Rhetoric and Technology

When we produce a new communication medium, we are also conditioning our brains to process and produce the information in the new medium. The process of conditioning begins when people modify their traditional concepts of communication, that is, the medium they have relied on until they are introduced to new communication technologies. As technology changes our communication methods change, and our choices among varying media increase. As multimedia technologies develop, according to Heba, it is important to describe the rhetoric of multimedia communication and discuss some of the elements and conventions used in multimedia projects (129). By combining the basic principles of theory with the changing and developing technologies, the message that the technical communicator conveys can be quite effective.

Currently, communication modes range from the written and spoken word to the electronic media. Technology, however, offers diverse methods to address an audience: computers, interactive multimedia, virtual reality, distance learning, virtual classrooms, and various computer based training curricula. The technical communicator must decide which method will best suit the audience's needs. Since rhetoric involves employing the most effective means or strategies for information or persuading and audience, the rules of rhetoric are important to technical communication, as they still determine the way in which the writer presents information to the audience.

The idea of a multimedia rhetoric involves ongoing negotiation and interpretation at all levels of design and production.

Gary Heba