color standards to the project styles.

The styles for your document or presentation should include a color scheme, with text color(s), when or where they will be used, and background colors listed by topic, section, subject, or other logical grouping. For example, you might decide to use blue lettering for important rules and a light gray-shaded background for quoted passages. To predefine colors, you can choose the standard colors of your software program or select custom colors. Often you must use colors branded by your organization. The formula for these colors should be available as an RGB ratio. See PAGE LAYOUT for examples of styles. As you select colors, try to establish a color scheme that makes sense to potential readers. For example, if your readers are from the United States, green suggests prosperity (as in money), yellow suggests caution (as in a traffic signal), and red shows failure (as in red ink) or danger.

Color associations are not universal, so avoid assuming that a certain color always has a particular meaning. For example, in several Eastern countries, the color white is associated with death and mourning; in the West, white is traditionally a sign of purity and innocence.

2. Use contrasting, bright colors to show opposing concepts or major changes; use shades or tints of one color to show minor variations.

The color wheel in your software program is a basic diagram showing the relationships of colors, hues, shades, and tints, as well as complementary and harmonious relationships. A shade is a darkened hue—the decrease of light or the addition of black. A tint (the opposite of a shade) is a lightened hue—the increase of light or the addition of white.

The color wheel in figure 3 shows the relationship between hues, tints, and shades.

Figure 3. The Color Wheel. This schematic presentation shows which colors are complementary (opposite) of each other and which are only minor shades and tints.

Complementary colors are opposite one another on the color wheel. As the top row of figure 4 shows, yellow and violet are complementary colors. Other complementary pairs are blue and orange, or red and green. As complementary colors, yellow and violet contrast sharply, as shown in the middle circle on the top row. Choosing a tint of yellow or a shade of violet produces less contrast, as in the third box on that row.

Figure 4. Complementary, Split-Complementary, and Harmonious Combinations. The left-hand column shows how these three combinations are defined. The middle and right-hand columns demonstrate different combinations as they would appear in graphics.

Graphic artists often choose complementary colors to create high contrasts. But this choice must depend on the purpose of each graphic. Some graphics—such as the advertising on a website—need to catch a buyer’s eye immediately, so high contrast is valuable. In other contexts—for instance, a high-definition computer projection—complementary colors are often too bright, maybe even annoying.

Split-complementary colors are two colors positioned adjacent to a single color on the wheel. Their complement is opposite their adjacent color on the wheel. As the second row in figure 4 shows, red-orange is complementary to both blue and green. Split-complementary colors provide less contrast than complementary colors, but combinations of them are still bright, as the middle box on row 2 indicates. Using tints and shades decrease the contrast, as shown in the third box on row 2.

Harmonious colors lie between two primary colors on the color wheel. As figure 4 shows, the harmonious colors between red and yellow clearly relate to each other; thus they provide less contrast than complementary combinations. Tints and shades will further decrease the low contrast between harmonious colors. Graphic artists use harmonious colors when they want to convey related ideas within a graphic or a document.

3. Match your color choices to your goal or purpose in designing a document or making a presentation.

Which color combinations should you choose? No set answers exist. Assess the purpose of your graphic and your text. If you need to communicate highly contrasting ideas or create a strong impact, choose complementary or split-complementary colors, as explained in rule 2 above. Conversely, if your message needs to be more subtle, then choose tints, shades, or even harmonious combinations.

Figure 5 shows one use of high-contrast colors. On road signs, the goal is to use colors so vividly that no one can miss seeing the sign.

Figure 5. Road Signs. Road signs use bright, contrasting color combinations for high visibility.

A more subtle use of color is desirable, however, in most business and technical documents and in graphics for business or technical presentations. Figure 6 shows how three business graphs would look with different color combinations. As in this figure, try printing sample graphics with different color combinations to judge what will be effective. Also, remember that the colors you see on a computer screen may not print accurately. You must often adjust colors to the parameters of the printer.

Figure 6. Color Combinations in Graphics. Color combinations in the second row are bright and might be distracting. The bottom row shows more subdued combinations using tints and shades.

If possible, test your color combinations by asking colleagues to review actual versions of your materials. Do they find the combinations to be appropriate, given the intended use of the materials? What changes would they suggest?

After some experimentation and after comments from colleagues, you will be ready to settle on a color scheme that works for a particular project. This is the color scheme you should include in your project style sheet (see rule 1 above).

4. Remember that color perception varies greatly among individuals.

Some combinations, such as orange-blue and red-green, appear to vibrate and disturb many readers. Although rare in women, red-green color blindness affects one in every 10 men. This combination is very difficult for color-blind men to interpret and should not be used. A red-blue combination does not provide enough contrast for a clear message. See GRAPHICS FOR PRESENTATIONS.

5. For more legibility, use a light background with dark text, and use colors sparingly.

Text in documents is usually printed in black ink on white paper because black ink generally costs less, so don’t make understanding your message dependent on text color.

But color is useful to separate sections or emphasize important points. Using colored paper is an inexpensive way to add color. For example, the USDA Forest Service manual, which contains rules governing Forest Service management activities, has traditionally used different colored papers for national, regional, and local sections of the manual.

Different combinations of text color and background vary widely in readability. Figure 7 on the next page shows some examples of colored text and backgrounds.

Figure 7. Colored Text on Different Colored Backgrounds. The recommended combinations (right column) still need to be verified in your particular context. Your printer or your paper may be just different enough to produce readability problems.

Remember that any of these examples may be less legible if you are using a computer projection or a video screen. Test the circumstances. Stand halfway back in the audience. A person in the back receives about one-fourth the image quality you see halfway back. See GRAPHICS FOR PRESENTATIONS.

In computer presentations, the high contrast of a dark background and light letters creates impact, but also a darker, more sober emotional effect.

6. Combine colors and textures to improve legibility and understanding.

Colors and textures can make almost any graphic easier to understand. But you must choose carefully to ensure that the viewer interprets textural elements as you intend.

Use similar colors to bring together elements in groups. Black-and-white patterns are almost as effective as color in grouping elements.

Be cautious in using textures, gradients, and embossing. The purpose of such elements is to help readers interpret information, but overuse can detract from your message and confuse readers. Avoid faddish use of these elements, such as swirls, vectors, splatters, or smoky effects.

Textures such as crosshatching, dots, or other shapes or lines should be used only when color is not available to distinguish between elements of a visual. Neighboring areas should not be too similar in texture.

Also, when selecting colors and tones or textures for graphs, consider how the finished graphic will photocopy. You may want to use both color and texture to create a pleasing color graphic while ensuring improved legibility of a photocopy. See also CHARTS, GRAPHICS FOR DOCUMENTS, GRAPHICS FOR PRESENTATIONS, GRAPHS, ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS, and PAGE LAYOUT.

Commas

Commas keep English sentences readable, especially long, involved sentences. Without commas, readers wouldn’t know when to pause. But as the following rules show, correct placement of commas reflects the grammar and syntax of the language, not merely places to pause. See PUNCTUATION for information on mandatory and optional uses of commas.

1. Commas separate complete thoughts joined by these simple conjunctions: and, but, or, for, nor, so, yet:

He was a Russian linguist in communications intelligence, and he has logged over 5,000 hours as a C-130 navigator in the Air Force.

Visophane has been marketed abroad since 2005, but it was not approved for the local market until May of last year because of insufficient clinical trials.

NOTE 1: You may omit this comma if both complete thoughts are short:

The chairman resigned and the company failed.

The simple conjunctions cited above are called coordinating conjunctions. When they link two complete thoughts, the resulting sentence is called a compound sentence. See CONJUNCTIONS, SENTENCES, and BRITISH ENGLISH.

NOTE 2: If you use any other transitional or connecting word (however, furthermore, consequently, and so on) to join two complete thoughts, use a semicolon. See SEMICOLONS and TRANSITIONS.

2. Commas separate items in a series consisting of three or more words, phrases, or even whole clauses:

Control Data’s Integrated Support Software System provides compatibility between tools and workers, consistent tool interfaces, ease of learning, user friendliness, and expandability.

The user may also return to the control program to perform such other functions as database editing, special report generation, and statistical analyses.

The Carthage-Hines agreement contained provisions for testing the database, cataloguing the findings, creating a more user-friendly software package, and marketing any new software developed jointly.

NOTE 1: A comma separates the last two items in a series, even though these items are linked by a conjunction (and in the above examples, but the rule applies for any conjunction). This comma was once considered optional, but the trend is to make it mandatory, especially in technical and business English. Leaving it out can cause confusion and misinterpretation. See PUNCTUATION and BRITISH ENGLISH.

NOTE 2: If all of the items in the series are linked by a simple conjunction, do not use commas:

The user may also return to the control program to perform such other functions as database editing and special report generation and statistical analyses.

NOTE 3: In sentences containing a series of phrases or clauses that already have commas, use semicolons to separate each phrase or clause:

Our legal staff prepared analyses of the Drury-Engels agreement, which we hoped to discontinue; the Hopkinson contract; and the joint leasing proposal from Shell, Mobil, and Amoco.

See CONJUNCTIONS and SEMICOLONS.

3. Commas separate long introductory phrases and clauses from the main body of a sentence:

Although we are new to particle scan technology, our work with split-beam lasers gives us a solid experiential base from which to undertake this study.

For the purposes of this investigation, the weapon will be synthesized by a computer program called RATS (Rapid Approach to Transfer Systems).

Oil production was down during the first quarter, but when we analyzed the figures, we discovered that the production decline was due to only two of our eight wells.

NOTE 1: In the last example, the when we analyzed clause does not open the sentence, but it must still be separated from the main clause following it. It introduces the main thought of the last half of the sentence.

NOTE 2: If the introductory thought is short and no confusion will result, you can omit this comma:

In either case the Carmichael procedure will be used to estimate the current requirements of the preliminary designs.

4. Commas enclose parenthetical expressions.

Parenthetical expressions are words or groups of words that are inserted into a sentence and are not part of the main thought of the sentence. These expressions describe, explain, or comment on something in the sentence, typically the word or phrase preceding the parenthetical expression:

The transport will, according to our calculations, require only 10,000 feet of runway.

The survey results, though not what we had predicted, confirm that the rate of manufacturer acceptance will exceed 60 percent.

Parentheses and dashes may also enclose parenthetical expressions. Use commas most of the time, but when you want to make the expression stand out, enclose it with parentheses (which are more emphatic than commas) or dashes—which are more emphatic than parentheses. See PARENTHESES and DASHES.

5. Commas separate nonessential modifying and descriptive phrases and clauses from a sentence, especially those clauses beginning with who, which, or that:

These biocybernetic approaches, which merit further investigation, will improve performance of the man/machine interface.

In this sentence, which merit further investigation is not essential because the reader will already know which biocybernetic approaches the sentence refers to. The clause beginning with which is nonessential and could be left out:

These biocybernetic approaches will improve performance of the man/machine interface.

If several biocybernetic approaches were listed, however, and if the writer needed to identify only those meriting further investigation, the clause would be essential, could not be left out, and would not take commas:

Improving the performance of the man/machine interface meant identifying those biocybernetic approaches that merit further investigation.

The that in the preceding example commonly introduces essential clauses, although which sometimes appears. See that/which in WORD PROBLEMS.

Modifying or descriptive clauses should always follow the words they modify. If they cannot be removed from the sentence without changing the meaning, they are essential and must not be separated by commas from the word they modify. If they can be removed, they are nonessential and must be separated by commas from the main thought in the sentence:

Essential: She is the Dr. Gruber who developed analytical engine compressor stability models for NASA.

She is the Dr. Gruber does not make sense as an independent statement. The descriptive clause beginning with who is essential and therefore cannot be separated by a comma from Gruber.

Nonessential: Our Design Team Leader will be Dr. Janet Gruber, who developed analytical engine compressor stability models for NASA.

Our Design Team Leader will be Dr. Janet Gruber does stand alone as a complete and independent thought. In this case, the descriptive clause beginning with who is nonessential. Separating it from Gruber with a comma shows that it is additional and nonessential information. Note that a comma would follow NASA if the sentence continued. See PRONOUNS for a discussion of relative pronouns.

6. Commas separate two or more adjectives that equally modify the same noun:

This design features an advanced, multidose oral therapy.

NOTE: If two or more adjectives precede a noun, however, and one adjective modifies another adjective—and together they modify the noun—you must use a hyphen:

They had designed a no-flow heat exchange.

A good test for determining whether two or more adjectives equally modify a noun is to insert and between them. If the resulting phrase makes sense, then the adjectives are equal, and you should use commas to replace the ands:

old and rusty pipe (therefore, old, rusty pipe)

however

old and rusty and steam pipe (The and between rusty and steam makes no sense. Therefore, the phrase should be old, rusty steam pipe.)

See HYPHENS and ADJECTIVES.

7. Commas separate items in dates and addresses:

The proposal was signed on March 15, 2007.

Contact Benson Pharmaceuticals, Lindsay, Indiana, for further information.

NOTE: A comma follows the day and the year when the month and day precede the year. However, when the date consists only of month and year, a comma is not necessary:

The final report will be due January 14, 2011, just a month before the board meeting.

but

The final report will be due in January 2011.

When the date appears in the day-month-year sequence, no commas are necessary:

The report is due 14 January 2011.

See PUNCTUATION.

8. Commas separate titles and degrees from names:

The chief liaison will be Roger Hillyard, Project Review Board Chairman.

Mary Sarkalion, PhD, will coordinate clinical studies.

Clinical studies will be the responsibility of Mary Sarkalion, PhD.

NOTE: When the degree or title appears in the middle of a sentence, commas must appear before and after it.

9. Commas follow the salutation in informal letters and the complimentary closing in all letters:

Dear Joan,

Sincerely,

See COLONS and LETTERS.

10. Commas enclose in text the names of people addressed:

So, Bob, if you’ll check your records, we’ll be able to adjust the purchase order to your satisfaction.

11. Commas (or a comma and a semicolon) set off (enclose) the following transitional words and expressions when they introduce sentences or when they link two complete thoughts: accordingly, consequently, for example, for instance, further, furthermore, however, indeed, nevertheless, nonetheless, on the contrary, on the other hand, then, thus:

Consequently, the primary difference between CDSP and other synthesis programs is development philosophy.

Synthesis programs are now common in industry; however, CDSP has several features that make it especially suitable for this type of study.

or

Synthesis programs are now common in industry; CDSP has, however, several features that make it especially suitable for this type of study.

See SEMICOLONS.

NOTE: A few of these transitional words (however, thus, then, indeed) are occasionally part of the main thought of the sentence and do not form an actual transition. When such is the case, omit the punctuation before and after the words:

However unreliable cross-section analysis may be, it is still the most efficient means of scaling mathematical models.

Thus translated, the decoded message can be used to diagram nonlinear relationships.

12. Commas, like periods, always go inside closing quotation marks. Commas go outside parentheses or brackets:

The specifications contained many instances of the phrase “or equal,” which is an attempt to avoid actually specifying significant features of a required product.

Thanks to this new NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug), posttraumatic or postoperative conditions were significantly reduced.

NOTE: British usage places commas and periods inside or outside the quotation marks, depending on whether they are or are not part of the quotation. See SPACING, BRITISH ENGLISH, and QUOTATION MARKS.

Compound Words

Compound words are formed when two or more words act together. The compound may be written as a single word (with no space between the joined words), with a hyphen between the joined words, or with spaces between the joined words:

footnote

ourselves

right-of-way

3-minute break

delayed-reaction switch

land bank loan

parcel post delivery

The form of the compound varies with custom and usage as well as with the length of time the compound has existed.

Compound words usually begin as two or more separate, often unrelated words. When writers and speakers begin using the words together as nouns, verbs, adjectives, or adverbs, the compound generally has a hyphen or a space between words, depending on custom and usage. As the new compound becomes more common, the hyphen and space might drop, and the compound might be written as one word:

on-site has become onsite

co-operate has become cooperate

rail road has become railroad

auto body has become autobody

However, because of custom or usage, some compounds retain the hyphen or space between words:

all-inclusive

deep-rooted

living room

middle-sized

re-cover (to cover again)

re-create (to create again)

rough-coat (used as a verb)

sand-cast (used as a verb)

satin-lined

steam-driven

sugar water

summer school

terra firma

throw line

under secretary

Because new compound words are continually appearing in the language and because even familiar compounds might appear in different forms, depending on how they are used in a sentence, writers might have difficulty deciding which form of a compound to use. Recent dictionaries can often help by indicating how a word or compound has appeared previously.

However, for new compounds and for compounds not covered in dictionaries, use the principles of clarity and consistency, as well as the following guidelines, to select the form of the compound.

