Good afternoon everyone let's go ahead and
get started and thank you all for

coming this is a first technical
communication discussion series out

of all of the first discussion series and
we're planning on at least one more for

this semester and
additional ones probably for the fall so

this type of book this panel is called
technical communication in the workplace

computer science business in
MA I'm Dr Smith and I'm Dr min ago.

And I'd like to introduce our panel.

We have background music in the lovely.

Bob Waters who hasn't M.S. And can you see
from Georgia Tech he currently works as

a senior lecturer in the College of
computing He's a retired Army officer and

a graduate of U.S.
Naval Test Pilot School so

he has lots of experience with technical
reports but with flight test and

computer science we also have our
own Rubinoff who is an attorney and

he concentrates his law practice and
quite a few things mergers and

acquisitions Internet technology
law law involving the nucular and

your energy sectors corporate finance and
international business transactions

with particular emphasis
on technology transfer and

licensing joint ventures
capital formation and

there's a number of things Mr Ivanoff in
addition to all the things that he works

on is an adjunct professor in the Georgia
Tech's sheller College of Business and

he has been voted professor of the year
in two thousand and twelve and

in two thousand and thirteen lecture of
the year elective business courses and

then find me but.

Not really Brian large then

has an assistant professor in
the school of literature Media and

Communication at the Georgia Institute
of Technology He researches rhetoric and

argumentation especially in the bill and
professional communication.

He uses text intellect computer computer.

And cognitive methods.

He also has interest in law of digital
media empirical research methods and

he holds P.C. from the University of
Minnesota he comes to Georgia Tech after

a twenty year career as an attorney and
businesses.

So thank you all for
coming and to get us started.

We have a few questions to sort of engage
the conversations I'll turn it over and

over.

Again thank you for coming.

In Today we're talking about technical
communication because in different fields

people create different types of documents
for different types of purposes and for

a variety of audiences as well so my first
question is connected with the definition

of the field what is technical
communication you want.

To start so I'll be fine.

With that.

So if you find out what people are.

Trying to build.

A lot of people all the.

People that I communicate.

To make them aware that I think.

Software.

And make sure they understand
together we shared.

The right.

So in the legal space it's a it's become
because when you really hear the words

technical communication used there
might be used in that context for

instance when writing technical
descriptions of conventions is required so

that's a particular part of the law but
you might want to think of.

Itself as a sort of fairly technical
communication oriented feel because

there's a little there most of what your
spew what your time is to interpret and.

Produce professional communications
the raw materials are doing bad work

are texts but are technical
communications and the point of the work

is text which is a text technical
communication and just a family going to

kick out of you doesn't your usually
refer to it as technical communication.

And I think technical community and
standpoint when you're producing legal

documents or even in meetings when
you're communicating a transaction

people use technical jargon which they
in their own unique space understand but

often that technical jargon does
not carry the same Deno hating or

co-located of significance in
other areas of technology so

you'll often see memos coming forward with
all types of the breed needed technical

terms which people say Everyone knows this
and as I'm walking around them somewhat

like a game of telephone or something tell
me what this means and by the time a few

different people push this along on it
really doesn't mean the same thing to

the same people so how do you create
a communication that a third party who is

not in that initial conversation could
pick up something in truly understand

what the parties in the communication
were camping to relate to each

other.

Thought.

Thought from within our field or.

So I think everybody probably followed
knew she watched the fielding of

health care.

With digital failure.

So that was.

A lot of communication problems.

Government contracts all
of you know a steep price

maybe three people four people a magic.

Building software system with hundreds
of developers multiple contractors

not one single company but several
companies working on different pieces and

had talk to each other and communicate
obviously just created a shift were not.

And so a lot of the functionality that was
supposed to be there was not there and

different people were point of failure
of course you know what it was there was

terrible and so there was no real
clear picture because people did.

Take the time to get your information
to different parts of the system and

the contractors never clearly communicated
back up to the government the actual scope

of the information they needed built.

So it was kind of sad as a taxpayer
it was kind of death of failure for

a lot of different things but one of
them was it was a failure to be able to

actually communicate well.

So I try a maestro kind of culture
problem if you buy most consumer products

you'll unpack them at home and you'll find
that there's some kind of card that has

a list of warnings on it things that you
shouldn't do with the products you buy new

had for instance a tells you not to take
it in the shower with you and you might

have figured that out on your own but
maybe not there's a running in general.

