Writing for Experts

Section 1.4.1.1

Writing for Experts

Distinguish between two types of experts: general experts and specificexperts. Both kinds are readers with extensive technical knowledge of the document's subjectmatter.

Levels of Knowledge

General experts possess extensive knowledge about a field in general, but they mightbe unfamiliar with particular technical terms, specific equipment,or recent advances in your document's subject matter. Specific experts, on the otherhand, share or surpass your knowledge about a document's subject matter.

Purposes in Using Document

Experts read technical and scientific documents for a variety of purposes:

to maintain and expand their own general expertise

to obtain specific answers to their own research and writing

to evaluate a document's technical or scientific content

Strategies for Writing to Experts

If your audience consists solely of specific experts, you may not need to give extensive background or define key technical terms or acronyms.

If your audience includes general experts, provide sufficient background information and define any terms that they might be unfamiliar with.

Do not just present a concept to an expert. Also explain its parts and processes in detail.

See Document Density.

## Writing for Experts ##

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