1. Write compounds as two words when the compounds appear with the words in their customary order and when the meaning is clear:

NOTE 1: Many such combinations are so common that we rarely think of them as compounds (especially because they do not have hyphens and are written with spaces between words). In many cases, writing them as a single word would be ridiculous: floodcontrol, realestate.

NOTE 2: We continue to pronounce such compounds with fairly equal stress on the joined words, especially when one or more of the words has two or more syllables (as in social security).

2. Write compounds as single words (no spaces between joined words) when the first word of the compound receives the major stress in pronunciation:

airplane

cupboard

doorstop

dragonfly

footnote

nightclerk

seaward

warehouse

NOTE 1: The stress often shifts to the first word when that word has only one syllable, as in the preceding examples.

NOTE 2: Words beginning with the following prefixes are not true compounds. Such words are usually written without a space or a hyphen:

afterbirth

Anglomania

antedate

biweekly

bylaw

circumnavigation

cooperate

contraposition

countercase

deenergize

demitasse

excommunicate

extracurricular

foretell

hypersensitive

hypoacid

inbound

infrared

interview

intraspinal

introvert

isometric

macroanalysis

mesothorax

metagenesis

microphone

misspelling

monogram

multicolor

neophyte

nonneutral

offset

outback

overactive

overflow

pancosmic

paracentric

particoated

peripatetic

planoconvex

polynodal

postscript

preexist

proconsul

pseudoscientific

reenact

retrospect

semiofficial

stepfather

subsecretary

supermarket

thermocouple

transonic

transship

tricolor

ultraviolet

unnecessary

underflow

NOTE 3: Words ending with the following suffixes are not true compounds. Such words are usually written without a space or hyphen:

portable

coverage

operate

plebiscite

twentyfold

spoonful

kilogram

geography

manhood

selfish

meatless

outlet

wavelike

procurement

partnership

lonesome

homestead

northward

clockwise

3. Hyphenate compounds that modify or describe other words:

rear-engine bracket

tool-and-die shop

two-phase engine-replacement program

down-to-cost model

two- or three-cycle process

4-year plan

20-day turn around

2- or 3-week vacation

See HYPHENS and ADJECTIVES.

NOTE 1: Such compounds are hyphenated only when they come before the word they modify. If the words forming the compound appear after the word they are describing, leave out the hyphens:

bracket for the rear engine (but rear-engine bracket)

a shop making tools and dies (but tool-and-die shop)

a program with two phases (but two-phase program)

NOTE 2: When the meaning is clear, such compound modifiers may not need hyphens:

sick leave policy

land management plan

life insurance company

per capita cost

production credit clause

speech improvement class

NOTE 3: Do not hyphenate if the first word of the compound modifier is an adverb ending with –ly:

barely known problem

eminently qualified researcher

highly developed tests

gently sloping range

however

well-developed tests

well-known problem

well-qualified researcher

4. Treat compounds used as verbs as separate words:

to break down

to check out

to follow up

to get together

to go ahead

to know how

to run through

to shut down

to shut off

to stand by

to start up

to take off

to trade in

The parallel compound nouns are usually either written as one word or hyphenated:

breakdown

checkout

follow-up

get-together

go-ahead

know-how

run-through

shutdown

shutoff

standby

start-up

takeoff

trade-in

However, some verb phrases are identical to the compound noun form:

cross-reference (both a noun and a verb)

When in doubt, check your dictionary.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses and at the same time indicate the relationship between them. Conjunctions include the simple coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, for, nor, so, yet), the subordinate conjunctions (because, since, although, when, if, so that, etc.), the correlative conjunctions (either ...or, neither ... nor, both ... and), and the conjunctive adverbs (however, thus, furthermore, etc.).

Coordinating Conjunctions

The simple coordinating conjunctions are and, but, or, for, nor, so, and yet. They often connect two independent clauses (complete thoughts):

The program designer established the default settings, and the programmer built them into the system.

Our proposal was a day late, but we were not eliminated from competition.

The pump will have to be replaced, or we will continue to suffer daily breakdowns.

We rejected his budget, yet he continued to argue that all contested items were justified.

See SENTENCES.

These simple connectors establish the relationship between the thoughts being coordinated:

—And shows addition

—Or shows alternative

—Nor shows negative alternative

—But and yet show contrast

—For and so show causality

NOTE 1: When you use a coordinating conjunction to connect two independent clauses or complete thoughts, place a comma before the conjunction, as in the sentences above. However, you may omit the comma when the two clauses are short and closely related. Also, a semicolon can replace both the comma and the conjunction. See SEMICOLONS and COMMAS.

NOTE 2: The conjunctions and and or (preceded by a comma) also connect the last two items in a series:

The engineer designed an emergency exit door, a narrow outside stairway, and a concrete support pad.

She requested full written disclosure, an apology, or financial compensation.

See COMMAS.

1. Ensure that in choosing and and or you select the conjunction that conveys exactly what you mean.

At first glance, and and or merely join two or more items, but they can and often do imply much more.

And

In the following sentences and does more than merely connect the ideas. What and implies is stated in parentheses following each example:

He saw the accident, and he called the police. (therefore)

My boss is competent, and David is not. (contrast)

He changed the tire, and he replaced the hub cap. (then)

Explain the cost savings, and I’ll approve your proposal. (condition)

Or

The conjunction or usually means one of two possibilities:

I want either a Ford or an Acura.

However, or sometimes has other, occasionally confusing, implications:

The faulty part or the worm gear seemed to be causing our problem. (Are the faulty part and the worm gear the same? Only knowledgeable readers would know for sure.)

Add to the bid, or I’ll reject your offer. (negative condition)

He began doing the schematics, or at least he appeared to be doing them. (correction)

See AND/OR in WORD PROBLEMS.

2. Occasionally, sentences can begin with a coordinating conjunction.

This advice contradicts the rule that many of us learned in school: “Never begin a sentence with and.” Some writers and editors still offer this advice, but most have now recognized that this so-called rule has no basis. Even Shakespeare began some of his sentences with coordinating conjunctions.

A coordinating conjunction at the beginning of a sentence links the sentence to the preceding sentence or paragraph. Sometimes, the linking is unnecessary:

We objected to the proposal because of its length. And others felt that it had errors in its facts.

The and at the beginning of the second sentence is simply unnecessary. It adds nothing to the thought and may easily be omitted:

We objected to the proposal because of its length. Others felt that it had errors in facts.

Using a conjunction to begin a sentence is not grammatically incorrect. Sometimes, it is good stylistic variation. But it tends to look and sound informal, so avoid this practice in formal documents.

3. Do not use and or but before which (or that, who, whose, whom, where) unless you use a preceding parallel which (or that, who, whose, whom, where):

We explored the DeMarcus itinerary, which you explained in your letter but which you failed to mention in Saturday’s meeting.

The meetings should take place where we met last year or where we can arrange for equally good facilities.

The following sentence violates this principle. Consequently, it is awkward and nonparallel:

The plans called for a number of innovative features, especially regarding extra insulation, and which should save us much in fuel costs. (Deleting the and would solve the lack of parallelism in this sentence.)

See PARALLELISM.

Subordinate Conjunctions

In contrast to the limited set of coordinating conjunctions, subordinate conjunctions are a varied and diverse group:

after, although, as, because, before, if, once, since, that, though, until, when, where, while

in that, so that, such that, except that, in order that, now (that), provided (that), supposing (that), considering (that), as far as, as long as, so long as, sooner than, rather than, as if, as though, in case

if . . . (then)

although . . . yet/nevertheless

as . . . so

more/–er/less . . . than

as . . . as

so . . . (that)

such . . . as

such . . . (that)

no sooner . . . than

whether . . . or (not)

the . . . the

Subordinate conjunctions introduce subordinate clauses and phrases (dependent clauses and phrases that do not convey complete thoughts and are therefore not independent):

After the engineer gave her talk

Because of the voltage loss

When the test results come in

While still producing fluids

In that you had already made the request

Except that the procedure was costly

Provided that you calculate the results

As though it hadn’t rained enough

If we fail

As aware as he is

So expensive that it was prohibitive

Whether or not you submit the report

These subordinate clauses and phrases must be attached to independent clauses (complete thoughts) to form sentences:

After the engineer gave her talk, several colleagues had questions.

In that you had already made the request, we decided to omit the formal interview.

If we fail, the project stops. (or If we fail, then the project stops.)

As aware as he is, he must be sensitive to the personnel problems.

See SENTENCES.

NOTE 1: A subordinate clause or phrase that opens a sentence should be followed by a comma. The preceding sentences illustrate this rule. See COMMAS.

NOTE 2: When the subordinate clause or phrase follows the independent clause or main thought of the sentence, no commas are necessary:

The experiment failed because of the voltage loss.

We would have denied the request except that the procedure was so costly.

We wondered whether you would turn in your report.

NOTE 3: Occasionally, the subordinate clause or phrase interrupts the main clause and must have commas on both sides of it to indicate where the clause or phrase appears:

The President and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, after receiving the latest aerial reconnaissance photos of the area, decided on a naval blockade of all ports.

Our budgetary problems, regardless of the Madiera Project expense, would have taken care of themselves if the prime rate hadn’t gone up three points.

4. Subordinate conjunctions can begin sentences:

When the test results come in, we’ll have to analyze them carefully.

Because the project manager was unfamiliar with the budget codes, we failed to expense the costs of fabrication.

NOTE: The old-school rule “Never begin a sentence with because” was and remains a bad rule. You may begin a sentence with because as long as the dependent clause it introduces is followed by an independent clause or complete thought.

5. Distinguish between some subordinate conjunctions that have overlapping or multiple meanings (especially because/since/as and while/although/as).

Avoid using since and as to mean “because”:

Because the Leiper Project failed, several engineers were reassigned to electro-optics. (not Since the project failed . . . )

Because we had ample supplies, no new batteries were ordered. (not As we had ample supplies . . . )

Avoid using while and as to mean “although”:

Although many employees begin work at 8 a.m., others begin at 7 a.m. (not While many employees begin work at 8 a.m.... )

Although the value of the test results declined, we still felt we could meet the deadline. (not As the value of the test results declined . . . )

Correlative Conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions are pairs of coordinating conjunctions:

both . . . and

either . . . or

neither . . . nor

not only . . . but also

6. Make the constructions following each coordinating conjunction parallel:

The committee was interested in both real estate holdings and stock investments. (not . . . both in real estate holdings and the stock investments.)

The investigation revealed that either the budget was inaccurate or our records had gaps. (not The investigation revealed either that the budget was inaccurate or our records had gaps.)

NOTE: Faulty parallelism problems occur when the same phrase structure or word patterns do not occur after each coordinating conjunction:

He was aware that not only was the pipe too small but also that the pipe supports were made of aluminum instead of stainless steel.

This sentence is confusing because the two thats are not parallel. The first that comes before not only, and the second that comes after but also. A parallel version of the sentence is much smoother:

He was aware not only that the pipe was too small but also that the pipe supports were made of aluminum instead of stainless steel.

See PARALLELISM.

Conjunctive Adverbs

Conjunctive adverbs are adverbs that function as conjunctions, typically by connecting independent clauses or complete thoughts. Usually, a semicolon appears along with the conjunctive adverb. The most common conjunctive adverbs are accordingly, also, besides, consequently, further, furthermore, hence, however, moreover, nevertheless, otherwise, then, therefore, thus, and too. See TRANSITIONS.

NOTE: Conjunctive adverbs and the accompanying semicolons lengthen sentences and convey a heavy, formal tone. If possible, replace conjunctive adverbs with and, but, or, for, nor, so, and yet.

7. Use a semicolon before and a comma after conjunctive adverbs used to join two complete thoughts:

Motherboard assembly is a lengthy production process; however, the individual assembly steps must still be tightly controlled.

Increasing pressure in the T-valves is potentially dangerous; nevertheless, we will not be able to monitor effluent discharge without increasing the pressure.

See SEMICOLONS and COMMAS.

NOTE: You can omit the comma following the conjunctive adverb if the sentence is short:

I think; therefore I am.

8. Use a comma following conjunctive adverbs at the beginning of a sentence:

Therefore, I am recommending that Pharmaco reconsider the baseline scores for the principal efficacy parameters.

However, sulfur compounds might not be the answer either.

NOTE 1: You may omit this comma if the sentence is short:

Thus the plan failed.

NOTE 2: If the adverb appears at the beginning of the sentence but does not behave as a conjunction, it is part of the sentence and cannot be followed by a comma:

Then the seam split at the forward discharge valve, and the boiler lost pressure rapidly.

Regardless of how we examined the problem, we could not resolve the fundamental dispute between the software designers and the copyright holders.

See COMMAS.

Contractions

Contractions are words formed by joining two words and dropping letters. An apostrophe marks the dropped letters:

cannot
can’t

we are
we’re

there is
there’s

1. Use contractions to establish a personal, informal tone.

Contractions are not appropriate for very formal or ceremonial documents such as contracts or legal notices. However, contractions lead to a conversational, friendly tone in most other business correspondence. Contractions are common in electronic mail (email) messages because they cut the amount of screen space required.

We’re excited that you’ll be joining our sales force!

It’s been a long time since you’ve come to see us.

See LETTERS, TONE, and contractions in WORD PROBLEMS.

2. Don’t confuse contractions with possessive pronouns.

Writers often confuse contractions, which require apostrophes, with possessive pronouns, which need no apostrophes:

It’s (it is) a regulatory issue.

The company lost its lease.

There’s (there is) no time to waste.

The contract is theirs if they want it.

Watch out for these pronouns commonly mistaken for contractions:

hers, not her’s

yours, not your’s

ours, not our’s

theirs, not their’s

Distinguish between:

it’s (it is)
its (belonging to it)

you’re (you are)
your (belonging to you)

they’re (they are)
their (belonging to them)

See APOSTROPHES AND PRONOUNS.

Dashes

Dashes are excellent devices for emphasizing key material and for setting off explanatory information in a sentence. They can also be used to indicate where each item in a list begins and to separate paragraph headings from succeeding text. See HEADINGS, LISTS, and PUNCTUATION.

Dashes primarily appear as an em dash—meaning that the dash is about as wide as the letter “m.” Dashes also appear as an en dash, which is as wide as a letter “n.” The en dash has only a few uses:

1959–1960

Appendix D–2

pages 120–122

Most word-processing software programs have a special code for dashes so that dashes appear as a solid line, not two separate hyphens. Using this code makes your text appear to be typeset, not typed on an old-fashioned typewriter. When you use a dash between two words, leave no space on either side of the dash. See SPACING.

NOTE: Traditionally, hyphens are even shorter than en dashes, but many software programs have the same code for hyphens and en dashes. See HYPHENS.

1. Dashes link introductory or concluding thoughts to the rest of the sentence.

Dashes linking thoughts emphasize the break in the sentence. Dashes often make the first thought the most important part of the sentence:

Winning the Navy’s supercarrier contract—that’s what the Franklin Shipyard needed to remain solvent.

Dashes can act like colons, however, and throw emphasis to the last part of the sentence:

We subjected the design to rigorous testing—but to no avail because stress, we discovered, was not the problem.

Often, the information following the dash clarifies, explains, or reinforces what came before the dash:

We consider our plan bold and unusual—bold because no one has tried to approach the problem from this angle, unusual because it’s not how one might expect to use laser technology.

Dashes can also link otherwise complete sentences:

The technical problem was not the design of the filter—the problem was poor quality assurance.

2. Dashes interrupt a sentence for insertion of thoughts related to, but not part of, the main idea of the sentence:

Octoronase had been undergoing clinical tests—all these were done abroad—for 3 years before the patients were withdrawn from the trial.

In this example, parentheses could replace the dashes; with parentheses, the sentence becomes slightly less emphatic. See PARENTHESES.

3. Dashes emphasize explanatory information enclosed in a sentence:

Two of Barnett’s primary field divisions—Industrial Manufacturing and Product Field Testing—will supervise the construction and implementation of the prototype.

In this example, commas or parentheses could replace the dashes. The commas would not be as emphatic as dashes; the parentheses would be more emphatic than commas, but less emphatic than dashes. See PARENTHESES and COMMAS.

4. Dashes link particulars to a following summary statement:

Reliability and trust—this is what Bendix has to offer.

Developing products that become the industry standard, minimizing the risk of failure, and controlling costs through aggressive management—these have become the hallmarks of our reputation.

Decimals

Decimal numbers are a linear way to represent fractions based on multiples of 10. The decimal 0.45 represents the following fraction:

⁴⁵/100

See FRACTIONS.