Legal culture that's grown up
in our country over the years

that says the people who produce
products have to conspicuously one

of the users of the process products
of the inherent dangers in them and

that's actually a bad thing the problem
is that because of the break we've

designed those communications they'll
become a kind of background noise so

that when you get that packaging chances
are you see the winning card in the first

thing you do is you set back side
we're going after the getting sick.

Card that's in the pockets of times
we have to start using the product so

you have so many runnings
that are kind of warnings but

the function is a sort of forest and you
can't see the trees for the columns but

that are the kinds of warnings that
you really need to have in order to

use the product and that's not necessarily
a problem of legal communication but

it's a problem that arises in the context
of technical communication with a legal in

protests or a legal force driving it along
side so that's a kind of general that's

a generalized answer not a specific story
but it still gets the point across I back

off I'll be the last speaker
here in the row or column or

with a humorous type story and
this is public but it governmental

technical communications we were doing in
transaction one of the many years ago with

the new Russian Federation This
is after the U.S.S.R.

integrated and we had been working on
this transaction preventing a year

is a very substantial one from
my client's perspective and

at the end the bureaucracy there wanted
us to get a certain type of C.E.O.

whatever name they called exactly
translate some of the great seal of

the United States on this well
there is no such that you could put

on a legal document it's not like a notary
I thought stamp on Apple's deal and

everyone involved was we can't we try to
explain this you know that they have to

check all the bureaucrats checklist
that they have so I finally said

my administrative assistants down to
the gun with you tricks it has a different

meaning our supply place I said I want
you to pick me up rivets red white

and blue would be great get me some wax.

I need some type of lighting
things like a melt away with

it give me anything that kind of
bald some kind of bird in the same.

Eagle would be ideal for

all the you know would be wonderful if
you can get all their one around pan.

Where we can get it and that's exactly
what we did I just laid out the within

this melted wax I couldn't put this earth
in plain in the middle in the middle and

the bureaucrats are very satisfied to be
able went through what's the statute of

limitations on its government documents to
tell the story without represent anything.

In the statute or anything but.

There was a good

one.

I think croutons that you often
see especially in the commercial.

Law area dealing with technical companies
develop technology most dispute

I find is because there wasn't
a meeting of them on it is it so

much one size out with
trying to commit fraud or

someone is trying to not deal with
whatever's most rather they did

not communicate when they were entering
into the transaction any clearer or

so the roll off the lawyers play and
also better business people for

that matter is to get their
communication clear and in writing so

that So when you get a good look at the
sit ins and draw only one conclusion from

what that sentence means that's
a challenging thing to do and.

I want to build on what
I just described because

this is a couple of computer
science majors who are in the room.

Most of.

The some of the members operating
the video machinery and.

So the but I mean there are a lot of
software development projects these

days that are being done using development
methodologies that are more flexible

things like agile methodology which means

we don't necessarily know how to
find the products going to look and

the the use model of how to write
a contract to have someone go.

The software application has to spend
everything on the contract to say what it

is we're going to get at the end but
the development model like like Agile for

instance a group is doing that generally
speaking and so you have this kind of

I missed a piston the logical disagreement
between the leaders and the computer

science folks about how to describe what
it is we're going to do here and say we're

having someone in the middle or someone
who can be kind of a boundary object

between those two ways of looking at the
world and who could help them it was and

the computer science folks understand look
we have to make this work for everyone so

how do we turn that into a contract
that's a special skill and

one that I have not seen a lot and
I seem probably some of the same kinds of

disputes that i'm has where you're
looking at the contract months and

months after was negotiated and
it's clear the people writing the contract

want the kind of people who are doing
the business and the people who

are doing the business probably
didn't have to read the contract and

say the contract ends up being this kind
of thrilling object to everyone who's

involved in the transaction I think the
way to San Babel is to put a communicator

in the in the middle someone whose job is
to make sure that there's communication

across the disciplinary boundaries and
it doesn't happen usually.

Software or the.

Content of simple.

Will.

Probably another thing.

Some of the.

Writing documents that your site.

Software people know exactly what I.

Could think of a few years.

The air traffic control
system of the United States.

Because if you're flying with a man.

Can't work.

So they grow they were going
to replace it with you know.

Modern technology we're
going to put new view.

Go see we're going to put all those
computer controlled stuff in the airplane

going to make the world a much better so
they wrote up the specification they said

with US Green has twelve airplanes.

