Technical Writing Course

• Learn how to write like a professional - for the rest of your career

• How to write so that you are easily understood

• Learn how to save time in planning all documentation

• Learn the Smart Way to use MS Word

If you want to learn to drive, you need lessons.

If you want to learn to play the piano, you need lessons.

If you want to learn effective Technical Writing, you need lessons.

Learn how to write professional, user-friendly technical documentation that is targeted at the reader group. Suitable if you write about Software, Equipment, Business Procedures, Health and Safety, Training Course design, etc. ; for external customers or internal staff (sales team, support engineers etc.) We have run these education courses in UK, Europe, USA and India.

See:    What You Learn    Fees

CONTENT: WHAT YOU LEARN

MODULE 1: How to Write

• How to write for best Readability

• Targeting the reader

• Correct use of Plain English

• Examples of good and bad documentation

• Exercises to help you learn.

MODULE 2: Planning and Structure

One of the difficulties with new documentation is knowing where to start, what to include and what to exclude. In this course, you will learn -

• Powerful Document Planning techniques

• How to include all relevant topics

• How to eliminate irrelevant material

MODULE 3: Working Smart in MS Word

• Getting the best out of MS Word 2000 - 2003

• Power Hints and Tips for faster working

• How to identify and tag keywords for the Index

Learn by –

• Practical exercises.

• Asking and doing.

• Seeing examples.

• Understanding.

• Group discussion.

This one-day, Writing Technical Documentation session distils over 20 years of experience of business, industrial and software documentation into just one concentrated day. Whatever the standard of your company's in-house documentation, we can teach you how to simplify the writing process, enhance the style and improve readability.

DELEGATE FEEDBACK

Delegates are encouraged to fill in a feedback sheet at the end of every course. Here are some of their comments.

• "I would recommend it to anyone who has to write and maintain any type of document. This course is really going to save me precious time."
  - Kyla Young, Operations Manager, Dataflow Communications.

• "Very good; very interesting for a subject that could have been very dry."
  - Malcolm Johnson, Acterna.

• "I would like to commend you on a thorough introduction to technical writing."
  - Robin Slee, Systems Developer.

• "It was my pleasure to attend, which is something I have never before said about a training course. Keep up the excellent work." - R.W., Systems Developer.

• "Well worth it. I wish I had had this course when I first joined the company".

• "Good course, good toolkit." - Chris Gaukroger, Acterna.

• "Many thanks for the course yesterday. I for one found it extremely useful, and judging from the comments I’ve had from my colleagues, so did they."
  - L.P., Development Manager, Distinction Systems Ltd.

"The training day was...

• "Very useful, productive and inspiring." - Mike Schulze, Associate Director Clinical Standards Europe, Quintiles Ltd, Frankfurt.

• "It was really what I was looking for, to help me produce good documentation."
  - Patrice Pajot, Acterna.

• "Excellent! Very informative, lots to think about and has provided me with some great tools to produce documentation."

• "Most Enjoyable. The subject could have been dry; however, the way the training was executed made it enjoyable." - David MacDivitt, Senior Customer Information Officer, Coventry University.

• "Good, well paced. Well presented and informative."

• "Useful & interesting - especially as a whole-team activity." - DH - Technical Author.

• "Very good. Made the most of what is not a very interesting subject for a group of programmers!"

• "The document planning was very good. It had a direct application to our work."

• "Well structured and focused on our needs." - Malcolm Johnson, Acterna.

• "Very good. Exceeded my expectations! I was wondering how to make a seemingly arduous task less daunting."

• "Very useful and practical for approaching future documentation tasks and presentations."

• "Surprisingly very interesting and refreshing. Enjoyed the subject and the way the message was delivered."

"The most interesting part was...

• "The most interesting parts for me were the exercises because I like the ‘hands on’ approach. I find ‘to do’ is the best way for me to learn. I also liked sharing ideas with my colleagues and having the time to think about how we can move forward with our documentation project. I valued Philip’s input and suggestions."
  - Margaret McDermott, Training Advisor, Quintiles Ltd UK.

• "Planning the work. I have a problem getting bogged down with details; this frees me up." - Hugo Horsfield, Operations Technical Specialist, Data flow Communications.

• "Structuring of documents - practical, useful and stimulating. It will make my job a lot easier in future."

• "Document planning, because it helps gather the jumbled thoughts about a project onto one page."

• "How to plan and structure documents - I can see this having an immediate effect."
  - OD, Technical Author.

• "It was refreshing to be asked to use plain English. The section on the easy use of Word was very useful."

• "Good break-up of listening, doing, relevant documentation planning, etc. Good frequent breaks makes concentration easier! Important!"

• Planning techniques will be very useful for up and coming documentation."

• "Planning my work - helpful to brainstorm and visualise the process; also MS Word Tips were great."

"I learned...

• "How to structure my my ideas before I start." - Patrice Pajot, Acterna.

• "To be precise and deliver the information in a clear, comprehensible fashion."
  - Liz Watson, Customer Support Analyst, Coventry University.

• "A way of structuring documents and identify where sections should go."
  - Malcolm Johnson, Acterna.

• "Approaching from a task-oriented point of view; before this, I felt as if I had to capture all functionality."

• "… useful tips for Word. I enjoyed the Plain English tips as well."

• "…that Plain English is very important; and also learned how to plan documentation."

• "Document planning techniques - very good."

• "A lot of useful ideas about documentation."

• "I should make more use of the structured approach."

Training Room

What do you need?

• Separate room for the course.
• PC LCD projector + screen
• Whiteboard
• Flipchart
• Paper and pens
• No interruptions / mobile phones!

Maximum 12 delegates per course.

TRAINING COURSE FEES

Prices on application.  

Incidental expenses extra. Terms and Conditions apply.

No Open Courses

We regret that we do not run 'open' training sessions, because discussion cannot flow easily, and there are difficulties when people from competing companies attend. Training in-house works best: you are free to discuss common issues openly, and you can all learn from and encourage one another.

Ordering: please allow 14 days' notice...

Training needs a lot of planning and preparation so, please, we need your written order, together with our signed Terms and Conditions, two weeks before training.

Philip Tory International Training

UK, Europe, USA.

Typos:

If you're like me, you may have mistyped a word, and entered : techncialw riting course; technicalw riting course; technialwritingcourse; techncial writing course