The decimal point (period) is the mark dividing the whole number on the left from the decimal fraction on the right:

504.678

In some countries, writers use a comma for the decimal point:

504,678

1. Use figures for all decimals and do not write the equivalent fractions:

4.5 (not 4 ⁵/10)

0.356 (not ³⁵⁶/1000)

0.5 (not ⁵/10)

0.4690 (not ⁴⁶⁹⁰/10,000)

2. If the decimal does not have a whole number, insert a zero before the decimal point:

0.578 (not .578)

0.2 (not .2)

NOTE: This rule has a few exceptions, including:

Colt .45

A batting average of .345

A probability of p =.07

3. Retain the zero after the decimal point or at the end of the decimal number only if the zero represents exact measurement (or a significant digit):

0.45 or 0.450

28.303 or 28.3030

NOTE: Also retain the final zero in a decimal if the zero results from the rounding of the decimal:

23.180 for 23.1789 (if the decimal number is supposed to be rounded to three digits in the decimal fraction)

4. Use spaces but not commas to separate groups of three digits in the decimal fraction.

In the metric system, the decimals may be broken into groups of three digits by inserting spaces:

56.321 677 90
707.004 766 321

but 567.4572 (not 567.457 2)

You can use commas to separate groups of three digits that appear in the whole number part of the decimal:

56,894.65

500,067.453 467

However, do not use commas to separate groups of three digits in the decimal fraction:

4.672 34 (not 4.672,34)

2344.000 567 (not 2344.000,567)

See METRIC SYSTEM.

5. In columns, line up the decimal points:

  56

    0.004

115.9

  56.24445

    0.6

NOTE: Whole numbers without decimals (e.g., 56 above) do not require a decimal point.

6. Do not begin a sentence with a decimal number:

this

The timer interrupts the processor 14.73 times a second.

not this

14.73 times a second, the timer interrupts the processor.

See NUMBERS.

Editing and Proofreading

Anyone who works with documents must have a system for indicating changes to text. Much editing and proofreading is now done on a computer screen, and your software program has those capabilities. But because screen resolution is typically one third or so less than print, it’s wise to proofread printed text to catch errors difficult to see on a screen. The following rules apply mostly to proofreading hard copies of documents. You will also find suggestions for proofreading onscreen.

Standard editing and proofreading symbols (listed in most dictionaries) are more numerous and complex than most of us need unless we are copy editors, typesetters, or printers.

A simplified set of editing and proofreading symbols listed in rule 1 addresses the needs of most business and technical writers who must communicate suggestions and editorial corrections to others. If you need the complete set of proofreading symbols, see the most recent editions of The Chicago Manual of Style or the United States Government Printing Office Style Manual.

The example under rule 1 illustrates the simplified method of editing and proofreading printed text. This example also follows the rules cited below.

1. Use consistent proofreading symbols to indicate changes or corrections to text:

Original

Corrected

Writers and secretaries or word processing specialists have to agree on what symbols to use when editing and proofreading draft materials.

Without such an agreement, errors creep in and quality writing is impossible.

NOTE 1: Professional proofreaders sometimes use a different symbol in the margin than they use in the text. For instance, the # sign in the margin indicates that a space should be added. In text, a slash mark indicates where the space should be added:

NOTE 2: Some reviewers also use the symbol sp in the margin to indicate a spelling error.

2. Use marginal marks to indicate corrections made within lines.

Changes to a text are sometimes difficult to see, particularly those changes made in pencil or black ink, which readers may have trouble distinguishing from surrounding print. To highlight changes or corrections, you should use a red or green pencil or pen for changes. Even the change in color is sometimes difficult to see, however, particularly for color-blind reviewers.

So indicate changes by marking the change within the text but also inserting a check mark to show that a change appears in the text beside the mark.

Be consistent in using these standard proofreading symbols.

3. Use different colors of ink for different proofreadings (either by the same person or several people).

Printed text going through multiple revisions can become difficult to decipher if readers can’t distinguish between versions. A very good system is to change the color of the reviewer’s or proofreader’s pencil or pen (as in the example below).

The first reviewer might indicate changes in blue ink, the second in red, the third in green, and so on. The color of the suggestion thus indicates when and by whom the suggestion was made. This system is particularly effective during peer or group review.

4. Keep a list of editorial or proofreading decisions so you can be consistent and so you can summarize for the writer the changes you routinely make.

The list of editorial or proofreading decisions is sometimes called an editorial style sheet. Writers themselves sometimes develop it, or they wait for an editor or a proofreader to develop one. The earlier it can be developed, the better. Your software program can be set to follow your rules so you don’t have to track these decisions.

Items on this list would include all decisions about punctuation, capitalization, spelling, or word usage. To illustrate, a proofreader working with the preceding example could make these sorts of decisions:

Grayson plant (not Grayson Plant)

MOGO (not Mogo)

An Example of Multiple Proofreadings

Comma in a series precedes and: propane, butane, and gasoline

TransState Pipeline Co. (not Company)

TPS (TransState Pipeline Co.) rather than TransState Pipeline Co. (TPS)

When proofreading on a computer screen, use the feature that records and tracks changes so others can see your suggestions. You can find this feature in the review or revision menu of your software program. Once activated, the computer marks changes you make in the document. You can also indicate which changes you want marked. For example, you can order the computer to underline insertions, strike through deletions, or bold changes in format. You can also identify which reviser is making these changes.

NOTE: As the above examples suggest, some language decisions about a document are not clearly right or wrong. Instead, an editor or proofreader has to pick the preferred form and then stay with that choice throughout the document. See STYLE and PUNCTUATION.

5. Follow effective proofreading strategies.

To ensure the effectiveness of your document and to protect your image and your organization’s, you should proofread every important document—even emails if they have significant implications. Documents differ in importance, however, and require different proofreading strategies. See WRITING AND REVISING.

When hurried or faced with a low-priority document, read through the document once, paying special attention to important points such as headings, topic sentences of paragraphs, visuals, and captions.

For more important documents, consider some of these proofreading strategies:

• Check format. Does the document look good—with uniform spacing, heading styles, and lists? Are emphasis techniques (boldface, italics, etc.) consistently applied?

• Check content. Is the information correct? For example, if the invitation says the meeting is on Monday, June 15, will the meeting actually take place then? And does June 15 really fall on a Monday? Are figures such as monetary amounts or percentages correct? Do you find facts contradicted from one page to another?

• Check for errors. Double-check spelling of names. Question every capitalization, punctuation, and word division. Note that typographical errors often occur in groups. Question every number and add up figures to make sure sums are accurate.

When proofreading onscreen:

• Magnify the text so you can spot problems that would otherwise go unnoticed. Enlarge the text to 150 percent or whatever suits you.

• Correct errors flagged by spell check and grammar check. Do not rely on these features to find every error. Although a spell check will flag spellings it does not recognize, you must often decide if words are spelled correctly for the context (for example, their vs. there). Even advanced grammar checking software can be wrong. If it flags a sentence as a fragment, for example, refer to this Style Guide for help in deciding if the sentence truly is a fragment or not.

• Turn on hidden formatting symbols such as paragraph and space marks so you can see if the spacing between lines and words is proper.

For particularly important documents, consider these strategies:

• Read backwards so the content does not distract you from watching for errors.

• Read aloud so you slow your reading speed and are more alert to flaws in grammar and sense.

• Read in groups. For long, complex documents, some readers can mark changes on the text or look up words or facts while another reads aloud. In this way, you get more than one viewpoint and speed up the work.

Electronic Mail

Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is the exchange of digital messages through a network server.

A boon to business, email has made communication inexpensive, virtually instantaneous, and—most important—far less time consuming than regular mail or even the telephone. It permits immediate communication but also allows people to respond to messages at a convenient time instead of having to be present. Email reduces paperwork and enables more efficient, more rapid decision making.

Still, email can be a hindrance to business as well. Documentation becomes weak and incomplete because email is a shorthand form of communication. You might have trouble explaining or defending a decision if the record of it is a long chain of fragmentary emails. Because writers give much less thought to emails than to, say, traditional letters, messages can mislead recipients. The tone of an email can give the wrong impression.

But the main problem with email is the sheer quantity of it. Hundreds of billions of email messages are sent each day. Adding to the problem are instant messaging, texting, and streaming social-networking services such as Twitter. These services enable people to hold billions of conversations every day via text and images in real time anywhere they may be. Managing this tidal wave of information is a major productivity challenge for many people. For guidance, see MANAGING INFORMATION.

Despite these problems, email is essential to the high-tech business world. The following rules will help you write effective e-messages for these various media and avoid the pitfalls.

Using Email Effectively

1. Choose email when you want to communicate information rapidly and when the information is better conveyed digitally than by phone or hard (printed) copy.

Email is especially efficient when the persons you want to contact are unavailable. Email allows you to send the message so that it will be available when the recipients log in.

Electronic mail is also valuable when the data or information would be inconvenient to deliver in other ways. For instance, a long list of names, addresses, and phone numbers are time-consuming to dictate over the phone. Hard copy is, of course, an option, but hard copy might take several days to arrive if it has to go by outside mail or even through an internal mail system. A fax is another option, but it often requires the sender and receiver to go to fax stations somewhere else in their buildings.

Use the phone when you want to get immediate feedback or response to your message. For instance, if your message requires extra tact and the personal touch, use the phone. Email can seem cold and dismissive, for example, when the writer has to send unpleasant or negative messages.

Print and send hard copies when you want the recipient to have a record of your message. Email is not always delivered, and even an archived email can disappear for many reasons; so you will want to forward and retain hard copies of certain documents. For example, you might want to summarize a meeting where important departmental decisions were made. A second example would be personnel decisions, which potentially become part of an employee’s personnel file.

2. Write an informative subject line.

Enter your entire message in the subject line, if possible, so readers do not have to open your email. They will appreciate the convenience, and you will be more likely to get the result you want. One good practice is to type in EOM for “end of message,” signaling that there’s no need to open the email.

For longer emails, make sure your subject line will stand out from a long list of subject lines that appear on the reader’s screen. Hundreds of entries can confront a reader who calls up a list of emails. If your subject line doesn’t catch a reader’s attention, your file might never be opened!

Write subject lines that get your message across in a few words. See “Subject Line” in LETTERS.

this

—Agenda for scoping meeting 10 p.m. Nov. 9

—Review cost overruns of 20% on A-345 Prototype

—Please sign divisional budget by July 5 EOM

not this

—Scoping meeting

—Cost overruns

—Divisional budget

See HEADINGS.

3. Preview key content up front and limit your document to one screen (page) if possible.

If your message is long, list your conclusion and main points first so readers will know what is coming. Email readers do not like being forced to scroll through several screens to get to the point.

If possible, limit your document to one screen (page).

Whenever possible, design this one screen using emphasis techniques such as lists, headings, and single-sentence paragraphs. See EMPHASIS.

this

We propose increasing the division’s supplemental budget for July by $15,000 to account for cost overruns on the XYZ project. Here’s why:

1. Labor rates are going up from January through July.

2. Several additional fact-finding trips will be needed during July.

3. Managers are now very interested in XYZ.

not this

As you know, during the recent managerial coordination meeting (January 15), the subject of XYZ came up. Concerns expressed included the timing of the project, especially work during July. Also, the engineering representatives indicated that several extra trips might be necessary during July ...

See ORGANIZATION.

For longer documents, consider writing a separate executive summary for the first page (screen) and then include other data as necessary. In many cases, the executive summary might be sufficient by itself, with the background or supporting data merely referenced or transmitted in hard copy to follow up the electronic version. See SUMMARIES.

4. Use business-appropriate tone of voice in an email.

Email invites informal language—unguarded, casual, and personal in tone. At the same time, you need to make sure that a too familiar or offhand tone of voice doesn’t offend readers. You should adopt a conversational, businesslike tone. See TONE.

Depending on your familiarity with the reader, you can vary your tone. Don’t be flippant, terse, or abrupt with someone you don’t know well and whose business you need.

this

Thank you for the opportunity of submitting our ideas for your new artwork.

not this

Here’s the artwork you wanted.

Avoid using breezy abbreviations like “plz 4ward yr specs 4 new artwork.” Emailing a client is not the same as texting a close friend.

Avoid fancy fonts, patterned backgrounds, or gimmicky animations unless your branding requires them.

5. Review and revise (as necessary) your email before sending it to readers.

The immediacy of email is both its strength and its weakness. An important message will profit from review, both for errors and undesirable or misleading content. See WORD PROCESSING.

Depending on your potential readers, take time to clean up your email. A few minor errors will detract from the message; a glaring error or many errors will damage your credibility and the impact of your message.

Fix flagged misspellings, but remember that a spell check will often not identify wrong words (for example, there instead of their).

With all business documents—especially those written under time pressure or in anger—a cooling period has always been desirable. Consider allowing a cooling period before you send certain emails to recipients. Give yourself a few minutes (or longer) to reconsider a sensitive message. Often you will change the message, and sometimes you may even decide not to send it.

6. Signal clearly the end of your message.

Give your documents a quick, complimentary close—Sincerely, Thanks, See you Thursday, etc.

End a long email with a brief summary or review of the content. You might restate a request or a deadline, or you might even list again the reasons for your request.

If the end of the message is not obvious, signal it with EOM (end of message).

Automate your signature line, and include all the contact information a recipient needs to get in touch with you.

7. Control the distribution of your email.

Keep in mind that your email might be forwarded to others, so your audience is potentially larger than you think. Even messages marked private are easy to transfer to others and can spread around the world in seconds. If the email contains information you would not want others besides your addressee to read, don’t send it. Use a more private medium.

Don’t copy recipients unless they need to know the content of your email. People will learn to ignore your emails if they repeatedly get marginally relevant messages from you.

Don’t ask for “return receipt” (RR) unless you specifically need to know if the recipient received the message. Replying can be inconvenient and even intrusive to recipients.

When sending an email to a large group of recipients, say, your entire contact list, do not include them all in the “To:” field. Rather, address the email to yourself and then insert the large list in the “Bcc:” field (blind courtesy copy). There are several reasons for this:

—Some recipients will reply to everyone on that lengthy list with their opinions, quips, or anecdotes, thus wasting people’s time.

—Some recipients must abide by company policies about personal use of email. Receiving inappropriate email can be contrary to those policies.

—Recipients concerned about the volume of spam messages and the danger of viruses do not want their email addresses exposed to the world.

When replying to an email, take care to send your reply to the proper audience. Is it only for the sender or for the entire group of addressees?

See LETTERS and MEMOS.

Using Social Media Effectively

Electronic media such as blogs, podcasts, and networking sites are now a primary means of communication and marketing. Unlike email, social media are usually open to any subscribers who want to participate. Many businesses and government agencies now sponsor online communities for the use of their clients and the interested public.

Unlike the old industrial media that communicated only one way, social media are ongoing conversations among organizations and their clients and communities. Websites, blogs, and community sites can be wonderful tools for promoting an organization.

Thus, business and technical professionals have a serious stake in the use of social media. Like other media, they can be used effectively or ineffectively—and can even become destructive.

Social media can severely hinder an organization’s success. People typically spend from half an hour to three hours during the workday accessing social media, wasting a tremendous amount of time and bandwidth. Also, frivolous, defamatory, or obscene blog entries or e-messages can cause you and your organization real trouble. One well-known restaurant chain suffered a good deal of bad publicity when an employee posted on the Internet a video of himself shoving French fries up his nose.

The following rules will help you use social media effectively:

8. Contribute value to the ongoing conversation of social media.

Social media encourage informal, spontaneous writing with little thought or planning behind it. As a result, much online content is banal or valueless. If you write online a blog entry or comment that represents your organization—as more and more people do—use the same thoughtful process you would follow for a more formal document (i.e., planning, revising, and so forth). See WRITING AND REVISING.

Consider carefully your purpose for writing. What is the job that needs to be done? Who will read this? What do you want readers to know, do, and feel? What kind of response do you want from them?

9. Follow high ethical standards in online conversations.

Social media invite anonymity. As a result, many people misuse the media to defame others or to spread falsehoods. Often inadvertently, people post misleading or confidential information.

Be honest, open, and respectful in online conversations. Correct inaccuracies as soon as possible. Know and strictly follow your organization’s policies governing disclosure of confidential information about people, financials, trade secrets, strategic initiatives, and intellectual property.

If you have any doubts about the appropriateness of your writing, ask a trusted colleague to review it with you.

Avoid being negative in a public online space. Private conversations can be taken offline.

Using Voice Mail Effectively

The main benefits of voice mail are to avoid “telephone tag” and to get your message across quickly and efficiently.

10. Be sure to identify yourself and give your listener the date, time, and your phone number.

Don’t assume that your listener will recognize your voice; also, not every system will automatically record the date, time, and your phone number. Give your phone number even if it’s listed; this way the respondent won’t have to look it up.

11. Think before you speak.

Take a minute before dialing to review mentally your main points and your intent in making the call—perhaps even jot a list of points to cover. Unless you do one or both of these things, you are likely to ramble and to confuse your listener. Rambling is a problem if you are limited in the time you have to record your message.