Are sorry and have left twelve
airplanes all we want you can be

the smaller right the small scale so
it would switch to small scale if you have

more than twelve airplanes we want
to be able to large scale not so

two different teams coded into different
modes that scope could be you know so

then they came to day of the task they
start flying airplanes on the simulator

everything was going great on airplane
two airplanes it's in small of

everything's great killed exactly
out there on the screen and

it turns out one team had interpreted
that as strictly left and

whereas the other team had in Turkey
that strictly greater than twelve so

when exactly twelve there were on
the skull the winning side you're going to

between them they didn't know what to do
everybody got vertigo it was care solve.

That problem well students you've all
suffered already you suffered poorly

written homework aside your Professor
think I'll take this program strong

numbers together you know it proves out
that it's all going to get our debt for

the future you didn't write
the result of music back to

you know wait a moment didn't
really say what we did that so

it's really hard to write software
facts that are specific enough so that.

The people below what it is you would want
to build so those you get a business and

you start to contract with your mighty
shopper and it's time for you gotta keep

that in mind with the software developers
can only feel what you get out of.

It and I think that has split off of
that also that I know there's this.

Often the job of writing the specs or
writing the scope of

the project it would still be up to bid is
thrown down to the person who they feel.

It's least necessary to perform the
project because all that great a pallet we

could be using on the project he just
course he just writing up the specs

they're not is going to program or they're
not as good as a computer scientists so

therefore you're really putting
their job often in the hands of.

May not be as well equipped.

To do that and there are companies.

That go a lot of governmental
compliance or understand that I.

With companies in the nuclear field and
that falls into a lot of governmental.

Regulatory matters both in the U.S.
and elsewhere so

some of those companies recognize that but
other companies.

That I'm going to add to that because
there's a common thread through we're

talking about here and it's the use
of precision when you're writing so

if you're ready a computer program you
have to be precise because if you're

missing a princess something might just
not work if you're writing a contract you

have to be precise because if you
leave two interpretations for.

One part isn't a one way in one part
is in one of the other way and I think

even when you talk about something as
simple as whether you say greater than or

equal to twelve or greater than tropical
less than twelve leaving that sort of.

Just half go there's a lot
of questions that have to do

with how precise you are in
your use of communications and

if you as mostly younger people
who are new in your careers and

you're in fabric communications you're
fine when you're asked to write

the specification one thing you know you
need to do is to be very conscious about

every word you're putting on the paper
every diagram that you're drawing in a way

that you might never have thought you had
to be while you were at university and

it's just not expected for
you to be that precise but

in the in the practice is that we're
talking about every word ends up counting

and so you want to make sure you
don't have any surplusage which is.

What I'm producing now because
I've already made my point.

The US are going to shoot only thing
out which is wrong I'm repeating

everything I just.

Think and that's just.

What's.

What's.

Been a lot of the usual
Just sharing this with.

Another with another one that
we have a problem with so

the requirement that things are right have
to be complete we have to be specified and

yet they must be consulted.

And so you have this battle between trying
to write this complete massive home

of specifications and be concise
enough to somebody actually thinking.

In the government right before retiring
from the military in ninety five

I look up I tell my wife reminds me
to teach students now who were born

after I retired.

With whether there was
this big computer system

coming up the military called
a sustained base information and

it was going to run on military bases in
the United States military base it's like

the city council hospital
grocery stores shopping centers

we department fire department
everything family housing everything.

And so they were going to have this
grandiose computer system that did

everything but the police department would
talk to the fire department to talk to

the general's office you know everything.

And so they wrote a special occasion for
all these different pieces of the city and

ninety where they wheeled the best
of patients even my stack of books.

Where the status is to
be stood up this halt

to measure a software developer
work every day OK Bob build this.

This is.

Where we start understand.

Right to a real struggle and
something he will take a lot of

experience to get the point
where you can actually complete.

The you know minimal number
of words still everybody.

Overdrafting up twenty percent that is
the question is when I make sure that when

I really try to answer the question I
mean I mean the ones we talked about.

You know and I think of the one thing
if you think of yourself as a technical

communicator and chances are that's
not what you're going to be called.

I mean you might be called an earlier
because lawyers are basically all

technical communicators in a sense

you might be called a paralegal which is
someone who has some legal training but

isn't trained fully as a lawyer but may
do many of the same kinds of tasks that

a lawyer would do that they
simply can't advise clients.

Chances are you're not going to be kind of
a technical communicator there are some

firms some especially larger firms they
were hired by hire people specifically

to be technical communicators again in
the patent space because when you're

describing you're describing a patentable
invention it has to meet very stringent

requirements for how you describe it
when you submit it to the patent.

