Introduction to Technical Writing

Course Description

This course offers the insights and techniques necessary to write quickly, accurately and clearly. It provides a systematic approach to planning, writing and editing instructional guides, incident reports, SOPs and even simple E-mails. The course will help you deliver quality documentation on time and in a professional manner.
1 Day - can be 2 X 1/2 days or 1 full Day online delivery or in-person
€375.00
 

Prerequisites

Participants should be committed to delivering reports, manuals and routine communications that address the needs of their target audience effectively and efficiently.

Training style

The workshop will be highly interactive and you will be encouraged to participate actively in training exercises, and bring experiences from your workplace into the discussions. The course contains comprehensive examples of good and bad writing techniques, and you will reap the most benefit by engaging your critical faculties in identifying the issues presented.

Introductions & Course overview

Three areas of focus, overviews and goals
Barriers to effective performance
Transferring your learning to the workplace

Technical Writing and Communication

Uses and definition of technical writing
Consequences of poor communication
Grammar and context; some common dilemmas

Knowing Your Reader

The importance of knowing your reader
Five factors in communication
How to influence readers
Reader profiles and personas

Planning Your Writing

Report planning - context and purpose
The writer’s checklist
CLOGS - the five essential steps
Change and improvement; the risks

Getting to the First Draft

The first (or zero) draft
Transitions, voice, constructs
Ambiguity in writing and how to avoid
Structuring your draft
Use of the Harvard Criteria
The FACERAP process; a fresh approach to ad-hoc reports

Aspects of Style

Fonts and styles; the use of style guides
White space and fog
Correct uses for the executive summary

Editing Your Documents

Editing - if you find it easy, then you’re not doing it right!
How your brain works against you
The best way to self-review and edit
Following the brief
What you need from a mentor / reviewer
The Johari window and its relevance to the review process

Email Communications

Writing effective emails
Good email practice

Giving and Receiving Feedback

The DNA of good writing – TABCCC
Finding the time

Converting Facts Into Information

Accuracy
Occam’s Razor
Instinctive vs considered decision making
It’s not what you know that gets you into trouble

Brevity, Tautologies, and Completeness

The art of brevity
Avoiding tautologies
Preventing bloat in writing
Non-defining clauses
Completeness

Why Courtesy Matters

Courtesy
Role vs ego
Active and passive voice

Clarity

Sentence structure
Eight parts of speech
Five steps to a clear sentence
Three rules for clearer writing
Use ‘what’ not ‘how’

Punctuation - a Refresher

Punctuate for clarity and cadence
Punctuation marks and their uses
The Oxford comma
Three tips for clean punctuation
An essential guide to consistent punctuation

Presentations

How to create an effective presentation
Sensible size limits
Fallback strategy
Pacing

The Paragraph

Essential paragraph structure
Elements of the perfectly formed paragraph

Where To From Here?

Transferring your learning into real life
Implementation / Takeaway exercise

Future Trends in Technical Communication

Virtual Reality Artificial Intelligence
Chat GPT - a worked example
Technical WritingWritingWriting SkillsAdvanced Technical Writing