12. Speak clearly and repeat important information.

Misunderstandings are inevitable, so work to reduce them in your recorded messages. Speak clearly and slightly slower than you would normally. As necessary, spell out difficult words—for example, people’s names or the names of places, because names often have unusual spellings. Technical terms and associated numbers are also easy for a listener to confuse.

Repetition of meeting times, deadlines, and other important details is a courtesy. You might, for example, conclude by repeating your key request or recommendation, including any associated date or meeting time. See REPETITION.

Ellipses

Ellipses consist of three periods (...) separated by single spaces and preceded and followed by a single space. Ellipses indicate omissions, primarily in quoted material. See QUOTATIONS.

Ellipses are the opposite of brackets, which indicate insertions in quoted material. See BRACKETS.

1. Use an ellipsis within quoted material to indicate omissions of words, sentences, or paragraphs:

“Labor costs . . . caused an operating loss for January of nearly $10,000.”

Original: Labor costs, which our executive committee has been studying, caused an operating loss for January of nearly $10,000.

______________

“No tax increases for 2012 . . . will occur.”

Original: No tax increases for 2012 in personal withholding will occur.

NOTE 1: If omitted material comes at the beginning of a sentence, the quoted material opens with an ellipsis, especially if the material appears to be a complete sentence:

“ . . . the printed budget will remain unchanged.”

Original: Despite a few inconsistencies, the printed budget will remain unchanged.

NOTE 2: If the omitted material comes at the end of a sentence, the quoted material ends with an ellipsis plus the ending punctuation of the sentence:

“The Department of Energy denied our request for an energy subsidy . . . . ”

Original: The Department of Energy denied our request for an energy subsidy, even though we felt our request would be cost-effective.

NOTE 3: If one or more sentences are omitted following a complete sentence, retain the ending punctuation for the sentence followed by an ellipsis:

“The submittee adjourned at noon .... Shortly after they reconvened, the Majority Leader requested that they adjourn until the following Monday.”

2. Do not use an ellipsis to omit words if such omissions change the meaning or intent of the original quotation:

“Chairman James Aubrey indicated that financing the debt load would . . . seriously undermine efforts to recover delinquent loans.”

Original: Chairman James Aubrey indicated that financing the debt load would not detract from or seriously undermine efforts to recover delinquent loans.

3. Do not use an ellipsis to open or close a quotation if the quotation is clearly only part of an original sentence:

this

We discussed the “three legal loopholes” mentioned in the last Supreme Court decision on school busing.

not this

We discussed the “ . . . three legal loopholes . . . ” mentioned in the last Supreme Court decision on school busing.

4. Use a line of periods to indicate that one or more entire lines of text are omitted:

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

He was my friend, faithful and just to me:

NOTE: The line of periods does not tell a reader how much was omitted. The writer is responsible for retaining the intent and meaning of the original material.

5. Use an ellipsis to indicate omitted material in mathematical expressions:

a₁, a₂, . . . , a_n

1 + 2 + . . . + n

See MATHEMATICAL NOTATION.

6. Use an ellipsis to indicate faltering speech:

I protest . . . or maybe I should only suggest that you have made a mistake.

I wonder . . . perhaps . . . if . . . that is a wise choice.

Emphasis

Emphasis includes any techniques writers use to make their messages both readable and unambiguous. Readers must immediately see your major point or points, and rereading should be unnecessary if you have designed your document using proper emphasis techniques.

Every misleading sentence or disputed fact represents a waste of time and money in today’s technical society. Organizations cannot afford ambiguous procedures, unclear memos, or inconclusive reports.

Textual options and a rich, varied vocabulary become liabilities when writers need to remove ambiguities. The traditional academic essay or scholarly paper is often inefficient and unproductive precisely because it deliberately includes multiple meanings and different interpretations.

A well-designed, emphasis-driven document forces every reader to come away with the same message. A simple example would be the instructions for assembling an exercise bike. Every customer assembling the bike should be 100 percent successful. No calls to the bike company’s customer service center should be necessary, and the final bike should have no unfastened parts or other unsafe features.

Successful world-of-work documents have a 100 percent usability rating! See PROJECT MANAGEMENT.

Use the following format and emphasis principles to help you generate your initial content. Your intended format should guide your content. You will be writing to fit the format, not imposing a format on content that is already created. See WRITING AND REVISING.

1. Control your readers’ eyes by controlling the position and appearance of your ideas.

Effective writing is document design, not the spinning out of words and phrases. Effective writing is a visual activity, not an oral/aural one.

Yes, writing begins with and relies on the oral/aural resources of language, but these resources must be presented in an emphatic manner. Proper emphasis techniques will help guarantee that readers take one and only one meaning from a passage.

Writers achieve emphasis in documents by working with position and appearance.

Position refers to the placement of words within a sentence, paragraph, or section. Language, both written and oral, moves from word to word, so the order and sequence of language is important, even if it is not always speedy or efficient.

Appearance refers to the visual presentation of ideas and to the physical character of the words or ideas—for example, page layout, spacing, indentation, boldface type, italics, type size, type style, color, and production quality. See PAGE LAYOUT and GRAPHICS FOR DOCUMENTS.

2. Open with important ideas.

The beginnings of documents, sections, paragraphs, and sentences are the most visible and memorable parts of any document. Make the first page, the first line, the major subheading count by using them to record important ideas. Lead from important ideas, not up to them. See ORGANIZATION.

Test each document, section, paragraph, or sentence. The opening page, the opening paragraph, the opening sentence, and the opening words should capture the most important ideas. If they don’t, you will have misled your readers. Or at the very least, you will be forcing your readers to read and reread your information. The more rereading you require, the more ambiguous your document will be.

Emphasize your most important ideas by placing them in opening positions.

3. Subordinate minor ideas.

Arrange your document so that minor ideas receive less emphasis than major ones. Minor ideas should receive both less time and space than major ones. Minor ideas should not appear in headings, in graphics, or in boldface.

Place minor ideas in the middle of documents, paragraphs, and sentences. This will happen automatically if you have followed rule 2 above, which tells you to open with major ideas. See ORGANIZATION.

And in some cases, minor ideas need only be referenced because they should not appear in the document. These referenced ideas become part of the legal record or organizational documentation. See APPENDICES.

Minor ideas include backup data and their interpretation; lengthy analyses leading up to conclusions; routine explanations of your methodology; summaries of prior research; and any other peripheral information.

4. Repeat important ideas.

Repetition helps readers remember earlier messages as new words and ideas appear. Repetition signals important ideas and guarantees that readers remember the ideas. See REPETITION.

However, repetition can be either ineffective or effective.

Ineffective repetition states the same thing over and over again. Students often use ineffective repetition because they are trying to fill pages and to generate a certain number of words. They may write a dozen sentences, each saying they had an exciting summer vacation!

Effective repetition occurs when the design of a document repeats important ideas. The title, subject line, and major headings introduce major ideas. Graphics and accompanying captions further illustrate these same ideas. And if you include an executive summary, it will present the highlights of these ideas. See SUMMARIES.

Each mention of a major idea should use the same wording and the same technical data, such as acreage or the annual output. This type of deliberate repetition means that the most important ideas should be 100 percent unambiguous and consistent each time they appear.

Effective repetition is one indication that a document has been carefully designed and well edited.

5. (Optional) Close with repetition of important points.

This rule is optional because the visual nature of documents has decreased the role of the closing section, the closing paragraph, or the closing sentence. See ORGANIZATION and REPETITION.

Some documents still may require closings that repeat important points. Letters and memos quite often should end with a repetition of the requested meeting, the follow-up action, or other activity. Textbooks usually wrap up chapters with a final summary, which is often identical to the chapter overview that begins the chapter.

Of course, oral language still relies on the final statement, the final word. In oral presentations, speakers must lead up to their clincher idea, their major point, their most memorable phrase. This emphasis technique has become unnecessary in most well-designed documents.

6. Use space and page design to highlight important ideas.

Make your page design, especially its open spaces, support and reinforce your important ideas. See PAGE LAYOUT and GRAPHICS FOR DOCUMENTS.

Initially, readers visually perceive the overall appearance, not the details. They derive a general impression of your intent and your content before they ever begin reading sentence by sentence.

If readers scan your first page, what should they see? If you’ve designed the page well, the title and major headings have the important ideas, and these are always set off by surrounding space. Perhaps the page has a graphic on it, with an interpretive caption; this graphic should also present important ideas.

Make sure, however, that your pages are not so cluttered and busy that the important ideas are lost.

7. Use headings and lists to highlight important ideas.

Writing today is increasingly less linear and sequential. Passages of language do move word by word, but the use of headings and lists means that the sequence of words is not always the primary tool for conveying meaning.

Headings and lists are schematic ways of presenting bits of information so readers can select what they read. Readers using headings and lists can easily skip and scan your document for crucial content, and they often will not even read the entire document unless they need to. See HEADINGS and LISTS.

8. Use graphics to emphasize important ideas.

Graphics are increasingly important. Today’s readers expect, even demand, that well-designed documents use graphics. See GRAPHICS FOR DOCUMENTS and GRAPHICS FOR PRESENTATIONS.

The availability of graphics software has revolutionized routine reports and other everyday documents. Readers are now accustomed to seeing bar graphs, illustrations, and other common graphics. What was innovative some years ago in USA Today is now commonplace in many world-of-work documents and business presentations.

9. Use single-sentence paragraphs to emphasize important ideas.

Paragraphs are increasingly less important as ways of organizing ideas. In particular, a document with a sequence of long paragraphs is not very readable, even if the paragraphs are well written and the language interesting. Most of the time such a document is a costly waste of time. See PARAGRAPHS.

The single-sentence paragraph is, however, still a valuable emphasis tool. Readers can quickly read a single-sentence paragraph and scan back easily to find such a paragraph. Of course, too many short paragraphs make a document choppy and hard to use.

So reserve single-sentence paragraphs for important ideas and don’t overuse this technique.

10. Use typographical features and color to emphasize words and ideas.

CAPITALS, underlining, boldface, italics, color, and different type styles stand out when used within ordinary text. Don’t overuse such techniques, but design your pages to draw on these tools when appropriate. See PAGE LAYOUT.

Color is also a valuable tool, especially if used in graphics. It is probably the most visually effective of the document-design tools available to writers, but it is still a costly option and time-consuming, given the need for multiple printing runs. As with typeface styles, don’t overuse color or mix too many colors into a single page or graphic. See COLOR.

English as a Second Language

English is a global language of business. An engineer in Singapore talking to a customer in Qatar is likely to use English. The spoken language is richly diverse, with dialects and accents ranging from Alaska to India, from London to Johannesburg.

Nevertheless, the written language is much more standardized, with little variation worldwide. The picture is somewhat complicated by differences between British and American English, which make international English a mix of both. But the differences are minor, mostly in spelling and a few common expressions (see BRITISH ENGLISH). A mastery of standard written English is an advantage to any professional person of any nationality.

This section helps those who write ESL (English as a Second Language) in a business context. Rules address problems common to ESL speakers that usually make little difficulty for native speakers.

1. Avoid using idioms (clichés).

ESL speakers should avoid trying to express themselves in informal or colloquial ways when writing in a business context. Statements like “Your salesman rubbed me the wrong way” or “Keep your nose to the grindstone!” sound pretentious or ridiculous in business. No effective writer uses clichés in any case. Avoid the temptation to sound glib to the ear of a native English speaker. Use plain, simple language and precise terminology, especially in a technical context. See CLICHES.

2. Introduce countable nouns with articles or other qualifying or quantifying words.

ESL speakers often have difficulty deciding when to use the articles a and the before nouns. Traditionally, articles or some other qualifying or quantifying word must introduce countable nouns such as boss, computer, office, but must not introduce uncountable (mass) nouns such as commerce, marketing, work. Although this distinction can be helpful, it is not always reliable. For example, the word paper can be both countable and uncountable depending on the context:

Paper is getting more costly.

We faxed the papers to the attorney this morning.

A more helpful rule (and easier to remember) is to distinguish between general and specific nouns. (See figure 1.) When referring to a specific noun, use the articles a or the:

Kim gained an education in project management.

The education of project managers is an essential part of our business.

Figure 1. The nouns in the left column above are usually considered uncountable nouns. Still, as in the right column, they are often countable nouns when specifying a certain object or objects.

When referring to a noun in a general sense, do not use an article:

Education is crucial to the success of a nation.

The people of that country value education highly.

In the absence of an article, a countable noun must be preceded by some qualifying or quantifying word:

each employee

this boss

those computers

five offices

some books

few people

many customers

Because they imply numbers, the following quantifying words can precede only countable nouns:

a, an

both

each

every

few, fewer, fewest

many

one (or any number)

several

these, those

By contrast, the following quantifying words can precede only uncountable nouns:

less, lesser, least

little (to describe quantity rather than size [e.g., little money])

much

3. Never use the “–ing” verb form with a state-of-being verb.

English has two kinds of verbs: those that express action and those that express a state of being.

Action: They are accepting the agreement.

State of being: The agreement is acceptable to them.

(See figure 2.)

Figure 2. The “–ing” verb form works only in describing an action, not a state of being.

4. Ensure that verbs agree with subjects.

As in many languages, English verbs must agree in form with their subjects. Fortunately, that agreement in English is simple because it affects only the third-person singular form of the verb, which always ends with an s. Other forms never end with an s and remain stable, as seen in figure 3.

Figure 3. As in many languages, English verbs must agree in form with their subjects; but in English, this rule affects only the third-person singular form of the verb, which always ends with an s.

The only exception to this rule is the verb be, which is so commonly used that the ancient forms for the various persons still persist.

Fortunately, are is the plural form for all persons and for the second-person singular. (See figure 4.)

Figure 4. The only exception to this rule is the verb be, which is so commonly used that the ancient forms for the various persons still persist.

Subject-verb agreement can be tricky when the subject and the verb are distant from each other:

The teams that provide our environmental analysis come/comes from the local universities.

In this sentence, the subject of the verb come is teams, not analysis. Therefore, the correct verb form is come—the third-person plural.

5. Be aware that verbs change meaning unpredictably when paired with prepositions.

A single English verb can express many different ideas when paired with different prepositions. For example, to hand out means to distribute something to a group and to hand in means to give something to someone, while to hand over means to give it unwillingly.

Many of these so-called “phrasal verbs” make obvious sense: to report up means to respond to someone with more authority, while to report down means to respond to someone with less authority. Still others, however, are unpredictable in meaning, as in figure 5, a table of pairings for the verb to put:

Figure 5. Many English verbs like put change meaning unpredictably when paired with prepositions.

This table only begins to account for all possible pairings of the verb to put. Other verbs that are commonly paired with prepositions include come, go, get, call, stay, fill, pay, pull, push, look, wait, lay/lie, speak, talk, sit, play, buy, sell, and give.

Phrasal verbs present many pitfalls to ESL speakers. While native English speakers use verbal pairings with confidence, ESL speakers should avoid using them unless they are sure of the meaning. Use more precise verbs instead, as in the right-hand column in figure 5.

For more information, see PREPOSITIONS and VERBS.

6. Do usability testing with native speakers before publishing technical information.

Because of a weak grasp of idiomatic English, ESL writers often produce unclear, misleading, or even nonsensical user manuals, procedures, and product guides. For example, the following set of instructions came with a headphone manufactured in a non-English-speaking country:

For you easily to use our products please read it through before using:

1. Please tune up power volume to aproposity, before put into the jeck.

2. Take for you clothing the plastic.

3. Don’t dranght in the jeck.

If our products have quality problem indeed, protection time for 6 months.

Although this example is extreme, similar poor English perplexes millions who buy and use products manufactured in our global economy.

Automated English spelling and grammar checkers can help solve these problems. In the example above, spell check will flag the odd words aproposity, dranght, and jeck and suggest alternatives. Still, there is no automated solution for this kind of bizarre phrasing.

Therefore, you should always test technical instructions and information with native English speakers before publishing them. Natives can usually spot problems with sense and grammar that are invisible to nonnatives. The ideal test subject is a native English speaker who is also a natural user of the product or procedure. Follow the guidelines for usability testing in PROJECT MANAGEMENT.

Additionally, a useful reference for ESL writers is a current edition of the Oxford Student’s Dictionary of American English. The entries are brief and clear, and special attention is given to idioms (phrases that have special meanings). See REFERENCES.

Ethics

Ethical dilemmas will confront every professional during his or her career.

As in the following cases, professionals must make hard choices about what to say and how best to say it. The line between right and wrong may be fairly clear, but what if jobs—especially your job—depend on what you choose to do?