And Trademark Office so having someone
who's trained specifically to that to do

those kinds of communications create those
kinds of drawings those things are very.

That's a very specific set of skills so
you might be characterized as a technical

communicator there but even then you might
be characterized as a patent grass person

or you know any of a number
of other titles so

I guess the key point I want to make is
the technical communication it doesn't

sound like what you're doing in the law
and I'm a study instance but it is what

you're doing in almost every instance so
it's central to the practice of law.

All the answer.

I suspect.

That many individuals in this
audience are play to build.

Law school but the vast majority you are
probably going to be entering the business

world in some kind of test.

One of the most successful C.E.O.'s I
know and I work with them bravely

there's someone to do does not
say to himself This is relegated

to the log or this is for
the technical guys to write the C.E.O.

This is a fellow who
picks up contracts and

couldn't read then and at the end of a
fifty page contract say something on page

forty eight is inconsistent with
something a page to say he put it out

himself that he's never gone to law school
he doesn't hold himself as an attorney but

he uses and this is something students
the mind of a few students out here who've

taken a business law course with me in in
this in the Shelley College of Business

here that I think is a business
person you should use skills

interacting in communication
in understanding law as much

as a tool that you want to use to look at
all belt as want to understand finals even

if you're not to be a financial person as
much as you want to understand marketing

even if you're not going to be a marketing
person and not shy away from relegate

this to a category of this is
just something for the lawyers or

the practical communicators to do and
this individual rose to exceed

the status of a pretty substantial company
in really rock up type of right brain and

a trivial or a lot of it to his
willingness to undergo the character that

he built under scare language comes in
other forms of his communication but

that's a skill set up Willy just
clear communication is going to

make your career probably much higher
could peppery than it otherwise would

be.

Or.

I haven't started to run so.

Much as a rod is focused on written
words there's a great deal of that in

the on the substance of the matter comes
in the form of written words the analysis

of what comes in the form of written
words but there is a lot of room for

the other modes of communication many
clients are not going to read a memo memo

if you send a memo explaining their
legal situation they want to hear it or

like I'm sure a communications central
You may argue before a judge and that's

another task there's always going to be a
tax to written tax that supports that ramp

there's usually going to be written
tax that supports that argument.

Exhibits for trial and there's exhibits
might be in the form of videos or

posters already of a number of other kinds
of media but I would say if you're going

to drive like circles and
became the relative size of the for

various modes that written text circle is
going to be really big compared to I'm

a star of the other circles that you would
draw I don't know maybe on you would

you would expect a matter that I read with
everything you said I go a step further

a lot of this is also going to be
here to question Who's your audience.

And it's funny when I say really
increased the spectrum of my audience I

do everything in my academic side here.

Eighty to ninety who are much
more oriented toward the shore.

Media and also just to electronic
forms of communication

these folks say though that are you
know nearing retirement in this world

who still says they can't
read a newspaper on a.

Computer screen or on a cell so

you need to understand the audience
you communicate with others

just really a point there I will say
that I think it's occurred to me or

me that I could get by power and
I know the Army.

It's made a major effort according to
some individuals that are officers

in the Army that they try to push away
a little bit from that overuse of

Power Point presentation where people
are trying to religious We have a lot of.

Thinking what's going on and rather use
the present occasion it's a way for

me to say it often in my own class and now
I say I'm going to shoot you know scare

posted to the square I really want you
to mean gauge in listening here or

you know great where you're taking the
bowl of poison which will trigger the fire

car later so
I'm trying to always think how I need to

best get the attention of that audience
and best reach them in a communicator

mode that they're most comfortable with.

C.F. with the same thing in every possible
mode of giving a good pick up just about

so we have a lot of visual stuff all of
our design docs actually unified modeling

language which is a bunch of diagrams that
communicate just by each other the way

we talk about design course the lowest
level of the coding tell has coming so

you have to see just one question
you need to calm your code.

But coming from the well is actually
a skill that can develop and

I just feel proud to be that you got
paid for us to be here you know workers.

Who are trying to reach out there's coming
but there's also oral presentations by me

from the time your junior developer
your participation in code reviews and

define them speak about and explain how
the code works so that everybody will

agree to a code to post to all the way
up to where you were lead developer and

you're trying to convince your team this
is the way we need to go on the desire

to mark the car park focus your car
architecture we're going to do on this

project and then talking to your customers
and convincing them giving them a war.

