Technical Writing Skills Training Course

Improve your written work for the rest of your career!

• Learn to best way to write technical documentation - for the rest of your career

• Learn the art of plain English, so that your readers understand more thoroughly

• Learn to plan your documentation in minutes, not days

You can learn the skills you need to create professional, user-friendly technical documentation that is targeted at the reader group. This in-house, corporate training course is suitable for anyone who writes technical and instructional material, such as business procedures, work instructions, user manuals, online help guides, safety manuals, franchise manuals, technical training courses and so on. It suits any business area, whether for your external customers or for internal staff. I have run this course across the UK and Europe, and as far away as India and the USA.

"A colleague attended the previous course and said it was the most useful course he had ever attended."
- C.H., Transport for London.

CONTENT: WHAT YOU LEARN

MODULE 1: How to Write

• How to write for best readability

• Targeting the reader

• Correct use of plain English

• See examples of good and bad documentation

• Exercises to help you learn

MODULE 2: Planning and Structure

One of the difficulties with new technical 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 subject matter

• How to eliminate irrelevant material

• Save time and save stress

MODULE 3: Working Smart in MS Word

• Getting the best out of MS Word

• How to create an "Index-at-the-back"; how to tag index keywords in an instant.

• Power Hints and Tips for faster working

Learn by –

• Understanding

• Asking and doing

• Seeing examples

• Group discussion

• Practical exercises

This one-day, Technical Author Training session distils over 20 years of experience of business, technical, industrial and software documentation into just one concentrated day.

Improve the standard of your company's in-house documentation. You can learn how to simplify the technical writing process, enhance the style and improve readability, for all kinds of subject matter.

DELEGATE FEEDBACK - Technical Author Training Course

Delegates 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.

• "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.

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

• "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.

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

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

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

"I learned...

• "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.

• "…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."

Course facilities required

What will you need?

• Separate room for the course.
• PC data projector and screen
• Whiteboard
• Flipchart
• Paper and pens

Maximum 12 delegates per course.

Technical Author Course fees

Prices depend on the number of course delegates, travel costs, etc., so please contact us and tell us a bit about your needs, how many people, etc.

Incidental expenses extra. Terms and Conditions apply.

'Open' Courses available in Gloucester

In response to recent demand, I have now introduced 'open' training courses here in Gloucester, for individuals. Details on request.

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.

About the Trainer