• Your supervisor tells you that your business product plan is too negative in its financial projections. You feel that the new product will not break even for at least 18 months. Your supervisor argues that the break-even point could be as early as 6 months after product introduction.

• Your current project parallels previously published information. You wonder how closely you can follow the ideas and phrasing of this source. Do you need to write for permission?

• A technical colleague suggests that you soften your write-up of negative conclusions about some tests.

• Your boss tells you to write a proposal using the résumé of an employee who retired long ago, and you know he’ll never work on the project.

To help you confront such questions and make the hard choices, we present the following rules (or suggestions). Only you can make the necessary decisions, based on the realities of your own job and your own professional code of ethics.

1. Use full, accurate, and honest information in everything you communicate.

This rule says that all readers and listeners have the right to trust what you tell them. Anything less would violate your own expectations about communication. So this rule becomes the golden rule: “Communicate with others as you expect them to communicate with you.” See INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.

This rule (or some version of it) appears in every code of sound professional practice or ethics. Under the Hippocratic oath, a doctor promises to deal ethically with patients—thus neither by word nor deed harming them. The Code of Ethics for the Society of Professional Journalists states: “Truth is our ultimate goal.”

A person’s word must be true and firm. That is, you must be able to depend on what someone tells you; otherwise, sound relationships, agreements, and decisions are impossible. Someone whose word is untrue and unreliable risks disclosure and sanctions, either personal or legal.

What are the legal sanctions from violations of this rule? Consider the case where you violate your professional code of practice (ethics) by not revealing a design flaw you’ve discovered.

From a legal perspective, you personally, as well as your company, could be liable for tens of thousands of dollars. Liability exists even if you fail to test for obvious flaws. The law assumes that sound product engineering—that is, good professional ethics—would provide for tests to discover reasonably foreseeable problems. Failure to record tests is, therefore, no protection from legal sanctions.

2. Analyze who (including yourself) will be affected and how and when they will be affected by ethical or professional choices you make.

In ethical questions about past events, decisions of right or wrong are easy. George Washington chose not to tell a lie about cutting down the cherry tree. He was ethically right (according to rule 1).

Ethical questions become more ambiguous, however, when future events are involved. Will a proposed computer system pay for itself? How safe and effective is a new antibiotic? Is the new antilock braking system foolproof in ordinary driving?

Consider the following problem situation, where ethical or professional questions arise in relation to a business plan.

Problem: Your supervisor tells you that your business product plan is too negative in its financial projections. You feel that the new product will not break even for at least 18 months. Your supervisor argues that the break-even point could be as early as 6 months after product introduction.

Here is a brief analysis of what could happen if you go ahead with your financial projections of 18 months and if management decides to cancel or delay the introduction of the new product:

• Who (including yourself) will be affected?

You, your supervisor, other employees, upper management, shareholders—maybe even customers.

• How and when will they be affected?

You, as the source of negative news, risk your chances for advancement, future assignments and, perhaps, even your job, if the new product group is disbanded.

Your supervisor and other employees may also receive new assignments, or perhaps they might be laid off. Top management risks missing a business opportunity, and this decision may affect the company’s dividends for several quarters or even several years. Shareholders will complain about the lost dividends, driving company stock prices down.

Customers may be only indirectly affected. They may not have the option of buying the product. Or, if management rushes the product to market to meet financial goals, quality problems may occur.

3. Assess your options, given your analysis of the situation (in rule 2), then pick a course of action.

In the simplest terms, you can either choose to revise your projections (the 18-month break-even point) or you can refuse to back down. Neither of these answers is clearly right or wrong because you are dealing with a forecast.

If you revise your projections, how much can you change them before they are dishonest? Can you in good conscience write a report stating that 6 months is a possible break-even point?

If your projections are open to negotiation, how hard do you want to fight for them? This question is usually the crucial one when an employee considers options dealing with ethical or professional questions.

Every organization answers such questions in different ways. Our suggestion is that you address these sorts of questions as honestly and as carefully as you can. And as the next rule states, prepare documents to support your decisions on ethical or professional issues.

4. Prepare documents to support your decisions on ethical issues.

Written documentation is essential when you have to confront ethical dilemmas that might have legal implications for you and for your organization.

What should you record? No quick or easy answer exists. With the high frequency, even likelihood, of litigation today, some might be tempted to record very little or even nothing that might reveal internal debates. This view is wrong. As noted above under rule 1, professional standards mandate good documentation.

For example, in the area of U.S. environmental law, the mandate of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is to disclose to the public and any other parties (including the courts) the pros and cons of a proposed government action. Honest and professional differences of opinion are encouraged, not prohibited.

We recommend that you carefully document your professional views. Remember also that from a legal perspective, documentation extends beyond formal printed documents to include, for example, your computer files, research logs, and email archives. Careful documentation means that you have analyzed and cataloged all the pertinent records.

Recall the old saying “Honesty is the best policy.” The saying reflects the reality that, if your honesty is called into question, nothing you say or do will be credible.

Exclamation Marks

Exclamation marks (!) follow words, phrases, or sentences that are surprising or unusual enough to merit the use of an exclamation mark.

Some style guides or grammars refer to exclamation points rather than to exclamation marks. The two terms mean the same thing.

1. Use an exclamation mark to end a sentence that expresses surprise or excitement:

We completed the proposal 2 weeks ahead of the deadline!

That error will cost them their jobs!

Excellent work! No one in the department could have done as well. (Excellent work is a sentence, despite not having a verb.)

See SENTENCES.

NOTE: Use exclamation marks sparingly; they lose their power if overused, and they can make your language sound too informal, almost breathless.

2. Use an exclamation mark in direct quotations that are exclamations, with the mark itself usually coming inside the quotation mark:

“I sent you that check over 2 weeks ago!”

“No! You do not have permission to take the car tonight,” responded Mother.

Bill exclaimed: “Ouch! That hurts!”

optionally

“No, you do not have permission to take the car tonight!” exclaimed Mother.

Bill exclaimed, “Ouch, that hurts!”

See QUOTATION MARKS.

3. Place exclamation marks outside closing quotation marks if the quoted portion of an exclamatory sentence is itself not an exclamation:

I’m speechless that all you can say is, “We forgot”!

We were amazed to discover that “all earthquake damage is excluded”!

False Subjects

False subjects are words like it and there that have no concrete antecedents; that is, the words do not refer to anything real. They are abstractions.

False subjects often occur at the beginning of a sentence and displace the true subject:

It is this phase that is important.

In this sentence, it seems to stand for phase, but replacing the pronoun with its apparent antecedent creates nonsense:

This phase is this phase that is important.

The true subject of the sentence is phase. Beginning with the true subject creates a shorter, much crisper sentence:

This phase is important.

False subjects can also appear within sentences:

We decided that there were some costs that needed to be explained.

The false subject there weakens the middle of the sentence and adds unnecessary additional words. The sentence is far stronger without the false subject:

We decided that some costs needed to be explained.

or

We decided to explain some costs.

1. Eliminate false subjects.

Whenever possible, eliminate constructions with it and there when those words have no clear antecedents. Getting rid of false subjects makes your writing more concise and often clearer.

Sometimes, however, the false subject is necessary, as in the expression it is raining. The word it is an abstraction, but what could you say in its place? Ask yourself, what is raining? No other word or words will be as functional or as expedient as the false subject. In such limited circumstances as it is raining or it is noon, false subjects are acceptable. Otherwise, try to eliminate them.

Below are “before and after” examples of false subjects. Note how much simpler, more direct, and shorter the sentences are when we eliminate the false subjects along with certain accompanying words:

In designing a thermal protection system, it is possible to meet the 1,100-degree fire requirement yet not be reliable. (20 words)

Thermal protection system designs can meet the 1,100-degree fire requirement without being reliable. (14 words)

______________

Within the family of hydrates, there are several solid metal oxides that both chemically combine with water (hydration) and mechanically retain water (capillary condensation). (24 words)

Within the family of hydrates, several solid metal oxides both chemically combine with water (hydration) and mechanically retain water (capillary condensation). (21 words)

______________

It will also be possible, as the study proceeds, to identify and extract important performance degradations resulting from failure to improve a given technology. (24 words)

As the study proceeds, identifying and extracting important performance degradations resulting from failure to improve a given technology will also be possible. (22 words)

or

As the study proceeds, we can also identify and extract important performance degradations resulting from failure to improve a given technology. (21 words)

______________

From table 5.3, it appears that the use of relatively compact heat-transfer surfaces in the 10- to 20-fins/in. range will provide the compactness necessary to achieve the Navy goal of reduced size and weight. (34 words)

As table 5.3 suggests, using relatively compact heat-transfer surfaces in the 10- to 20-fins/in. range will apparently provide the compactness necessary to achieve the Navy goal of reduced size and weight. (31 words)

______________

There are five significant factors that influenced the assessment of disease severity. (12 words)

Five factors influenced the assessment of the disease severity. (9 words)

______________

It will be the responsibility of the team manager to ensure that the total required time-phased quantity and skill mix can be supplied from the onsite pool. (27 words)

The team manager will ensure that the required time-phased quantity and skill mix can be supplied from the onsite pool. (20 words)

Faxes

Faxes (derived from the word facsimiles) are documents transmitted via telephone lines. The use of faxes declined as email became the primary communication tool between businesses and organizations. Still, faxes remain useful in some cases; for example, legal documents that require signatures continue to be faxed where electronic signatures are unacceptable. For security reasons, people still prefer to fax certain documents, such as financial or personnel information. In some professions, such as law and real estate, fax machines are in constant use.

In one sense, a good fax is no different from a well-written letter except that it is sent by telephone line instead of in an envelope. See LETTERS.

Faxes and email, when sent in haste, share many of the same problems. Faxes can increase misunderstandings if they are not prepared carefully. The preparer of the fax may spend too little time gathering the information or making sure pages to be sent are both appropriate and readable. The result is that the customer gets pages that frustrate or annoy rather than communicate. See ELECTRONIC MAIL and WRITING AND REVISING.

NOTE: Although we are using fax or faxes in this discussion, some writers choose to use all caps, similar to an acronym: FAX or FAXs. This use of capitals is especially common on cover sheets. Both versions of the word are acceptable.

1. Check pages for appropriateness and usefulness before faxing them.

Ask yourself: Would these pages be appropriate for and useful to the recipient or customer?

Often documents to be faxed are prepared for other purposes and for other customers. At best, they may only indirectly address the current customer’s issues. At the worst, they may mislead or annoy the current customer.

For example, a faxed contract originally intended for one recipient might be totally inapplicable to another recipient. Make sure the document to be faxed is completely tailored to the person at the other end.

2. Send pages that are clean and likely to be readable after transmission.

The quality of a fax transmission copy is still a possible problem. Faxes are typically more fuzzy and indistinct than printouts from a good photocopy machine.

Often pages with a small typeface, handwritten comments, or shaded boxes will not be very readable when they are received. Handwritten comments often extend to the edge of the paper, thus risking being cut off during transmission, or the handwriting is so unclear as to be unreadable.

You and your organization owe it to yourselves to guarantee that documents sent are readable and professional looking. The documents you send, by whatever means, reflect your professional image and your organization’s commitment to quality.

3. Be sure to include a cover sheet both with your customer’s name and phone numbers and with your own organization clearly identified.

In haste, we are often tempted to send documents without a cover sheet. Often, these are sensitive documents that should not sit out in the open visible to anyone who passes by the fax machine. In many cases, you merely need to take a couple of minutes to fill in your organization’s standard cover sheet. Your personal computer probably features a cover-sheet template. See the sample cover sheet below.

A “headless” transmission means that pages arrive at a fax machine without anyone knowing where they should be directed. Pages can stay in the fax machine overnight or even for days before someone troubles to find out who should receive the fax.

This delivery problem would be partially solved if you and the recipient agreed that you would receive a call either confirming the receipt of the pages or notifying you that the pages had not arrived as intended.

4. List on the cover sheet the documents transmitted and, if appropriate, add a personal message.

A list of documents transmitted is helpful if you have sent more than two or three separate documents. This list of titles is more helpful than the number of pages transmitted, although a page count is also a good idea.

This list of titles becomes an ad hoc table of contents for the fax and a helpful tracking tool beyond. As you list items, be sure to give their full title or an identifying phrase, such as their authors or the date prepared. See TABLES OF CONTENTS.

Finally, use the cover sheet to personalize your message. Make this message direct and specific:

Janice—

You’ll find the contract and signature pages attached. Please sign and fax them back to me by Monday. We appreciate your business!

This message can be typed, or a handwritten note is appropriate if you have a last-minute request or comment to make.

Footnotes

Footnotes are a common method of citing sources, especially on the internet. As their name implies, footnotes usually appear at the bottom of a page or a screen. In printed materials, sources are more often cited in endnotes that appear at the end of a chapter or a book.

Your word-processing program allows you to insert footnotes on each page. Consider using this feature, assuming you wish to use footnotes, because readers find footnotes at the bottom of the page easier to read while they are reading the text.

Instead of using footnotes, writers in the physical and biological sciences usually cite the author and the date of publication by enclosing them within parentheses in the text. These citations are developed fully in bibliographies that appear at the end of the text. See CITATIONS and BIBLIOGRAPHIES.

Choose parenthetical citations for most business and technical documents. Do not use footnotes unless you are writing for the internet or for a publisher or a journal that requires that you use footnotes.

1. Use superscript (raised) Arabic numerals immediately following a quotation or paraphrase to indicate that the quotation or paraphrase has a footnote:

Within your text, you may have a quotation from a published book or article: “Writers should always use quotation marks for exact quotations.”¹ Sometimes you may be paraphrasing someone’s ideas.² In these cases, your footnote number should come as close to the idea as possible,³ even if the particular sentence goes on to discuss a second source.⁴ Naturally, in a normal document, you should avoid having footnotes after every sentence or phrase.

NOTE 1: The footnote number comes after all punctuation, except for a dash. Footnotes are numbered sequentially within a chapter of a book and within an article. See QUOTATIONS and QUOTATION MARKS.

NOTE 2: Footnotes in graphics sometimes use an asterisk (*) or a dagger (†) when an Arabic numeral might be confusing.

2. In the first footnote to a source, include the author or authors, the full title, complete publishing information, and the pages being referred to. If citing an electronic book, indicate the format. If citing an online source, add the URL and, in brackets, the date you accessed the source:

Book by one author

1. Gunjan Bagla, Doing Business in 21^st Century India (Paris: Hachette Livre, 2009), Gemstar e-book, 90.

Book by two authors

2. Stephen R. Covey and Jennifer Colosimo Great Work, Great Career (Salt Lake City: FranklinCovey Press, 2010), Kindle e-book, 34–35.

Book by more than three authors; information from several pages

3. Gavin Schmidt, et al., Climate Change: Picturing the Science (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2009), 126–127, 175, 189.

Journal article

4. Janice Kumar, “Metal Matrix Alignment in Fiber Production,” Delhi Institute of Technology Journal, 16 (October 2007): 45–46. http://nopr.niscair.res.in/kumar/123456789/7257.html [accessed May 7, 2010].

Public document

5. U.S. Congress, Senate, Foreign Affairs Committee, Report on Two Chinas in the Coming Decade, 110^th Cong., 2d sess., 2008 (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 2010), 187–188.

Dissertation or thesis

6. O. X. Jones, “The Influence of Congressional Resolutions on Trade with China: A Study of Inconsistencies” (PhD dissertation, University of Maryland, 2009), 87–88. http://library.dialog.com/jones/trade/china/bl0035.html [accessed June 1, 2010].

Personal letter

7. Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire to O. X. Jones, 23 November 2009. Personal files of O. X. Jones, Cambridge, UK.

Interview

8. Wang Sung, interview during the annual meeting of the American Committee on U.S.-China Relations, Seattle, Washington, October 2008.

NOTE 1: Footnotes are similar in form to paragraphs. The first line is indented, and all items are punctuated as if the information were the first sentence in the paragraph. The items are usually separated by commas.

NOTE 2: Titles of books, journals, and newspapers are italicized, even if cited from an electronic source. Titles of blogs are not italicized. See TITLES.

NOTE 3: Writers can add a comment or additional facts to a typical footnote:

9. Wang Sung, interview during the annual meeting of the American Committee on U.S.-China Relations, Seattle, Washington, October 2008. Mr. Sung,a cultural attaché for the People’s Republic of China, granted this interview with the understanding that all of his comments would be off the record until after the 2008 U.S. Presidential election.

NOTE 4: Superscripts are a common option for numbering footnotes presented either at the bottom of the page or at the end of the chapter or article:

^10. Jason K. Bacon, The Two-China Policy (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005), 85.

NOTE 5: The examples in rule 2 illustrate only the most common types of footnotes. For other publications, check a source such as Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), which is updated frequently (a quick guide is available online). Turabian devotes over 40 pages to detailed examples of footnotes.

