Professional Communication - Studying Professional Communication

Studying Professional Communication

The study of professional communication includes:

• the study of rhetoric which serves as a theoretical basis
• the study of technical writing which serves as a form of professional communication
• the study of visual communication which also uses rhetoric as a theoretical basis for various aspects of creating visuals
• the study of various research methods

Other areas of study include global and cross-cultural communication, marketing and public relations, technical editing, digital literacy, composition theory, video production, corporate communication, and publishing. A professional communication program may cater to a very specialized interest or to several different interests. Professional communication can also be closely tied to organizational communication.

Students who pursue graduate degrees in professional communication research communicative practice in organized contexts (including business, academic, scientific, technical, and non-profit settings) to study how communicative practices shape and are shaped by culture, technology, history, and theories of communication.

Professional communication encompasses a broad collection of disciplines, embracing a diversity of rhetorical contexts and situations. Areas of study range from everyday writing at the workplace to historical writing pedagogy, from the implications of new media for communicative practices to the theory and design of online learning, and from oral presentations to the production of websites.

Types of professional documents

• Short reports
• Proposals
• Case studies
• Lab reports
• Memos
• Progress / Interim reports
• Writing for electronic media