You know your problem when
you're addressing a problem

you're going to hear the code.

For where we tried we tried to do it.

So I saw you know speak.

Practical fingerprints paved.

The way.

Let's talk about skills and
technical it's.

Somewhat what's.

That's.

The whole thing number one obviously
you want to be able to write what.

You want to develop that skill set and one
can do with Georgia care even though in

that you normally associate that with
maybe a pure liberal arts type program

I mean the students that I found the right
extremely well so you know they're picking

that up here the keratin from high school
that increased their ability here that you

need to be able to write well but
then you need to keep yourself open to.

Have again communication is
changing every day and sticking up

a story about it was a classic good
story to explain ourselves but

here's a girl went before
the smart phone market.

Really increased to where everyone carries
one who are still using the Web site and

therefore when you're texting you be using
that short little letter communication

I made a point of having a few of my
students teaching with all those little

things L O L's and all that Meg The reason
being I had corded nephews and nieces

I was the oldest of all the brothers I'm
always the only one who communicated with

them in their language their parents go
astray they talk me through text messages

more than make up their And they think
I'm the youngest of the brothers so

again they're just using a separate stick
example of that was the way you reached

everything you had to learn that
communication so my interest want to keep

learning communication not stuck
with no milar I welled up.

Working with very large friends and
at last.

They are there and

I welled up in the international room
which was something that was pretty.

And in part I got in there because during
college I had a stronger than a man

in physics so it was a post
a lot of my mother to take and.

I was the one as individuals communicate
communicate with a lot of the firm's

technology clients who were
doing international work so

again having an academic Foundation
is just your discipline just

can't help it he said.

I think I would reiterate that I
mean maybe extend that all but

by saying at SAS and if you go back
twenty five hundred years to Cicero and

others who were saying how do you
teach a good or a good speaker for

a good communicator there was so you
need that person to be man around it and

that man this is
particularly true because.

You're communicating about a rise right if
human endeavor some of the law touches on

I'm asked every aspect of people's lives.

That were rounded message which I think

is really important in terms of the good
writing thing I want to I want to be

a bit more detail about what
that mix like in the rock.

You can be an outstanding writer and
get to mask for instance if you might be

thinking about and be very stressed rated
because essentially your teachers and

I telling you to get it would have
all the sort of remembered crude and

thoughtful approaches that you've used
in your wedding over the years and

instead they want you to read to a sort of
argumentative template you might say and

that can be very frustrating but
it serves a really important purpose

because all the readers who are going to
approach the text that you would create

are expecting things to
find a certain pattern and

I'm going to fathom that
pattern you're making now.

For them every step of the way I'm going
to push back on what you're writing.

So you're what you really need to be is a
good writer who is comfortable adapting to

very different styles of writing something
that's very different writing for

jobs than it is writing for a client who
doesn't have any legal background and

you have to be prepared to adapt very
quickly I'm sorry it's not just good

writer but
couldn't really flexible writer.

I was going to elaborate I enjoyed
something that was just mentioned a moment

ago which made me think some
of the reference to Cicero.

Again going back to this point
of broadening your sculpt

my closest friend a township Ischl
priest who has not just a Ph D.

but a Ph D. in psychology and
all the academic credit for a Ph D.

in philosophy that we have
a robust thesis there so

he will have friends visit coming to
town by way to see if I took the risk of

telling him Professor of Philosophy
of the Catholic University and

I would sit in on these wonderful sessions
which I would have to read things that

are various for something I never read
like Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and

again by doing that and forcing your brain
to function in areas that otherwise you

get in the last year to develop
better communication skills.

So.

There's really a bunch of different.

Areas of C.S. majors going to.

Be honest you could actually find an
injury level coding position where you sat

in a cubicle someplace acting and
not be a very good writer and

nine hundred but that's probably
not what you would be attacked

you were graduating high school
with the job of twenty one days or

so if you're if you're going to
go to consulting Anderson so

then man you got polished presentation
skills because you're going back.

I'm with the C.E.O.'s of the corporate
lawyer that you've got to be able to

come in there in the press that you know
what you're doing you're going to deliver

this system you understand their business
problems you're going to be able to

deliver if you get into a level position
at a at a regular coding shop and

I shop you know an in-house
quality you'll start out just

you know being able to function in a team
and communicate you know to basically

be able to write you know good human
health and and communicate like that and

then you should go up to become a tech
lead then you have to be able to start

to lead to happy reservations now you're
interacting with with managers and

stuff and you're having to pull your team
along pull them together get them focused

in the right direction and you have to be
able to write feasibility studies cost

benefit analysis of those things for
the computer system the bill.

