1.3: Professional Voice and Technical Communication

Professional Voice and Technical Communication

Another fundamental aspect of being a good professional and technical writer is developing a professional voice. One of the things that I tell all my students, graduate and undergraduate, is that there is a clear and fundamental difference between knowing what you’re talking about and sounding like you know what you’re talking about. The difference between these two is often the presence or lack of a professional persona or professional voice.

What exactly is a professional voice? Well, we could probably spend an entire semester working on just that. Entire books have been written and will be written on style, but for our purposes I define professional voice thus: writing with appropriate authority, allowing sources to back you up rather than speak for you. That may seem subtle, and in a way it is, but placing yourself in the position of authority is a cornerstone of both coming across as a professional as well as owning up to your responsibilities in a professional setting.

Often times when we’re writing as grade school or even high school students, we’re put into a position with research where the research itself becomes the focus of our writing. You write a term paper that needs 10 sources, and those sources are the term paper; you’re simply creating a vessel for them to be shared with the world. While that type of investigative writing can be useful, the presentation that it lends itself to is not.

When we present ourselves as professionals, we are the ones who have done the research, who know the relevant background information and sources need. If you know it, write and talk that way! (And if you don’t, do that work so that you don’t end up being one of those folks that sound like they know what they’re talking about when they are in fact clueless). Below you’ll find a couple of example sentences that lay out the differences I’m conveying. See if you can guess which is professional voice:

Example 1

There are a couple of things that apply when we decide whether to build a coal or natural gas plant. According to the Guide to Greenhouse Emissions by Lora Fitts (2015), “there is a large difference between the emissions generated by coal and by natural gas production” (p. 159). Elsewhere, Boris Johnson (2017) writes in Energy Choices for the Future that “building for coal at this point in history is a backwards point of view for any forward-facing organization” (p. 257).

Example 2

The research available does not support the choice to build a coal-powered plant on campus. Recent work studying emissions shows that coal has a much more aggressive pollution profile vs. natural gas (Fitts 2015), and the general consensus among experts is that coal is at best a backwards choice for any new construction (Johnson 2017).

Looking at these two examples, you should be able to see a marked difference in the way that the author tackles the subject matter at hand and its presentation. The first example maps to the classic “this is what I read” approach where you simply repeat the wording of your sources verbatim, often while naming the exact book/journal/article that you’re drawing on. Now, that is not to say there is not a place for this type of research (there is), but for the most part when you put all of this information in the text, you’re overloading the reader with content they really don’t need. The Works Cited page of your text is the place for most of this information in a normal setting, and what you’re doing is taking the decision-making process and offloading it to experts rather than owning the choice yourself. Even in situations where your job is simply to inform, you should own the collection and presentation of the data you’ve found!

Notice that in example 2, the author makes a clear point (we should not build a coal plant) and then backs it up with strong statements that are supported by relevant citations. The author isn’t hiding behind sources and isn’t asking the reader or the sources to make a decision. Instead, the author has decided what they want to say and is simply telling you what they’ve found out from research. This is the essence of professional voice—doing the homework and the research and then presenting your point of view accordingly. Instead of talking about your sources, you talk for them and let them back you up. Note that the author doesn’t go beyond the sources quoted in the first example, but simply uses them as the backing for their own representation.

Metaphorically speaking, Example 1 represents you, the author, hiding behind your sources. Instead of showing your work and what you think, you throw up the sources and hope for the best. Example 2 takes a different course, using the sources as a backing to make a statement that you feel is correct. In Example 2, you’re the one making a firm statement, and if someone wants to question that choice, they can go to the sources you’ve cited. You’ve done the homework and now you’re telling folks what you think.

For professional settings, Example 2 is often the way to go. One of the more common complaints about student writing is that it often doesn’t communicate clearly and directly. Taking ownership of the text and the points, allowing sources to back you up rather than hiding behind them, tackles that problem head-on. Now, that isn’t to say that you will never need to write the way Example 1 is framed, but that isn’t going to be as common.

Even in a literature review setting, you’re being asked to take ownership of the text in a way that simply repeating sources doesn’t. A literature review, if you think about it, is the product of you reading all of the relevant literature on a subject and then presenting that research to an audience. You are the one making the call on what belongs and doesn’t, and you are the one that is naming the various camps, setting up their arguments, and explaining how they interrelate. That’s a lot of work for you, the author, even though you’re primarily telling someone what other people have said! It is your literature review after all, and you need to own that for better or worse.

So, when it comes to professional voice and technical writing and communication, keep in mind that you’re the expert, the one doing the research and the presentation. Own that role, and make your points with your sources doing the backing. Don’t use them as a shield, but use them instead as backup when you make your points. One day, you may not need to use them at all, once you’ve become the expert in a given area. Think about someone like the late Neil Armstrong—who would realistically question his description of walking on the moon? In a situation where he has explained what that is like, he is the source. He’s the expert because an ever-shrinking number of people are primary sources that have actually been on the moon and returned to tell us about it! And eventually, you may be in a similar position in your own niche area of study and professional practice. Until then, use other sources to make your points with appropriate authority.

Section Break - Professional Voice

1. Does professional a professional look like in your field of study? What are the physical hallmarks of the field? How does this impact the way the field works and is seen? Is this perception fair?
2. What is the difference between sounding like a student and sounding like a professor in a given class?
3. What is the difference between sounding like a student and sounding like a professional?