3. In second and subsequent references, make footnotes brief. Generally, include only the author’s last name and the page number of the material referred to:

Second or subsequent footnote for one author

11. Bacon, 56–57.

Second or subsequent footnote for two authors

12. Sloan and Seymour, 18–21.

Second or subsequent footnote in which two or more works by one author are cited

13. Bacon, Two-China Policy, 76.

NOTE: Using the author’s name and a short title for second and subsequent footnotes eliminates the need for such traditional Latin abbreviations as ibid., op. cit., and loc. cit. These abbreviations make footnotes difficult to read.

Fractions

Fractions are mathematical expressions for the quotient (division) of two quantities: ½. In this fraction, the slash mark means 1 divided by 2. Strictly speaking, decimals are also fractions. See DECIMALS.

1. Spell out and hyphenate fractions appearing by themselves in ordinary text, especially if they are followed by of a or of an:

two-thirds of an inch (not ²/3 of an inch)

decreased by one-third

one-half foot

one-fourth inch

one-tenth

one-hundreth of a mile

two one-thousandths

eighty-four one-thousandths (better 0.084)

NOTE 1: The longer a fractional expression becomes, especially if whole numbers are involved, the more desirable it is to express the fraction in figures (or a decimal):

⁵⁶/₆₄

⁹⁸/₁₀₀ (or 0.98)

2½ times

6¾ (or 6.75)

29⅓

NOTE 2: Measurements, especially in scientific and technical documents, require figures:

⅓-foot step

½-inch pipe

⅔-inch-diameter pipe

7½ meters

8½- by 11-inch paper

See NUMBERS and HYPHENS.

2. Use figures for fractions when they are combined with abbreviations or symbols:

34⅓ km

8½ hr

5½” × 6 ⅔”

Such fractions and abbreviations are most common in figures or in field reports. See NUMBERS.

Gobbledygook

Gobbledygook is not a recent problem. Well over 200 years ago, opponents of Benjamin Franklin argued that to vote, a man had to own property. Franklin’s supporters disagreed and stated their case as follows:

It cannot be adhered to with any reasonable degree of intellectual or moral certainty that the inalienable right man possesses to exercise his political preferences by employing his vote in referendums is rooted in anything other than man’s own nature, and is, therefore, properly called a natural right. To hold, for instance, that this natural right can be limited externally by making its exercise dependent on a prior condition of ownership of property, is to wrongly suppose that man’s natural right to vote is somehow more inherent in and more dependent on the property of man than it is on the nature of man. It is obvious that such belief is unreasonable, for it reverses the order of rights intended by nature.

Franklin agreed with this argument but knew that people wouldn’t be moved by such pompous oratory. So he explained his position as follows:

To require property of voters leads us to this dilemma: I own a jackass; I can vote. The jackass dies; I cannot vote. Therefore the vote represents not me but the jackass.

Gobbledygook is language that is so pompous, long-winded, and abstract that it is unintelligible. Some dictionaries trace the term to the verb gobble, describing the sounds made by turkeys, and it is tempting to believe that writers of gobbledygook resemble this vocal bird. Actually, such writers are usually well-intentioned. They might even take pride in writing what they consider to be sophisticated and complex language.

Perhaps the best way to appreciate gobbledygook is to read a couple of more recent samples:

This office’s activities during the year were primarily continuing their primary functions of education of the people to acquaint them with their needs, problems, and alternate problem solutions, in order that they can make wise decisions in planning and implementing a total program that will best meet the needs of the people, now and in the future.

Because the heavy mistletoe infestation in the Cattle Creek drainage area has rendered the residual timber resources useless for timber production, the ultimate goal is to establish a healthy, viable new stand of Douglas fir.

The average reader has to read these passages several times before beginning to decipher such nonsense. Why are the passages so difficult?

—Words and phrases are abstract. What does alternate problem solutions mean? Similarly, are residual timber resources the same thing as trees? If so, the writer should say trees.

See WORDY PHRASES and REDUNDANT WORDS.

—Words and phrases are pompous-sounding. Are the office’s activities primarily their primary functions? Is a healthy timber stand different from a viable timber stand? If not, then the writer should stick with the simpler word: healthy.

—Sentences are long and clumsy. By themselves, the 57 words in the first paragraph would make reading difficult, but the clumsy phrasing makes the reading impossible. The 35 words in the second paragraph are closer to a reasonable number, but the writer delays the major thought in the sentence with a massive introductory clause (beginning with because). As written, the sentence demands that readers remember a long opening condition while they try to absorb the main thought. The sentence would be clearer if the main and introductory clauses were reversed.

See SENTENCES, STRONG VERBS, ACTIVE/PASSIVE, and PARALLELISM.

How to Avoid Gobbledygook

1. Use concrete and specific words and phrases whenever possible:

this

To complete the recreational plan, we will need pictures of all tables, fireplaces, and other existing camping facilities in the state park.

not this

In order to bring the proposed recreational plan to completion; to evaluate existing recreation-site appurtenances and facilities; and to include applicable facilities such as tables, fireplaces, etc., in the proposed new recreational plan, it will be necessary to receive photographs of all current appurtenances and facilities located within the state park area.

See WORDY PHRASES and REDUNDANT WORDS.

2. Avoid pompous words and phrases.

The word appurtenance in the preceding example is an excellent example of a pompous word. Most readers will not understand appurtenance, and forcing them to look up the word in a dictionary might not clarify the passage. Two recent desk dictionaries define appurtenance quite differently: “something added to another, more important thing; accessory” (The American Heritage Dictionary) and “an incidental right (as a right-of-way) attached to a principal property right and passing in possession with it” (Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary). Which meaning should readers choose? More to the point, why make them choose?

If a word is not in common usage, avoid it or use it in such a way that the context provides a definition. In the example above, appurtenance surely fails the test. Here are some other pompous words and phrases with possible substitutes in parentheses:

Accordingly (so)

acquaint (inform or tell)

activate (start)

additional (more)

adhere (stick)

ameliorate (improve)

apprise (tell or inform)

Cognizant (aware)

commence (begin)

compensation (pay)

component (part)

concur (agree)

configuration (shape, design)

conflagration (fire)

curtail (slow, shorten)

Demonstrate (show)

descend (fall, climb down)

donate (give)

Encounter (meet)

evacuate (leave, empty, clear)

exhibit (show)

Fabricate (make)

factor (cause)

feasible (likely, possible)

fracture (break)

function (work, act)

Implicate (involve)

impotent (weak)

incinerate (burn)

increment (amount, gain)

indubitably (doubtless, undoubtedly)

inform (tell)

in isolation (alone, by itself)

initiate (begin)

Locality (place)

locate (find)

Major (chief, main)

manifest (show)

manipulate (operate)

manufacture (make)

modification (change)

moreover (besides)

Necessitate (compel)

necessity (need)

Paramount (main, chief)

perspective (view)

phenomenal (unusual)

philosophy (belief, idea)

potent (strong)

practically (nearly, most, all but)

proceed (go)

purchase (buy)

Ramification (result)

render (make)

request (ask)

reside (live)

residence (home)

Sophisticated (complex)

spotlight (stress)

state (say)

stimulate (excite)

succor (help)

sufficient (enough)

Thoroughfare (aisle, street)

terminate (end, fire)

transmit (send)

Utilization (use)

utilize (use)

Vacillate (waver)

veracious (true)

visualize (imagine, picture)

3. Make sentences short, direct, and clear.

Sentence length is only one sign of complexity. A 10-word sentence can be unclear because it is poorly structured and difficult to read:

these

Cost overruns continued throughout the second quarter. They continued even though we had audited all production and remanufacturing processes.

We need to approve their financial proposal before the end of our fiscal year. If we don’t, problems will arise.

not these

Despite a careful audit of all pertinent processes, cost overruns, especially those related to production and remanufacturing, continued throughout the second quarter.

There are certain problems likely to develop if approval of their financial proposal is deferred until after the close of our fiscal year.

See SENTENCES, STRONG VERBS, ACTIVE/PASSIVE, and PARALLELISM.

Gobbledygook and Jargon

Gobbledygook and jargon can both make reading difficult, but they are not the same.

Jargon includes terms used by a specific technical or professional group. Carpenters, for instance, have a number of jargon terms: stud, joist, sill plate, header, cap plate, trip-L-grip, etc. See JARGON.

Gobbledygook can include technical jargon, but gobbledygook also includes nontechnical words that are unfamiliar, unnecessary, or too long. Good writing can include some jargon, particularly if the words are defined or understandable within the context, but good writing never includes gobbledygook.

Graphics for Documents

Graphics are essential for conveying key information in documents. Because graphics are visual rather than verbal (as writing is), they are much more emphatic than the text around them. Readers will recall one impactful graphic long after they have forgotten a thousand words of text.

Today’s readers expect to see graphics in documents, even in routine newsletters and business reports. Readers also expect these graphics to be professional-looking. After all, high-definition imagery now dominates all media, from big-screen presentations to small handheld devices.

Fortunately, graphics software has made creating high-quality, professional-looking graphics possible for everyone. Creating an effective graphic is not, however, always as easy or simple as selecting a preformatted bar chart or pie chart. Sometimes a program can create a pretty graphic, but it isn’t exactly what you want, or the graphic may be the wrong size or shape. Figure 1 contains some tips that apply to creating almost any type of graphic.

Figure 1. Tips for Creating Computer Graphics. Remember to allow extra time for graphics preparation, especially if you are unfamiliar with the software.

For the following discussion, graphics refers only to visual information used within documents. Many of the principles discussed, however, apply also to slides and other presentation graphics. See CHARTS, COLOR, GRAPHICS FOR PRESENTATIONS, GRAPHS, ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS, PHOTOGRAPHS, and TABLES.

1. Choose graphics to emphasize your primary purpose or major concepts.

Graphics should capture your key recommendation, a surprising trend, the unexpected financial problem, or the most convincing data. Choose graphics for the highlights of your message. Save the supporting details for your text (or better yet, for an attachment or appendix).

In some cases, just one primary graphic may convey the main point of your entire document. If so, the written text serves merely as a “deeper dive” into the meaning or implications of the visual message. Effectively designing the primary graphic becomes your most important job. For example, if your purpose is to advocate one business strategy over another, one simple bar graph that contrasts the revenues associated with each strategy may be enough to persuade your readers.

In other cases, your document may require several key graphics to serve your purpose. For example, if your purpose is to recommend a new mobile phone provider, you might present a series of bar graphs, each showing how four competing providers compare on these criteria: (1) monthly charges for a service contract; (2) global coverage; and (3) user satisfaction ratings for the last three years. Figure 2 shows the bar chart for the third criterion (user satisfaction ratings).

Figure 2. Overall Customer-Satisfaction Rating for the Last Three Years. Wype is the most promising vendor, especially in light of its most recent rating and its continuous improvement trend.

Because of their impact, graphics often are the message of a document. Never use graphics for mere decoration. Reserve their use for visual information central to your message. If you waste graphics on unimportant or unnecessary information, you waste a valuable opportunity, and you might distract your readers from a key point.

A graphic and its caption should be clear and understandable without requiring readers to search for clarifying information in the text. The caption should tell readers not only what they are looking at but also why it is important. See CAPTIONS.

2. Create your graphics before you write the text.

Graphics should never be an afterthought. Visualization drives the text. Create visuals first; write text last. Graphics are more emphatic than text and should therefore be designed early in the writing process.

This rule is fundamental to an effective writing process. Writing a document begins when you visually design the whole document as a prototype (or mock-up), which will include all projected graphics. SEE WRITING AND REVISING and PAGE LAYOUT.

Even if you have the most sophisticated graphics software available, you should start your design with thumbnail sketches on paper of the key graphics you might use. If you prepare your graphics early, you may discover that the graphics make some of your text unnecessary. If so, you want to discover this redundancy even before you have actually written the text in question.

3. Select graphics that are appropriate for your topic and your audience.

Graphics come in many forms: charts, graphs, illustrations, maps, photographs, and tables. These forms—and all of their variations and combinations—give you many choices for organizing ideas and data into graphic visual representations. Use the matrix in figure 3 to help you determine which graphics to use in a given document.

• Charts show relationships. Charts can display organizational relationships (organizational charts) and illustrate the flow and relationship of steps in a process (flow charts). SEE CHARTS.

• Graphs show the correlation of two or more variables and how they change. The most common graph is a simple line graph. Graphs also include bar graphs and pie graphs, both of which show comparisons and trends. SEE GRAPHS.

• Illustrations and diagrams help show abstract concepts as objects or processes and provide a perspective on these concepts that verbal descriptions cannot capture. Illustrations can also show exploded views of smaller parts of a larger object or assembly. SEE ILLUSTRATIONS.

• Maps show topographical relationships and indicate scale and distance. SEE MAPS.

Figure 3. Graphics for Different Documents. An X appears in a square to show when a specific type of graphic would likely implement a particular document’s purpose.

• Photographs convey realism and authenticity. They purport to show readers exactly what something looks like. Retouched photos are illustrations. SEE PHOTOGRAPHS.

• Tables display data in rows and columns. They allow for quick comparisons of data with great precision. SEE TABLES.

The graphic you select depends on your readers, but also on what you are trying to achieve with it. The table in figure 3 shows how various information graphics can be used to accomplish your purposes.

4. Design or modify graphics so readers can easily interpret them.

The graphics you choose should be consistent with the orientation, skill, and educational or technical level of your readers. For nontechnical readers, you would not use logarithmic graphs (readers may not understand them); on the other hand, for highly technical readers you should not use oversimplified bar graphs or pie graphs to present complex scientific data.

Remember, however, that your graphics (and your text) should be accessible to the least technical of your readers. Keep these readers in mind as you generate your graphics and your text.

If you must include a graphic that is little too difficult for such nontechnical readers, explain the key point of the graphic in the caption.

The best technical writers and editors intentionally vary the readability of their text and graphics because they know that different readers will focus on different sections of a document. Technical readers may survey only the key table or the most technical graph. Less technical readers may read only the introduction and summary (or abstract) and then skip sections or scan the rest of the document for key points.

As a writer, you should carefully analyze your prospective readers—all of your readers. Once you know who your readers are and their technical levels, you can adapt your document and your graphics to these readers.

5. Introduce graphics in the text before they appear.

Always precede graphics with a clear introduction in the text. A graphic appearing suddenly, without an introduction or explanation, generally confuses the reader.

The introduction in the text should be informative and specific:

Informative and specific

As figure 3 shows, produced water from the 2nd Langley is much more acidic than produced water from the 1st Langley.

or

This project is estimated to cost $356,200. The cost breakdown in table 15 shows that hardware costs account for nearly 65 percent of the total costs, while labor costs constitute only 12 percent of the total.

Not informative

See Figure 3.

or

The total cost of this project is estimated to be $356,200. Table 15 provides a cost breakdown.

A good introduction indicates not only what the graphic is about but also explains how the reader should interpret it. The introduction in the text will repeat some of the ideas and even the language in the caption for the graphic. See CAPTIONS.

NOTE: Sometimes a graphic must appear in the text before you can introduce it. This may occur, for instance, when a small table or chart appears at the top of a new page and is followed by a column of text. Rather than break up the text, you might keep the graphic at the top of the page with the introduction following the graphic.

6. Design graphics that are simple, uncluttered, focused, and easy to read.

When you are designing a graphic, ask yourself key questions:

—What is the point?

—What is the most important idea that I am trying to convey visually?

—What is my central concept?

Keep things simple. Don’t ask a graphic to do too many things at once. When a graphic fails to communicate, it is often because the author tried to make it do too much (making it cluttered or too complex). Sometimes an author has not designed a graphic with a clear concept in mind (making the point of the graphic unfocused).

Focus on your key purpose or concept and then build graphics around it. Like a good paragraph, a good graphic focuses on one idea and conveys it sharply and purposefully.

Make graphics uncluttered by eliminating all extraneous information. A graph full of coordinates or a full table of data readings contains a lot of valuable information, but either of these is likely to be more effective if you pare it down to the essentials.

If your readers cannot tell you what the point is in 5 or 10 seconds, the graphic is not effective.

Eliminate all unnecessary borders, lines, and shadings for an open and simple look (and to save ink).

Choose a simple typeface for lettering in graphics, and use capitals and lowercase letters for all headings and labels. (Lettering all in capitals is hard to read, especially if it extends beyond two or three words.)

Be sure that lettering is large enough so that if the graphic is reduced, the lettering will still be readable.

Make lines and lettering that indicate axes, scales, notes, and explanations lighter than the lines and lettering indicating data points, curves, areas, or bars.

