Producing clear and accessible technical documentation is critical to the success of engineering firms.
Jeanette Learmont, director of Wordsworth Effective Communications and a facilitator for Engineering Education Australia’s two-day course on Writing Winning Technical Documents, says that it’s vital for engineering professionals to possess strong writing skills given the importance of technical documents for their employers.
It’s also a key skill for engineers given the copious amount of time that they can expect to spend preparing these documents throughout the course of their careers.
“Engineers typically spend 50 per cent or more of their working week actually writing, so it’s an integral part of their capabilities as an employee,” said Learmont.
Learmont notes that a range of writing and composition skills are needed for the creation of strong technical documentation that successfully serves its intended purpose.
Chief amongst these skills is ensuring that the tone and style of the written document is properly suited to its designated readership.
“The first thing we talk about is tailoring the message of the document to its audience in terms of readability,” said Learmont. “You need to understand that you have to be flexible as a writer, and that differences in tone and readability are required for different audiences.”
“It’s more difficult, for example, to write for a non-expert or non-engineering audience, and it demands more of your ability to write in plain English, by tailoring the tone so that it’s not too flamboyant or academic.”
Adopting a more strategic mentality during the writing process can help authors to effectively tailor a document to suit a specific audience type.
“I talk about it in terms of a game of playing, and you play the game to win,” Learmont said. “You know the players are the people that you’re writing to, and your writing ability should enable you to hit the mark.”
Another critical skill for the creation of strong technical documents – particularly in a field as complex as engineering, is the effective structuring and organisation of the contents or ideas being presented.
“Structuring information is hugely important,” said Learmont. “It is a cognitive skill that requires being able to identify what is relevant to the reader – is something a point of emphasis, or is it a relatively minor point; and where should you place it within the document.”
Learmont notes that the effective structuring of engineering documents is particularly difficult given their highly technical and complex nature.
“Structuring engineering documents can be like a massive 3-dimensional cryptic jigsaw puzzle.” According to Learmont one of the best methods for writers to organise the information in their documents is to think of its structure from a more visual perspective.
“It can be linear, as in a table of contents, or it can be hierarchical – a report or specifications where you have a major category of information, and then a sub-category and subsequent sub-categories.”
Another area of importance when producing strong technical documents is ensuring that it possesses polish and finesse via a sound nuts-and-bolts understanding of correct English writing.
“Correct punctuation – what we call the mechanics of writing, is very important,” said Learmont.
“Other key skills are sentence links – because they are one of the drivers of readability, as well as correct word choice, which ensures that the intentions of the author are clearly and accurately depicted.”
Acquiring a sound grasp of each of these skills and techniques should enable even novice authors to produce winning technical documents that successfully meet the needs of their organisation.