My goodness I

thought.

That.

The way I learned about Fortunately I
didn't learn it in school

I was a horrible writer
when I was at school.

I got commissioned a second
lieutenant you know I could write.

What was I doing our term paper I could
write an essay on what I thought about.

The world situation or whatever but
I couldn't write anything tech I

had no clue what I was going to be there I
was terrible for Senator Kerry the speaker

really nervous scared out of some so
in the military of course.

I didn't really become a good writer
until I got assigned with You Tube I was

the executive officer in Birmingham and
we had rights to work like

stuff during the Cold War and
my boss was a good writer.

And so every time I studied something he
would come back just just drawing and

I kept sending him to destroy standards.

So after three years of having my
documents you know I do the shredded tires

guy actually came out there and
actually what I am because I have learned

the hard process of just writing over and
over again and having a jacket and

realizing what the people were
like she's looking for and.

So it's probably you know it's like I tell
my students to PONY You know I play guitar

so I could come up here I could draw all
the guitar scale all the chart chords I

can tell you all the tar the Major been
entirely my timing you know here's

a happy medium scale but if you don't pick
up a guitar actually practice you don't

know how to play guitar write My know
a lot of the rebels write the same way you

know privately and
you don't really try to be combative and

you're kind of destined to
state things all right.

It's a good idea to give
fortune up to have a mentor or

say that who of work repeat
your writing that is a great

thing to do other alternatively Also I'll
just see things that are well written and

I'll sometimes I didn't have this
now especially with computers are so

easy to preserve because I just have
massive folders in file cabinets and

pull out you know a great paragraph
a great provision of a contract and

then just by replicating
get a few times and

absorbing it you start using
actually in writing style as your

earlier laughs that way to later obviously
appear academically get better but

I would say definitely eight writing
courses while you're in college

where there's a professor who will really
critique your writing because I think

that's the best way to really
force you to keep writing and

rewriting till you get it correct.

I think that's And

so there's a you there's
an intersection of two things that the.

Press is better talking about that
are important one is practice because.

If you're not practicing you're
probably not getting better and

the other is having some kind of
view of what you were reading or

writing so that you were thinking
about what makes it work and

that's right you know so people like.

House and others will tell you that it's
having a we're talking learn to us about

the tax write does this particular tax
work to work in this particular context

right as a writer of this text think this
is going to work if you grant you find

good examples you know if you really are
you're reading a step brief to the U.S.

Supreme Court you probably want to
read the briefs of ever written and

run at the U.S. Supreme Court so
you can see what what's the model and

then don't just stop there think about
running those tax look the way they do

because that's how you're going to
construct your tax to work effectively

as their text and by text here I really
mean any kind of communication I should

just say artifact right here communicative
artifact is going to work because

you're going to understand not
just how others have worked but

you're going to have some idea of what the
mechanisms are that allowed them to work

and you're going to take advantage of
those same mechanisms in your readers or

those who are going to see
your communications so

it's this combination of getting your
hands on it and trying to messing

it up and getting feedback if you're
lucky from a professor or a mentor and

then try again and eventually you just
get good at it and practice is the key

I mean you know I don't know anybody who
starts out as like a terrific writer and

the professional contacts they need to

practice.

Will give you feedback on your question
if you feel been asked a different way.

The answer generally is you don't and
the reason you don't have to do is

there's a treat that roughly one
hundred seventy three countries.

So you have almost every commercially
significant country in the world that

started it's called the UN Convention
on the Red Nation and

enforcement of far more patrols of wars
under that convention you can state that

the contract will be interpreted under the
law you can choose what more you want to

go with that beautiful Georgia law to
the law of being in the world US and

you can stipulate the anguish that will be
controlling So even though the contract

at times may be interpreted to another
language for the convenience of.

Folks in the different country you're
stipulating that English is going to be

the controlling world which if you don't
have that it's really very challenging

to overcome because anyone who speaks
more than one language knows it's often

than a call interpretation of a word or

even a sentence into a sentence or
word of another so

you really have to say the playing
field is being which is something our

mention of over international
business courses with hardly hear.

What new threshold in history for
the first time in the history of man.

And woman.

Maybe since the all biblical.

More people speak a second language and
speak their first language so

there's more people who speak English
as a second language then speak.

There and speak any given way in which.

