Engineering Communication is Rhetorical

In this episode, Dr. Jill Fennell sits down with Georgia Tech alum Foster Finley to challenge the myth that technical communication is objective by examining how engineers make strategic, audience-driven choices in real work. 

Take a look at Foster's book list here.

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Show Notes and Timestamps:

• 01:00 Introduction to topic and guest
• 02:18 Why reading is fundamental for engineers
• 03:33 Why all communication is rhetorical
• 08:13 Importance of audience understanding
• 10:35 Project failure and communication
• 14:04 Audience as codesigner versus audience as recipient of facts
• 17:42 Rhetorically skilled engineers in the workplace
• 22:01 What employers are looking for in technical positions
• 24:24 Risk of engineers making assumptions
• 26:14 How students can handle interpreting data and audience influence
• 28:50 Role of persuasion in an engineer’s job
• 31:26 How can students practice these principles in everyday communication
• 34:03 Advice for students preparing for cross functional roles and internships
• 37:43 Engineering as building and as advocacy
• 40:33 One nontechnical book you would assign engineers to read
• 42:14 Wrap up and importance of rhetorical consideration, reading

A Transcript of this episode is available here. 

Episode edited by Lee Hibbard.