Jeanette Learmont BA (Hons) Med (Hons) specialises in communication skills, is the Director of Wordsworth Effective Communications Pty Ltd, and facilitates our Writing Winning Technical Documents workshop.

Jeanette has a particular focus on effective writing for technical experts, from senior managers to new recruits. Her training approach enables individuals to write with clarity, power and impact while transferring the acquired writing skills into their own technical and business documents.

We sat down with Jeanette to find out a little more about what she does.

Tell us about your career journey?

JL: I hold a BA in Geography (Hons) and a Masters in Adult Education (Hons) from Monash University. Notable roles through my career include:

• Head of Department: Access Education: Swinburne University of Technology where I was responsible for the provision of language and maths coaching to students from apprentices to PhD students
• Development and management of community outreach programs to provide language support to adults with both English and non-English speaking backgrounds
• Establishment and management of an entrepreneurial national centre (initially government seed funding) to promote women into non-traditional areas of work and study
• Establishment of Wordsworth Effective Communications in 2000 to present

What lead you to develop a technical writing training course?

JL: I always wanted to establish my own business and with a background in working with people required to write technical content, I decided to ‘give it a go’.

Writing to win is a game!  I really enjoy the challenge of supporting writers create a landscape of information that elevates the important information and minimises less relevant content to write text that is accessible and compelling.

What is different about your training approach?

JL: My training approach is different as our sessions are tailored to integrate participants’ documents to make the content particularly relevant and practical.

The focus is on crafting information that is read and understood first time by the reader(s) whether they be technical or non-technical experts.

 What do you think is the single most important thing about written communication?

JL: Four words: accuracy, clarity, relevance and impact.

What are you currently reading?

JL: I’m re-reading Catcher in the Rye.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

JL: I love a good walk from the meandering paths on the Camino in Spain to the huge challenge of the Kokoda track and not to forget a slow stroll to anywhere.

Always have a book or two on the go.

Pilates is a never-ending discovery of how to maximise the balance, strength and integrity for each individual… much like a well written technical document that has balance, integrity and strength.