It's the first one so as a result
of that it's generally not that

challenging to get close to the three
that English is the government.

That also means that you get
a party to the paramedic correcting

it the other side gets
the first shot at that.

And try to make them maybe write it
in their second way or stand up or

grammatically it can be challenging or
that we try to shoot or

we'll put the first draft there and
then you are calling them what you want

to.

Go back by military and
we did some joint flight test with NATO.

And the standard under NATO
the standard flight test for Britain.

And they would have to interpret
the pilots have to speak English most yet

you have the national interest me plus.

I don't have to have that so
I'll let that one go.

That's

right.

Let's.

Just.

Say.

This.

Is.

What often happens and
what almost becomes essential in many

situations is that the person who needs
a lawyer to help them with the biggest

seller good is going to see who
has some kind of expertise or

knowledge of the subject matter from
a business perspective as well as from

a legal perspective so
you may work with America.

For instance who was previously a computer
programmer I'm not quite a few of them

already who previously did a similar kind
of work and oftentimes folks who get

somewhat disappearance and
to ask will come out ready to practice

in an area where they have some subject
matter expertise from a friend rascal.

And that's how I think best problem is
usually sad if it's sad that I have

oftentimes I was just
not soft unfortunately

because letters mean players are trained
to believe they can do anything.

They could ever ask really rather
than think they can do anything and

I mean this man is not a cat but
there are quite a few who think they

can.

Usually articulate people come to
my office when they're freshman or

sophomore and I tell you know if you take
a look at what area you're interested in

you know the software for and if it's fine
you can he go over to the business and

take classes understand what you
know actually inventory what

differ from periodic out what it
is about much what cash flow or

all that because if you're going to go
talk to nations bank to be there try to be

the head of there are some day you
know you have talked their way.

You know financing classes or
reading my business or

my biology if you're going to work for
a big pharmaceutical.

You know if you want to go to the C.D.C.
You know I think.

That if you can speak.

I think that's safer to go with a mirror
trying to point out I don't know.

And trying to understand them a bit if
you've actually had training after I don't

know that catalogue of stalking
you know you can walk right in and

start talking to you and
they're right to really press

as opposed to never having to
explain why you know what damage

here.

It's all about.

This.

It's.

It's.

It's it's.

You know it's.

I think if it's a well written
contract it shouldn't be that

difficult difficulty maybe that
you're coming from a reading

style that's more novel based or
easy to read based

newspapers magazines what they say
because we've got because record.

They say that a seven or a.

Magazine.

So it may just be the challenge of
reading some of these details because

it is like a way of simple example I'll
start a controversy of Tea Party and

say you know Sally and
Jim to start selling good

here by agreed to do
the following Jim Shelby this and

Sally shall do this and then he shall
know what is the key is that you're still

in the ego's accept the concept of maybe
repeating the name down in a novel you're

not going to keep repeating the need
to stop going to the pronouns but

often go to pronouns of the contract
when you have especially like you say

to maybe it's Jim and
Bob it's a given bother them.

By doing they didn't get in the N.B.A.
is which of the two is the he really very

often contracts I think are more
challenging to read only because

I often stated Mack there
basically using words

you're trying to follow a total
logical sequence and if you do it for

a while you can go though this
in his latest post is but

it's an article in the review that.

Depends a lot on the audience I mean if
you read if you read the privacy policy

on Facebook which is a legal document
it's actually pretty accessible

compared to many others if you read the
pipe privacy policy on some other websites

you might find that it's completely
opaque and you can't make head or

tail of it without spending a whole bunch
of time now that I think I was reading

if you spend enough time you
could probably figure it out but

then you're going to have to ask yourself
the question how much time is it worth for

me to figure out the privacy
policy on you know A.B.C.

dot com Well I'm not really
that interested in knowing so

I think there is a there is a there has
been an effort in Iraq in the past to do.

Like a plain language approach the problem
with that is that plain language can

level out some of the necessary legal
distinctions between the meanings of terms

and say if you every time you
mention stop it which is a legal

concept right actually one of
Smith's separate legal concepts but

every time you mention that you have to
explain what it means in plain English

then the size of the contract becomes
unmanageable and we're back to ensure we

have to spend a lot of time reading it
to interpret it so there's a tension

that happens there if it's just too loose
negotiating a contract there can be

a different problem that is never run
sends a draft a lawyer to know the truth

might say this is abysmally written and
I think I should just start all over.