7. Choose emphatic devices to stress important ideas graphically.

Create styles for graphics so that they will be consistent throughout each project. Choose the same emphatic device to stress the same kind of word or data. See PAGE LAYOUT.

Emphatic devices include:

See EMPHASIS and PAGE LAYOUT.

Color is particularly useful in helping readers understand graphics, locate key information, and distinguish between different parts, phases, or configurations. Use color to highlight a row, line, slice, area, column, circle, or data point to focus the reader’s attention on that item.

Highlight special conditions in color: cautions are usually yellow and black; warnings are often red and white. See COLOR.

As you select colors, try to establish a color scheme that makes sense: green seems prosperous, yellow is transitional, red is for failure. Or red and yellow are warm, while blue is cool.

Use contrasting colors to show contrasting concepts or major changes; use shades of one color to show minor variations. Use the brightest colors to emphasize the most important ideas, the most muted shades to subdue the less important ideas.

Beware of too much color, making the graphic look kaleidoscopic. Remember that downloaded graphics might be printed only in black and white, so don’t depend only on color to make your point; use dotted lines or other appropriate textures. Finally, consider that, on average, 10 percent of your readers may be color blind. See COLOR and GRAPHICS FOR PRESENTATIONS.

8. Number graphics in the order of appearance.

Figures include all graphics that are not tables, including graphs, charts, diagrams, illustrations, photographs, and maps.

Traditionally, tables and figures were numbered separately. So table 5 could appear in a document after figure 20. But a current trend is to call all graphics figures, regardless of their type, and to number them consecutively.

In a short document or a document with few figures, number them sequentially through the entire text. In a document with chapters or numbered sections, give figures numbers with an en dash, such as figure 3–2. The first number is the chapter or section, and the second number denotes the number of the graphic (figure) within a chapter or section.

In longer documents, especially formal reports and publications (pamphlets, books, research studies, etc.), include a list of figures following the table of contents.

If the document has a large number of specialized figures, then create a separate list of each special type. A lengthy report with a number of maps might include a list of maps. Another report, in which photography plays an important role, might include a separate list of photographs. If the document does not warrant such special listings, however, don’t create them.

Lists of tables and figures appear immediately after the table of contents (usually on separate pages) and should themselves be listed in the table of contents. If you create both a list of tables and a list of figures, either may appear first. See TABLES OF CONTENTS.

9. Use clear and interpretive captions.

Interpretive captions usually require one or more sentences. But they should be informative without becoming too lengthy. See CAPTIONS.

A list of figures should provide, in sequence, each figure number, a title, and page number for each graphic.

Within text, captions for graphics should be informative and specific.

Captions that are only titles for a graphic are not very helpful, as these examples of weak captions show:

Figure 17. Amphibian Population Trends.

Table 2. Particulates in Sonoma Valley, California

Interpretive captions give specific information. They not only name the graphic, but they also tell readers what the point or importance of the graphic is. Notice how the following examples improve on the captions above:

Figure 17. Amphibian Population Trends in Central America. African Clawed Frog population has declined 43 percent in the last decade.

Table 2. Particulates in Sonoma Valley, California. From May to October, particulates in Sonoma Valley, California, remained well below EPA emission standards.

See CAPTIONS for further examples.

Graphics for Presentations

Graphics for presentations refer to graphics used in oral presentations (either recorded or live) and created with any media or technology. The following suggestions apply to any of the possible media: slides, videos, or Web presentations. For graphics used within documents, see GRAPHICS FOR DOCUMENTS.

Nearly all business and technical presentations rely on graphics, usually computer-driven slides. A presenter may choose to focus on one or two primary graphics, tell a story through a series of slides, or rapidly talk through a large amount of visual data to a highly technical audience, depending on the presenter’s purpose and the audience’s level of understanding.

Presentations fall into two categories: to inform or to incite action. Therefore, the visual message must be carefully designed to do one or the other. A visual that merely informs might not motivate listeners to act. For example, some analysts of the events surrounding the Columbia space-shuttle disaster believe that technical presentations made to the authorities, while informative, did not move them to the urgent action that might have saved the shuttle.

At bottom, virtually all presenters want to incite action. Therefore, they should choose graphics that will make the audience feel like doing what needs to be done. A simple line graph that shows the competition rapidly gaining ground may well be more likely to motivate action than 10 slides full of contrasting data about product categories.

Any message is stronger if it is concise. Graphics show data in a concise and effective manner (in tables); they quickly reveal important trends (in graphs); and they show key configurations that would be difficult, if not impossible, to describe with words (in charts and illustrations). Therefore, preparing an effective presentation is largely about preparing an impactful visual message. See CHARTS, GRAPHICS FOR DOCUMENTS, GRAPHS, ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS, PHOTOGRAPHS, and TABLES.

1. Choose and design graphics to emphasize important ideas and a major theme and to match your audience’s needs.

Graphics for presentations should capture the key recommendation, the surprising trend, the unexpected financial problem, or the most convincing data. Use graphics that will have an impact on and be memorable to your audience.

Always profile your potential audience and their needs. In a single presentation, you may face senior executives, corporate accountants, sales representatives, industry bloggers, and engineers, each with only partial knowledge of the issues you are presenting.

Remember also that some of your audience may not be conversant with your industry or jargon, or share your cultural assumptions. In such cases, analyze the audience to assess whether your message is missing part of your audience. Design graphics that include rather than exclude your listeners.

Begin planning your presentation by designing a primary graphic or several graphics showing the key points or the major theme you want to get across to your audience.

Figure 1 is an example of a graphic designed for a specific presentation. The graphic is an illustration designed to show the three sources of products returned to a retail store chain. This illustration would be more memorable and effective than an ordinary bulleted list of the three sources.

Figure 1. Three Sources of Products Returned. About the same volume of product is returned through each of the three channels. This graphic is an illustration designed to show the three sources, not just list them. This graphic would be more memorable than an ordinary bulleted (or numbered) list of sources.

The presenter designed this graphic to show that about the same volume of products was returned through each of the three channels. Her purpose was to change a general impression that returns came primarily through stores. A bulleted list would not have made the case as clearly.

Use a primary graphic, such as figure 1, at the beginning of your presentation, particularly if top managers are in the audience. (They tend to be time-conscious and may not stay for the whole presentation.) You might also use the graphic at the end as a summary.

See GRAPHICS FOR DOCUMENTS for a discussion of how to select charts, diagrams, graphs, illustrations, maps, photographs, and tables. Any one of these different graphics will work equally well in a presentation, assuming that the format and font size allow an audience to read or view the content easily.

As you are planning your presentation, list possible graphics before or concurrently with your script. Make a thumbnail sketch of your presentation slides, or your graphics will be an afterthought. If graphics are not an integral part of your presentation, you will weaken your case.

2. Limit your graphics to no more than you can easily show in the time allotted for your presentation.

A good rule of thumb for presentations is that you should have no more than two or three graphics per minute. And this number is excessive if you plan on taking time to explain to your audience what they are seeing and what the implications of the graphics are. Even in a series of slides that are self-explanatory, you will find that you have to give viewers 10 or 15 seconds to analyze and absorb the message of a single slide.

These time estimates assume a presentation framework where your goal is to share information. If, as in a fast-cut video, you want to create only a mood or feeling, then the images can and should move quickly. Similarly, if you are preparing an informational video, you may find that some segments may require 15 or 20 seconds of screen time, while other segments can follow a fast-cut sequence of images.

Far too often, presenters make the mistake of using too many slides. The trend is toward short presentations that go straight to the point. The more slides, the less the impact of each. Avoid inflicting “death by PowerPoint” on your audience, subjecting them to an endless sequence of slides. A good strategy is to focus on a primary graphic and a handful of supporting slides that are essential to your purpose. If other graphics remain important as background, consider including copies of such graphics in a download or handout the audience can review later (see rule 9).

3. Design graphics so they are clear and easy for all members of the audience to read.

The ideal graphic for a presentation is designed so that the message can be perceived in less than 5 seconds. Don’t try to squeeze in too much on each graphic. Figure 2, for example, would be fine as a page in a document, but as a slide, it would not be visible much beyond the second row in a small room. Often presenters settle for a screen projection of a page such as in figure 2. They fail to plan far enough ahead to prepare graphics especially for their presentation.

Figure 2. Four Modules on Strategic Selling. This figure would be unreadable as a slide. It could be the basis for four or five slides if a presenter wanted to present this information graphically.

Figure 3 is an adaptation of one part of the page shown in figure 2. An adaptation is necessary so that the size of type used will be readable.

Figure 3. Client Focus in Strategic Selling (Module 3). This slide presents only a summary of one of the four modules in figure 2. This focus on essential words and phrases allows for large type, making the figure more suitable for a slide

Type size and type design are major concerns when you are designing graphics. Figure 4 is a page of sample type sizes. You may want to make a test slide of figure 4; then try projecting it onscreen to see how legible text is at different sizes. Remember to stand as far back from the screen as the most distant viewer in your audience. Which line can you read clearly from there?

Figure 4. Readability Test Sheet. Make a slide of this page and then use this test slide to determine which font size is best suited to the size of room where you will be making a presentation.

For text on a slide, a sans serif typeface is clear and easy for most people to read. If you wish to use a serif font for contrast, use it only for titles. See PAGE LAYOUT for a discussion and examples of both serif and sans serif typefaces. Avoid all caps for titles because they are harder to read; instead, use initial caps and lower case.

When (or if) you use a fancy typeface, such as cursive script, use it sparingly and only for emphasis.

For greater visual emphasis in your graphics, bold your main points or major headings.

4. Use graphical special effects only for emphasis.

Today, graphics software features animation, sound effects, built-in clip art, and elaborate fonts. Additionally, infinite libraries of these things are available on the Internet. Use these features minimally and only to draw the attention of the audience to something you really want to emphasize.

These capabilities make it tempting to use technology for technology’s sake. Be cautious, because many flashy elements clutter your slides and draw focus from your message. Use animations and special effects sparingly and only for a good reason. If your audience must watch an arrow zigzag across the screen, make sure the zigzag serves a clear purpose. Avoid using more than two font styles in your presentation, even though you have hundreds at your disposal. Generic clip art is abundant but often tacky and can detract from the unified, focused impression you want to make.

Don’t overuse frames, boxes, and shadowing, which often just crowd the picture. Finally, fancy animated transitions between slides are more likely to irritate than to charm a business audience.

5. Use color to focus attention, but don’t overuse it.

For presentation slides, normally use a light background and dark letters. The high contrast of a dark background and light letters can be powerful if used only occasionally. Some colors just don’t work well together; figure 5 is an example of poorly chosen colors.

Figure 5. A Dreadful Graphic. Highly contrastive colors can often be too bright, even glaring. Stay with softer hues and tints. See COLOR. The three-dimensional bars are also misleading; for example, do the Canada geese number 600 or 625?

Use bright colors to focus the eye on important information and dimmer colors for less important information. Don’t rely exclusively on color, because some people may wish to print your slides in black and white. Additionally, red-green color blindness affects one of every ten males and a small number of females. Usually, you can combine colors with designs or textures that even a color-blind person can distinguish. Figures 6 and 7 illustrate two uses of color in graphics. A color-blind person would not have trouble interpreting either figure 6 or figure 7.

Figure 6. Single-Family Houses Sold and Their Sales Price. Putting both graphs on the same slide allows for easy comparison and interpretation of the data. In a large room, however, the type used within the graphs would be too small. Two slides would be the better choice.

Figure 7. Waterfowl Sightings at Keta Estuary in 2010. The 2010 annual waterfowl count at the Keta Estuary (Alaska) showed heavy use by some waterfowl, but sea ducks were relatively scarce. Note that this figure and its interpretation would likely require one or more other graphics with data from a baseline year (perhaps 2000) or even earlier (1990). The presenter would need to decide what trend, what conclusion, or what interpretation was most important.

Use color, but don’t overuse it. Color heightens interest and provides emphasis, but too much color may cause a loss of focus on the topic. More than three colors on a slide can make your graphics look busy and cluttered. See COLOR.

6. Plan enough time to complete and revise the graphics.

When preparing your own graphics, allow extra time for trial and error adjustments. Also, if you are not familiar with the software, you will experience many delays while producing graphics. See GRAPHICS FOR DOCUMENTS for suggestions about using software to prepare graphics.

Schedule time to review all of your presentation graphics. This is also a good time to do a dry run of your presentation.

7. Use graphics to communicate the structure of your presentation.

Too many slide presentations float by the audience like a stream of debris with no apparent structure. Even a well-organized presentation can seem disorganized and shapeless if the structure of the message is not clearly visible to the audience. If you have three points to make, but viewers never explicitly see the three points displayed, they will be unlikely to grasp those points. See PRESENTATIONS for guidance on how to organize a presentation.

Follow these guidelines for making the structure of your presentation visible and clear:

• Give your presentation a title on the entry slide.

• Create an overview slide to show the outline of your presentation. If you have five points to make and the sequence is important, number the points. If the sequence is unimportant, bullet them.

• In a long presentation, dedicate slides to introducing and summarizing each section so the audience stays oriented to your structure. In a short presentation, use a heading or a change of color to signal a transition from one point to another.

• Keep the section title in a header on each slide so viewers always know where they are in relation to the presentation as a whole.

8. Use graphs, charts, tables, and illustrations instead of text if they are easier to understand.

It’s better to show an effective graphic (with highlights) and talk about it than show detailed text and read it. Graphics should be digestible in less than 5 seconds (see rule 3). Simplify, simplify! Leave out data if its loss doesn’t detract from the message.

Titles used on presentation graphics usually appear at the top, as in figures 1, 3, 5, 6, and 7. These same graphics in text would often run into captions at the bottom. See CAPTIONS.

Text captions on slides must use larger type if onscreen legibility is a concern

9. Make handouts of your primary presentation graphic.

Always make handouts of your primary graphic showing the main points you want to get across to your audience (See rule 1). Use a primary graphic at the beginning of your presentation to convey your message to people who may not stay for the entire presentation. Then use it later for transitions or to review points. Finally, use it at the end as a summary.

A good practice is to have handouts for all graphics, both primary and supporting, that you display during a presentation. If you don’t provide handouts, some members of the audience will be frantically trying to take notes or copy graphics. They will often not be following what you are saying.

Another good practice is to make your presentation file available for your audience to download.

Graphs

Graphs turn numbers into pictures and are useful for showing trends, cycles, cumulative changes, relationships between variables, and distributions. They are not as effective as tables in providing precise data, but readers should be able to extract relatively accurate numerical data from the lines plotted or from the size of the bar or pie segments in bar graphs and pie graphs. Graphs are better than tables if you want to help your readers understand the meaning of your data. See TABLES.

Graphs include line (or coordinate) graphs, bar graphs, and pie (or circle) graphs. As explained in CHARTS, bar graphs and pie graphs are often called bar charts and pie charts. Don’t be bothered by the confusion between terms; the more important issue is to ensure that your graphs (or charts) are well conceived and professional looking.

Line (or coordinate) graphs and bar graphs are normally plotted using grid lines, with a horizontal axis (x-axis/abscissa) and a vertical axis (y-axis/ordinate). Grid lines are usually equally spaced in horizontal and vertical directions and reflect the numerical scales along each axis. Figure 1 is a simple line graph showing the median prices of new single-family houses sold over a 10-year period.

Figure 1. Median Prices of New One-Family Houses. Over the 10 years of this study period, median sales prices for new homes increased annually until an economic downturn began in year 9.

For general information on graphics, see GRAPHICS FOR DOCUMENTS and GRAPHICS FOR PRESENTATIONS. see also COLOR, ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS, PHOTOGRAPHS, and TABLES.

The most common graphs are line (or coordinate) graphs, bar graphs, and pie (or circle) graphs. Other types of graphs exist, however, such as graphs using logarithmic scales or from polar coordinates; these other types of graphs are beyond the scope of the following discussion, which deals with line or coordinate graphs, bar graphs, and pie graphs.

1. Use a line graph, a bar graph, or a pie graph to help readers visualize quickly and easily the major points in a document.

The most technically complex and even elegant graph fails if it is not simple and easy to read. Keep your graphics simple, even obvious.

Ensure that each graph has a single important point to make or a single relationship to show. Then tell your readers what the relationship is, both in the text and in a caption. See CAPTIONS. Be careful not to confuse readers by assuming that they understand the relationship between variables.

Don’t try to do too much with each graph. Figure 2, which is a simple bar graph, shows how revenues and investments in the cell-phone industry changed over a 10-year period. This bar graph has a simple message because it displays only two sets of data, one for 2000 and the second for 2010. In contrast, the original data for this graph comes from Table 1112 in the Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010; in this table, data cover nearly all the years of that decade. Also, that table covers several categories of data not presented in figure 2. Figure 2 is designed to focus on only its simplified message, not all the complex year-by-year details.

