Introduction to Technical Writing

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