Technical Speech: A Need for Teaching and Research

Recent questionnaire surveys of n-the-job engineers indicate that they want training in technical speech. Our colleges are offering various kinds of speech courses to engineering students, but it is not clear whether these courses are fulfilling the needs of technical people. The ability to talk about technical matters is important to the average engineer who may present and disseminate as much technical information orally as graphically. If a college course in technical writing can be justified, then certainly a course in technical speech (presenting technical information to various audiences) can be justified. Courses in technical speech might be improved if teachers knew more about how technical speech differs from other kinds of speech, and more about the requirements for successful technical speaking. Research into matters of audience, delivery, and audiovisual aids can help to provide this needed information.