few my articles on the following blogs:
http://yamininafde.blogspot.com/ - list of all articles (a few linked)
http://ynafde-article1.blogspot.com - A Tryst with MBAs or MCAs
http://ynafde-article2.blogspot.com/ - Microsoft Word 2000 and Readability
http://ynafde-article3.blogspot.com/ - Client-Friendly Atmosphere: The Polish and The Lub
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
A Tryst with MBAs/ MCAs
Recently I had the good fortune of being invited as a guest lecturer at the Indira Group of Institutes, Pune. I was asked to present a session about technical writing and emerging trends. I was taken aback by my capacity to talk, for this talk almost lasted for three hours! It was meant to last for one-and-a-half hours, of which 45 minutes I was supposed to talk while the remaining time was reserved for Question and Answer session from students! I was told initially that I would be conducting this session for about 75 students – I was, until I realized the strength in the auditorium…we had a unprecedented turnout of 150 students!
The Indira Group of Institutes has a Career Development Programme (CDP) workshop for students, for which they invite guests from various industry verticals. The idea is to speak on topics related to the respective Industry and provide an Academic Interface.
The topic of the workshop being ‘Technical Writing Workshop,’ I was called for one such lecture during this workshop. The students were mostly those who were pursuing their MCAs (Master of Computer Application) or MBAs (Master of Business Administration). I was impressed with this trend; maybe all institutes have such schemes on their campus, only I was not aware of it.
I had no doubts about taking this lecture; my only apprehension was how to handle the varied audience types. I was not sure if many in the audience had heard about technical writing before. After exchanging a few mails with the organizers, I prepared my session material and sent a draft to them for review. After approval, I went ahead with my presentation on the designated day. To my surprise, the organizers did not provide the correct picture of the audience to me. The audience largely comprising of MBA students who hardly had any clue about the existence of a technical writer (TW) or what TWs do! So I decided to forget my prepared session material and focus more on making the basics clear to the students; in process generate the students’ interest in the subject.
I almost spoke for half-an-hour about what can be categorised as technical writing and what we as TWs do. I made this a very interactive session. Why I choose to write about this experience? Well, I got to know that many in our profession are invited to present talks in schools/ colleges/ universities, and this experience might come in handy for some. This experience also gave me the insight that I could handle an extempore (since I was catering to a very basic audience type)!
A few students asked me questions related to technical writing – what qualifications do companies ask for, will an MBA help, what are the contents of a User Manual, will I always be designated as a TW and so on. I was impressed by some of these questions, especially coming at this level.
After the talk I was taken around for a glimpse of the Indira Group of Institute’s lovely campus. I was even asked to take such talks once every month! I definitely do not have the bandwidth to take up such tasks once a month. And much I as appreciated their offer, I had to kindly decline it. The reason why they require such talks once a month is that so many batches go through technical writing workshops.
On Indira Group of Institute’s campus, they also have a mini zoo – I saw some very cute ducks (similar to the ones at Residency club), an ostrich, and a palm-sized monkey. Later I was told there were some 20 species of dogs in their zoo as well.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and was pleased to communicate so many ideas and knowledge about our profession to more than 150 students, who patiently sat through the entire session for 3 hours in that auditorium. Till date I get mails from some students telling me how interesting they found my talk and that they would love to have me again for another session of talk to their batch-mates.
Yamini Nafde is a Principal Technical Communicator with Infosys. She has featured as ‘Writer of the Month’ in the TechCraft June (volume 13) issue. She has published articles in INDUS about ‘Readability’ and ‘Client Interfacing.’
The Indira Group of Institutes has a Career Development Programme (CDP) workshop for students, for which they invite guests from various industry verticals. The idea is to speak on topics related to the respective Industry and provide an Academic Interface.
The topic of the workshop being ‘Technical Writing Workshop,’ I was called for one such lecture during this workshop. The students were mostly those who were pursuing their MCAs (Master of Computer Application) or MBAs (Master of Business Administration). I was impressed with this trend; maybe all institutes have such schemes on their campus, only I was not aware of it.
I had no doubts about taking this lecture; my only apprehension was how to handle the varied audience types. I was not sure if many in the audience had heard about technical writing before. After exchanging a few mails with the organizers, I prepared my session material and sent a draft to them for review. After approval, I went ahead with my presentation on the designated day. To my surprise, the organizers did not provide the correct picture of the audience to me. The audience largely comprising of MBA students who hardly had any clue about the existence of a technical writer (TW) or what TWs do! So I decided to forget my prepared session material and focus more on making the basics clear to the students; in process generate the students’ interest in the subject.
I almost spoke for half-an-hour about what can be categorised as technical writing and what we as TWs do. I made this a very interactive session. Why I choose to write about this experience? Well, I got to know that many in our profession are invited to present talks in schools/ colleges/ universities, and this experience might come in handy for some. This experience also gave me the insight that I could handle an extempore (since I was catering to a very basic audience type)!
A few students asked me questions related to technical writing – what qualifications do companies ask for, will an MBA help, what are the contents of a User Manual, will I always be designated as a TW and so on. I was impressed by some of these questions, especially coming at this level.
After the talk I was taken around for a glimpse of the Indira Group of Institute’s lovely campus. I was even asked to take such talks once every month! I definitely do not have the bandwidth to take up such tasks once a month. And much I as appreciated their offer, I had to kindly decline it. The reason why they require such talks once a month is that so many batches go through technical writing workshops.
On Indira Group of Institute’s campus, they also have a mini zoo – I saw some very cute ducks (similar to the ones at Residency club), an ostrich, and a palm-sized monkey. Later I was told there were some 20 species of dogs in their zoo as well.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and was pleased to communicate so many ideas and knowledge about our profession to more than 150 students, who patiently sat through the entire session for 3 hours in that auditorium. Till date I get mails from some students telling me how interesting they found my talk and that they would love to have me again for another session of talk to their batch-mates.
Yamini Nafde is a Principal Technical Communicator with Infosys. She has featured as ‘Writer of the Month’ in the TechCraft June (volume 13) issue. She has published articles in INDUS about ‘Readability’ and ‘Client Interfacing.’
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