Writing Winning Technical Documents

You'll need to submit a sample writing piece before the course begins. You'll refer to this piece throughout the course.

Introduction

• Key steps involved in writing effective technical documents

Analyse audience and purpose

• Tailor written copy to suit different audiences - both technical and non-technical
• Find and use the appropriate tone for your audience
• Appreciate the importance of clearly articulating your document's purpose

Organise information

• Apply planning methods to prioritise and categorise information.
• Use these methods to make insightful decisions about relevance and appropriate level of detail.
• Provide ‘signposts’ to keep your audience on track in complex documents.

Write with clarity and impact

• Create clear and concise technical documents
• Demonstrate the flexibility of writing for different audiences, from experts to non-experts
• Use a readability tool on your own document
• Write effective paragraphs and well-constructed sentences
• Use words that avoid confusion and ambiguity
• Understand the relevance of correct grammar and punctuation

Optimise layout

• Understand the impact of professional-looking documents
• Achieve a consistent, clear and uncluttered look to technical documents
• Provide appropriate numbering systems for long documents
• Use current standards for using graphics in text

Review and proofread for quality

• Review participants’ sample documents, including reports, tenders, specifications, correspondence or emails
• Apply professional editing and proofreading techniques