Figure 2. Comparison of Service Revenues and Capital Investment in the U.S. Mobile Phone Sector (in $millions). While revenues nearly tripled between 2000 and 2010, capital investment hovered at about 40 percent above revenues across the decade. (Based on Table 1112, in the Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010.)

Complicated graphs are often confusing, even to technically competent readers. Simplify graphs by eliminating everything that does not contribute to the central message of the graph. Do not use more labels, numbers, tick marks, shadings, colors, or grid lines than necessary to do the job. Too much clutter makes graphs difficult to read.

2. Ensure that the visual characteristics of the graph reflect the magnitude and importance of the data being represented.

The value of graphs is their visual impact. Consequently, writers can mislead readers by producing graphs that give more or less prominence to an idea or piece of data the writer wishes to emphasize or deemphasize. See ETHICS.

Distorting scales, bar lengths, or pie slice areas can mislead readers into thinking that something is larger or smaller than it really is. Similarly, using bright colors for insignificant data and dull colors for significant data can confuse readers and lead some to think that the insignificant is really significant. To ensure that you have presented a truthful and accurate picture of the situation being depicted, strive to make the visual impression created by the graph consistent with reality. See GRAPHICS FOR DOCUMENTS.

3. Number each graph sequentially, provide a title, and then add an informative caption to identify the purpose of the graph.

Graphs and all other graphics are usually labeled as figures, so the numbering would be Figure 1, Figure 2, etc. Or, if the document has chapters, Figure 1–1, Figure 1–2, Figure 1–3, where the first number is the chapter number.

Following Figure and the number comes the title of the graph:

Figure 3–1. Absorption (Percentage) of Drug A Over Time (Minutes).

Sometimes, however, the title appears above a figure, functioning more like a headline. See figures 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, and 12 for examples of headlines used above figures. Then provide an informative or interpretive caption to guide readers to see the point of the graph:

Figure 3–1. Absorption (Percentage) of Drug A vs. Time (Minutes). Drug A is very slowly absorbed until it has been in the patient for at least 30 minutes; then absorption is rapid.

For the graphs used as examples in this discussion, we have varied the presentation to show the different placements of titles and captions. In an actual report or formal document, you would want to choose one placement pattern and use it for all figures. See CAPTIONS and GRAPHICS FOR DOCUMENTS.

4. Place footnotes and source information below graphs.

Footnotes typically explain or clarify the information appearing in the entire graph or in one small part of it. Often footnotes tell what the data apply to, where they came from, or how accurate they are:

¹All data are in constant 2010 euros.

²For companies with no South Asian assembly plants.

³According to the International Union of Geological Scientists. The data come from each nation’s database, so some variations will appear because each nation has different reporting standards.

The footnotes for each graph are numbered independently from footnotes in the text and from footnotes in other graphics. Begin with footnote 1 and proceed sequentially for that single graph; for the next graph, start the numbering again. Within the body of the graph, use superscripted footnote numbers. Place the footnote explanations (in numerical order) immediately below the graph and flush with the left margin. Repeat the superscripted footnote number and then provide the appropriate explanation, followed by a period.

If the graph covers more than one page, place the appropriate footnotes with each page. If caption and footnotes appear below a graph, place the footnotes above the caption. If the caption is above the graph, place the footnotes below the graph but ahead of the text.

If footnote numbers would be confusing in the body of the graph, use letters (^a, ^b, ^c, ^d, etc.), asterisks (*, **, ***), or other symbols.

Source information may appear in footnotes if the referenced source provided only that data indicated by the footnote and not the data for the rest of the graph:

⁴From Journal of Experimental Biology, Volume 213 (February 2010).

⁵Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management.

Source information may also appear within parentheses in the caption (regardless of where the caption appears) or within brackets under the caption if the caption appears ahead of the graph:

Figure 1. U.S. Aerospace Mergers and Acquisitions, 1990–2010 (U.S. Department of Commerce)

Figure 1. U.S. Aerospace Mergers and Acquisitions, 1990–2010 [U.S. Department of Commerce]

See FOOTNOTES, CITATIONS, and INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.

5. Use grid lines or tick marks to help readers interpolate data.

Including grid lines on graphs was the status quo for many years. Now, many graphs appear without grid lines, principally to increase resolution and create a cleaner, more open visual effect (see figure 3). Omitting grid lines is acceptable. However, if you expect readers to extract precise data from graphs, you should not omit grid lines unless you combine the graph with a table. (See figure 6 for an example of a combined graphic.)

Figure 3. Median Prices of New One-Family Houses. Over the 10 years of this study period, median sales prices for new homes increased annually until an economic downturn began in year 9.

If you decide to omit grid lines, retain tick marks to help readers interpret data. Tick marks are short lines on and perpendicular to an axis that indicate the intervals along a scale. Use longer tick marks beside interval labels; use shorter tick marks between labels. Generally, try to use twice as many tick marks as labels (so that you have tick marks at the midpoints between labels). Figure 3 shows the same graph as in figure 1, but in this instance, the grid lines are removed, leaving only tick marks.

Do not use too many tick marks. The more tick marks you use, the more crowded the scale becomes. Do not create finer distinctions than necessary for the data being shown.

6. Orient all labels, numbers, and letters so that they are parallel with the horizontal axis.

Placing all lettering horizontally on the page makes graphs easier to read. The labels in figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 illustrate horizontal lettering. (However, some U.S. Government agencies require that the labeling of the ordinate axis be vertical.)

Overly long vertical labels are an exception to this rule. If your ordinate axis label is too long for horizontal lettering, then turn it vertically with the base of the letters parallel and adjacent to the ordinate axis. Readers should be able to read long vertical labels by turning the page clockwise.

Line or Coordinate Graphs

Line (or coordinate) graphs are normally plotted using grid lines or tick marks, with a horizontal axis (x-axis/abscissa) and a vertical axis (y-axis/ordinate). Grid lines are usually equally spaced in horizontal and vertical directions and reflect the numerical scales along each axis. An exception would be logarithmic graphs or polar coordinates, where the scales are not equally spaced, but these are beyond the scope of the present discussion.

Figure 4 is a typical line graph, with data on U.S. productivity increases from 2000 to 2008. As in most line graphs, figure 4 plots the time (in years) on the horizontal axis and the units to be measured on the vertical axis.

Figure 4. U.S. Business Productivity Rises. Productivity increased an average 3.25 points per year between 2000 and 2008, from 116 (2000) to 142 (2008). These rapid improvements were probably driven by advances in technology. (Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010, Table 627.)

7. Choose and label scales to indicate the quantity, magnitude, and range of each axis.

If the horizontal (x) axis or the vertical (y) axis indicates quantities, magnitudes, and ranges, use scales and grids or tick marks that show the axis minimum and maximum, as well as the numeric intervals. (See the vertical and horizontal scales on figures 1, 2, and 3.)

Label the minimums and maximums, whether they are positive or negative values.

Also label a sequence of intervals along the scale. If the minimum is 0 and the maximum is 1,000, for instance, you might label the scale in steps of 100. These interval labels indicate the scale and allow readers to interpolate data. Do not use so many labels that the scale becomes crowded; however, do not use so few that readers cannot easily interpolate data. Generally, try to leave one or two spaces between interval labels. These labels will correspond to either grid lines or tick marks (see rule 6).

Use axis labels to identify each axis. Placement of these axis labels varies. Sometimes they come under the units on the horizontal axis and to the left of the vertical axis. But as in figures 1, 3, and 4, the label for the vertical axis appears at the top of the graph. Indicate the units of measurement in the axis label or place the units of measurement within parentheses after or below the axis label:

Wheat Shipments, in Metric Tons

Wheat Shipments (Metric Tons)

Wheat Shipments (Metric Tons)

If time is one variable, plot it on the x axis. See figures 1, 3, and 4.

Scales must increase from bottom to top along the y axis and left to right along the x axis. Scale maximums and minimums must appear on the farthest grid lines along each axis. Scale labels must appear at appropriate intervals to facilitate data interpretation (see rule 8).

Do not use scales that exaggerate or distort the numerical relationships that actually exist. You can make small and insignificant differences look important by using a minute scale, and you can hide critical differences by using an overly large scale.

Your graphs should reflect the reality of the data being plotted. Therefore, your choice of scale is critically important.

8. Make your key data lines heavier than axis and grid lines and less important data lines.

Axis and grid lines are less important than data lines and must therefore be thinner and lighter. The visual emphasis in the graph must be on the plotted (data) lines, not on the grid lines or axes. Equally, your important data lines must be more emphatic than less important data lines.

Note that in figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, the plotted data lines are darker than the axis or grid lines (if used).

9. Use multiple lines, if necessary, to show the relationships between three or more variables, and use different line patterns to depict different variables.

Lines of different patterns are useful for plotting more than two variables. In figure 5, for example, the graph presents three variables: the year (x axis) and the Sub-Saharan and world fertility rates (y axis).

Figure 5. Sub-Saharan and World Fertility Rates. Although world fertility rates now hover around replacement level, the declining rates in the developing countries of Sub-Saharan Africa have stalled well above that level. (World Bank, World Development Indicators, February 2, 2010.)

Line patterns include solid, thin solid, wide solid, thin dashes, wide dashes, small dots, large dots, hollow (two thin lines together), and mixed dots and dashes of varying sizes. If you use different line patterns, label the lines, as in figure 5. Optionally, you can omit the labels within the grid pattern and use an explanatory key to the right or below the graph, as in figure 2.

10. Label important values on a data line.

If you wish to highlight or discuss certain important values on data lines, label them within the grid system. Readers will pay more attention to labeled data values and will not be forced to interpret data values.

In figure 6, for example, the final values of the four regions (the end of the plotted values) are of special interest, so the final values are inserted in the graph. Similarly, other values could be inserted for special years.

Figure 6. Energy Consumption by Industrialized Regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Cumulative energy consumption across industrialized nations will rise at approximately the same steady rate at least until 2025. (Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010, Table 1344.)

Sometimes, for a graph with important data, you may decide to present the table from which the graph came along with the graph. Figure 6 includes the background table for the graph. Note the additional categories (in columns) and the additional values (by year). The graph in figure 6 has the advantage of telling its story at a glance, but the table provides more detail.

Bar Graphs

Bar graphs depict the relationship between two or more variables, one of which is usually time. These graphs typically show how one or more variables change over time. Consequently, bar graphs are useful for depicting trends (see figure 8). Because bar graphs can show multiple variables, they can also depict how several variables change relative to one another over time (see figure 7).

Figure 7. While carbon dioxide emissions in three of the largest emitters have leveled off, China continues to increase the rate of emissions. (Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010, Table 1351; World Resources Institute.)

Figure 8. Aluminum production rates soared by 40 percent between 2000 and 2010. (Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010, Table 1341.)

Bar graphs are less useful if the quantities depicted do not differ significantly. And if you expand or distort the axis scales to dramatize slight differences, the bar graphs will look suspicious to alert readers and might damage your credibility.

Bar graphs may be horizontal or vertical. In vertical bar graphs, time is usually plotted along the horizontal x axis (see figure 7). In horizontal bar graphs, time is usually plotted along the vertical y axis.

Some writers and illustrators argue that vertical bar graphs are better for showing trends and that horizontal bar graphs are better for comparisons and for showing magnitude changes. Certainly, readers are more used to seeing trends shown along a horizontal axis. However, comparisons and magnitude changes are usually clear in either orientation. Use your judgment.

Bar graphs may be used with other visual forms, such as line or coordinate graphs, maps (see MAPS), or pie graphs (see figure 12).

11. Clearly label each bar.

Ensure that readers understand what each bar represents. See figures 7 and 8 for examples of two different bar graphs with appropriate labels.

As an example, figure 7 is a vertical bar graph, with countries and time (years) on the x axis and with the volume of carbon dioxide emissions on the y axis. The bars (labeled in the legend) show how emissions varied from year to year. Figure 8 is a horizontal bar graph, showing labeled metals on the y axis, with the volume produced on the x axis.

12. Make the bars wider than the spaces between them.

See figure 7. A bar graph with the spaces wider than the bars would seem “airy.” The dominant visual effect in a bar graph should be the bars.

13. Use different bar patterns to indicate differences in types of data and label these patterns clearly.

Bar patterns allow you to distinguish areas, regions, groups, and parts. Patterns also allow you to focus readers’ attention on areas of the graph you consider most important. Bar patterns include diagonal lines, cross-hatching, and colors. Remember, however, that colors are a problem if you are using black-and-white photocopies. Whatever pattern of bars you choose, be sure that the pattern is clearly labeled.

14. Use segmented bars to depict multiple variables or component parts of a whole.

Segmented bars allow you to show segments of a total figure.

Figure 9 contrasts household assets with the liabilities for 2010. The shaded segments divide assets and liabilities into their components, which are labeled. In figure 10, the waterfowl sightings for a single year (2009) are presented for three different areas. The different segments in the bar refer to the different areas.

Figure 9. Assets and Liabilities of U.S. Families. Mortgage obligations represent the overwhelming financial liability of U.S. families. Assets, on the other hand, include a variety of financial fund instruments. (Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010, Table 706.)

Figure 10. waterfowl Sightings in 2009 at Three Alaskan Estuaries. Of the three surveyed estuaries, the Wilson Estuary has the largest and most productive waterfowl population. (Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture.)

Pie Graphs

Pie graphs are circles (pies) divided into sectors (slices) to show the relationship of parts to a whole. The sectors must add up to 100 percent.

Pie graphs are useful for general comparisons of relative size. However, they are not useful if accuracy is important. Further, pie graphs are not useful for showing a large number of items.

The eye can measure linear distances far more easily than radial distances or areas. Therefore, visual comparisons of bars on a bar graph are much easier to grasp than visual comparisons of sectors in a pie graph. Moreover, readers can usually make more accurate judgments about data relationships expressed in a linear fashion.

So if you need accuracy, use a bar graph or a line graph. If you need to show how parts relate to one another and to a whole—and if precise numbers are not important—use a pie graph.

15. Identify each sector of the pie and, if appropriate, the percentage it represents.

Pie graphs do not have axes and therefore cannot be very precise, so if percentages are important, identify them. As in figure 11, the percentage is more important than the actual numbers, but if a reader wanted to, a simple calculation with the percentages, based on the total $210 billion, would reveal the actual component numbers.

Figure 11. U.S. Criminal Justice System Expenditures. Despite some reports in the media, expenditures for public defense, which include legal aid services and public defenders, constitute only 2 percent of the money spent nationally on the criminal justice system. (Source: U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.)

Always identify each sector of the pie. You can do this by using labels (figures 11 and 12) or fill patterns and an explanation block. For further information on fill patterns, see the preceding discussion of bar graphs.

16. Differentiate adjacent pie sectors by using alternating fill colors or patterns.

To help readers distinguish the sectors, use alternating fill colors or patterns. In figure 11, for example, the various patterns for each slice or segment help distinguish between the segments. These patterns are somewhat redundant (intentionally) with the labels which report the different revenue sources. Reserve the solid (or black) fill pattern for the prominent sectors—the ones you wish to emphasize. Never use the same fill pattern for adjacent sectors.

17. Group small percentage items under a general label, such as “Other.”

Pie graphs should have no more than 8 to 10 sectors, depending on the size of the pie. The larger the pie, the more sectors you can safely divide it into. However, beyond some reasonable number of sectors (10), a pie graph becomes too busy and therefore difficult to read.

If you have a number of small percentage items, you should group them and give them a common label, such as “Other Parts,” “Other Exports,” or simply “Other” if the context of the graph and the names of the other labels indicate what “Other” refers to.

Sometimes for the “Other” category or another segment of the pie graph, you will want to break out the different components (see rule 18).

18. Use pie-bar combination graphs to show the composition of an important sector of the pie.

Figure 12 shows a combination pie-bar graph, where the largest segment “Sales and gross receipts” would not be very clear to readers who did not know what items went into this category. For such readers, in figure 12, this category is broken down into the adjacent bar graphs, which show the various percentages for the two years.

Figure 12. Sales taxes and general consumption taxes (motor fuels, alcohol, and tobacco) still constitute in 2008 the major source of state funds. Taxes on individual income, as a percentage of the total, have increased from 19 percent in 1991 to 32 percent in 2008.

Each sector of a pie can potentially be expanded into a segmented bar. In this way, you are adding one more variable to the pie graph.

19. Use a series of pie graphs to add time as a variable.

The two pie graphs in figure 12 are only two of the possible series of pie graphs for tax collections. Depending on the purpose for a document, a writer might choose to present pie graphs for the years 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020 (estimated). This series would undoubtedly portray the interesting economic adjustments made by state governments over a period of 30 years.