Effective Technical Writing
Course: EFFWRT
Duration: 2 Days
Level: I
Course Summary
This is an intensive training session on how to write clear,
crisp, technically accurate copy for emails, letters,
memos, proposals, reports, instructions, articles, papers,
websites and other technical documents.
The Technical Writing program is designed for anyone who
wishes to develop their technical writing abilities to
a professional level. Students will learn research methods,
audience considerations, style, drafting and revision techniques,
how to work in a collaborative environment and more.
This workshop will assist writers to prepare clear and precise
technical documents. It is designed to teach the principles
and techniques of readable writing. Topics include: how
to organize and present complex ideas more effectively,
how to recognize choices writers make when putting ideas
on paper and how to make efficient use of writing time
and how to write in a crisp and clean style.
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Topics Covered In This Course
Elements of Effective Technical Writing
- Differences between technical and non-technical communication
- 7 characteristics of good technical writing
Tasks of the Technical Writer
- Letters
- Manuals
- Software documentation
- Proposals
- Reports
- Abstracts
- Technical papers
- Articles
- Audio-visual presentations
- Product information
How to Write Numbers, Units, Equations, and Symbols
- Proper formats for using numbers and units of measure in
written documents
- How to write equations and symbols
- Alternatives to narrative form for handling presentation
of numerical data
- Additional tips for handling non-text (graphic) material
in your copy
Fundamentals of Grammar
- Key grammatical rules for technical writers
- Proper use of punctuation marks
- Guidelines for proper use of abbreviations
- Guidelines for capitalization
- Basic spelling rules
Principles of Technical Composition
- Use of active vs. passive voice
- Use of simple vs. complex language
- How to write more concisely
- Use of specific and concrete terms vs. vague, general language
- Making writing more powerful with visual description
- Rules for handling tenses
- Making writing more readable by keeping sections, paragraphs,
and sentences short
- How to keep ideas parallel
- Informal vs. formal, professional vs. conversational—
which style is best?
Use of Words and Phrases
- How to tell the difference between correct technical terminology
vs. unnecessary jargon
- Why you should substitute small words for big words
- How to eliminate wordy phrases and redundancy from your
writing
- Why you should avoid cliches, corporatese and overblown
phrases
- Rules for using nouns as adjectives
- Misused and troublesome words and phrases
- How to avoid sexist language
- How to achieve a contemporary style
Principles of Organization
- How to organize your material to suit the reader's needs
- 9 ways to organize a technical document for easy reading
- Use and misuse of executive summaries, leads, and warm-up
paragraphs
- How to separate fact from opinion in your writing
- Use of headings and subheads to organize technical documents
Principles of Communication and Persuasion
- Do technical documents merely inform—or do they also
persuade?
- How to gain your reader's attention in the first paragraph
- Use of facts, opinions, and statistics to prove your case
- How to determine when you are giving too much detail
- How to get the reader on your side
- How to get the reader to take the next step
Special Concerns of the Technical Writer
- How to quickly gain specialized background knowledge in
technical fields
- The collaboration between the writer and the client/technical
expert—who does what?
- How to write effectively within the guidelines determined
by your supervisor or corporate style guide
- What to do if the subject matter is too technical for you
to understand
- What to do if technical experts you must work with or interview
are uncooperative, arrogant, or poor communicators
- Tips for making a boring topic more exciting
- How to write for a specific audience
What You Can Expect
At the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Focus on your purpose and the reader's needs (understand
your audience)
- Organize to highlight main messages
- Persuade readers you're right
- Make ideas flow smoothly
- Weed out wasted words
- Energize your verbs
- Catch the right tone
- Add eye appeal
- Sharpen editing skills
- Understand the differences between academic and technical
writing
- Develop effective research methods
- Learn to consider the needs and abilities of the audience
- Learn how to incorporate clarity and utility
- Develop job-hunting and resume-writing skills
- Become aware of ethical issues in technical writing
- Learn stylistic methods for effective writing
- Learn how to work as part of a team.
Who Should Take This Course
This course is intended for anyone who desires to develop
their technical writing ability to a professional level.
Recommended Prerequisites
There are no specific prerequisites for this workshop.
Training Style
Instructor-led, group-paced, classroom-delivery learning
model with structured hands-on activities.
If possible, the instructor would like to receive writing
samples from students in advance of the seminar date.
In addition, if there are specific templates used within
the organization, the instructor would demonstrate their
function.
The seminar is tailored to your specific needs based on
this information. Actual samples are used throughout the
presentation as examples, for critiques, as exercises,
and to illustrate and dramatize techniques presented in
the classroom.
In addition, we further customize by going through the course
agenda with you and having you tell us which items you
want stressed and emphasized. There is no extra charge
for this customization.
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Every student attending a Verhoef Training class will receive
a certificate good for $100 toward their next public class taken
within a year.
You can also buy "Verhoef Vouchers" to get a discounted rate for a
single student in any of our public or web-based classes.
Contact your account manager or our sales office for details.
