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Writing for a Global Audience

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Larry Kunz
Larry Kunz

As a technical communicator in today's interconnected world, technology makes it easy for you to work on a development team with members located all over the world. In much the same way, more and more of the technical content that we produce is used by people in other countries -- people who speak different languages, who come from different cultures, and who use different technology. In this professional-development presentation, Larry Kunz describes the ways in which you can develop technical content so that it is more easily translated and so that it can be used easily by people all over the globe.

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Writing for a Global Audience March 2014 Larry Kunz lkunz@sdicorp.com
About Me More than 30 years in Tech Comm Software documentation Marketing Project management Consulting Fellow, Society for Technical Communication (STC)
What Well Cover Today Defining our terms Writing for international audiences Cultural considerations Managing the project
Defining Our Terms Translation: Rewriting content in a different language Localization (L10N): (Re)designing a product for a specific international market Internationalization (I18N): Making a product suitable for localization in any market
How Translation Works Machine translation Garbage In, Garbage Out Good content in, good translated content out Translation Memory (TM) Content must be identical Human translation Required to resolve ambiguity, inconsistency As a writer, your task is to facilitate
Writing for an International Audience The writer must: Use unambiguous sentence structure Before connecting the printer, on which you will create hard copies, begin the process by starting the setup program. Start the setup program. Then connect the printer. You will use the printer to create hard copies. Find examples that are not culture-specific Avoid using idioms
Writing for an International Audience (continued) The writer must: Use consistent terms and phrases Allow space for expansion Include appropriate artwork The Global English Style Guide (John Kohl, SAS Press, 2008) http://www.globalenglishstyle.com/
Cultural Considerations Artwork and graphics
Cultural Considerations Learning styles Country-specific factors Typographical/layout preferences
Example: Website Design China
Example: Website Design USA
Other Considerations for the Writer Rely on your editor Respond promptly to questions from translators
Managing the Project 1. Be sure the plan includes time for I18N. 2. Focus on I18N from Day One. 3. Ensure that everyone has what they need.
Managing the Project The project manager must consider: Scheduling Budgeting Defining the process Communicating with writers and translators
Summary Writers: Write for your audience wherever they live Consider different cultures Work with editors and translators Project managers: Plan carefully for I18N Facilitate communication
Thank You Larry Kunz lkunz@sdicorp.com

More Related Content

Writing for a Global Audience

  • 1. Writing for a Global Audience March 2014 Larry Kunz lkunz@sdicorp.com
  • 2. About Me More than 30 years in Tech Comm Software documentation Marketing Project management Consulting Fellow, Society for Technical Communication (STC)
  • 3. What Well Cover Today Defining our terms Writing for international audiences Cultural considerations Managing the project
  • 4. Defining Our Terms Translation: Rewriting content in a different language Localization (L10N): (Re)designing a product for a specific international market Internationalization (I18N): Making a product suitable for localization in any market
  • 5. How Translation Works Machine translation Garbage In, Garbage Out Good content in, good translated content out Translation Memory (TM) Content must be identical Human translation Required to resolve ambiguity, inconsistency As a writer, your task is to facilitate
  • 6. Writing for an International Audience The writer must: Use unambiguous sentence structure Before connecting the printer, on which you will create hard copies, begin the process by starting the setup program. Start the setup program. Then connect the printer. You will use the printer to create hard copies. Find examples that are not culture-specific Avoid using idioms
  • 7. Writing for an International Audience (continued) The writer must: Use consistent terms and phrases Allow space for expansion Include appropriate artwork The Global English Style Guide (John Kohl, SAS Press, 2008) http://www.globalenglishstyle.com/
  • 9. Cultural Considerations Learning styles Country-specific factors Typographical/layout preferences
  • 12. Other Considerations for the Writer Rely on your editor Respond promptly to questions from translators
  • 13. Managing the Project 1. Be sure the plan includes time for I18N. 2. Focus on I18N from Day One. 3. Ensure that everyone has what they need.
  • 14. Managing the Project The project manager must consider: Scheduling Budgeting Defining the process Communicating with writers and translators
  • 15. Summary Writers: Write for your audience wherever they live Consider different cultures Work with editors and translators Project managers: Plan carefully for I18N Facilitate communication