But it's not going to be very welcome for
you to send back a draft and the right to

completely star chamber for write they've
sent you a draft of the kind of hoping

you'll use theirs up as a starting point
now you can back it up like crazy but

what should happen if you
have them is a kind of.

Drafting by committee and

one side may not really see it
the same way as the other side.

Me on some language that might not make
their minds when it may not have mattered

and so it's difficult to read the contract
to know which of many possible

interpretations were intended to not to
think of it as math and words I think we

think of it as words that are trying
to be as magical as they can be.

The whole crew is a great philosopher that
describes the open texture of language so

he says that no matter what you
try to do with language it's never

going to contain all the thoughts you want
to contain because the stuff the language

works it never has worked that way so
I think that's the the challenge is that

it's such a special as
the effort disengaging with such

complex concepts that most of us don't
deal with every day that make it.

Very difficult to get depends upon
what it is I was by the interview

was talking more of a contract
between sophisticated business.

If you go to something like a privacy
policy that should clearly be in a way

that the audience again going to
come in early the audience for

the private policy is your consumer and
you consumer should be able to read and

understand if you're putting out
a privacy policy that can be read by.

Saying moderately educated individuals
you're not writing a good private privacy

policy you're writing something that may
have a lot of legal significance to it in

your mind but it's not accomplishing that
goal and that is literally individuals

who know what you're fourteen and making
them comfortable so they don't feel like

they didn't live up to whatever they
thought you were doing so if you warrant.

A warranty on a product
should be written in a way.

That a consumer can understand what it is
they're getting in the way of a warranty

and what is there now so they don't later
feel that there was a forced expectation

elevated so that kind of writing into it
you may call it legal writing with its

writing to explain the concept look
at what I was answering the question

I'm looking at but within a contract
which often I get contracts work gets

relatively detail remains right
jet fuel contracts that you

get into physics because one of the plane
lands in Saudi Arabia fuels expanding as

opposed to say to Norway so you have to
deal with the physics of the expansion and

contraction of the old in measuring and
Chuck putting down the price points so

that type of thing is pretty deep
there but so that theoretically at

the reporting reading it can only come
to one conclusion what you tried to

explain.

Or.

Rest or sort.

Of.

Wiring.

Was.

About.

What you walked.

Into.

Our.

Polls across.

So.

You.

So I was.

Last.

Week.

So I'm new to Georgia Tech I just got
here in August and Georgia Tech is

the land of what I call the F T I lay
the freaking three letter acronym and

I noticed the F T L is a four
letter acronym because I refuse to

take part in it but there are plenty of
fairly rock and M's around here too so

if you're new to judge attack what you
find yourself doing a lot of cases just

trying to figure out what are these
things the people are saying mean.

And the people who aren't new and who have
lots of work to do so I'm going to write

meeting for instance with a group of
faculty who've been here for a long time

it would really slow them down to have to
spell out all these acronyms for me and

I accept that I expect that right but

part of my job is to learn those and
then part of my job as I see it

with someone who's new if I'm talking
to them one on one is not to use them

right I'm going to say you know the class
thing instead of the C. Well C.

because I think it's easier to remember
a class from plan to have been to just

have the acronym so I think the key I
think if you want to be good at that is to

reach with people who are using different
disciplinary vocabularies talk to them.

And read what they're writing you will
recognize that they're not doing the same

things that you were doing but you have to
be sensitive to that as a communicator you

always have to be sensitive to what
the people are trying to communicate to

typically do or typically expect and

respond to that so I think it's mostly
engaging by listening and reading and

talking and writing with them that you are
but you'll be ready to do that and again

it's practice it gets easier as you get
over you start learning those acronyms and

other kinds of cabaret faster in a new
environment at least I think you do.

One of the bad things that I've learned
since the beginning of your science is we

overload the term really bad
where we're nice different things

in different there are other sciences like

like the word control or we just I've been
covering this class I teach on design.

Control it actually has to give a nice
there's this model if you control or

architecture or
the controller gathers the user input and

then there's a controller the first
class half the life that's just so

just so they're two totally
different things but we say more so

if you start to talk about
this classical controller.

OK Which which time you got
a better job or a soft so

you can be really tell your people
throughout time we're using a client

server architecture there are a lot of
different ways to realize that you know so

you know it sounds precise actually not
that there's all kinds of variations of

that that that people may not know so
that jargon is actually.

A tough problem to get around to
just start throwing out those words

in your document without really explaining
them sometimes because they believe

they need a way different things to
different people even in the same field or

at least computer science as.

Well.