Technical Writing: Tricks of the Trade

Learn methods to focus your technical writing process; make your writing task easier and produce higher-quality deliverables.

Professionals in all fields learn to convey complex information clearly, so users can succeed. This course will help you join the ranks of technical writers who write effectively and move on to the next task.

Course Duration: 2 Days |14 hours
Certificate: Plain Language – Level 2
Participants: Up to 28
Audience: All government workplace writers. SMEs, procurement professionals, military personnel, administrative staff, scientists, legal staff, and analysts say this course relates directly to the tasks they perform.

Course Scope

Public sector writers work with complex laws, rules, regulations, research, and instructions. They start with poorly-written, difficult text.

They must “translate” that information and consider each work environment to write useful, clear, and usable text. This course leads learners through the process, from planning to publication.

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In this course, learners may apply what they learn to real work product. We encourage participants to select an old work document that doesn’t meet users’ needs. On Day 2, they’ll revise it with the help of a professional technical writer.

Performance Objectives

Outcome: Course grads apply technical and professional communication best practices to create technical documents that meet users’ information needs. Course grads convey complex information clearly and concisely, in plain language.

Through a combination of lecture, discussion, activity, exercises, and feedback, learners will gain and apply these abilities.

  • Assess your audience: know your active and secondary readers so you can write to meet their needs.
  • Manage the preparation process for any technical document.
  • Quickly shape your technical document from draft to final copy.
  • Meet plain language requirements in every document you write.
  • Know and avoid the three most costly grammar mistakes writers make.
  • Cut redundancies, imprecise words, jargon, trite phrases, technical clichés, vague words, and generalizations.
  • Write in active voice, in every scenario.
  • Get others to read what you send. Learn how to gain and hold readers’ attention with captivating statements and paragraphs.
  • Write direct, descending order documents to meet customer needs.
  • Boost reading ease and usability with visual devices.
  • Write email that meets readers’ needs and helps you capture and keep important details.
  • Bring writing teams together and manage group writing projects effectively.
  • Discover how and why you should represent data visually in tables, graphs, and charts. Learn what works and what to avoid.
  • See 10 different direct and indirect reporting formats, examples from the public sector, and checklists for creating your own reports.

Competencies covered in this course: Written communication

Resources: Write Words provides a computer lab for courses within 50 miles of Olympia, WA. Laptops provided for regional agencies beyond 50 miles when possible, by request.

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Plain Language Level 2
This certificate shows your development hours and training in plain language standards compliant with national and state laws.

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Write Words provides a computer lab for live revision courses within 50 miles of Olympia, WA. Laptops provided for regional agencies beyond 50 miles when possible, by request. We also provide workbooks and all materials needed.

Host agencies provide a projection system that we can use to present from a laptop. We can use anything you have: a Smartboard, smart TV, or projector system with Display Port, HDMI, wireless, or VGA connection.

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