Technical Writing
You know your subject. The challenge is making it clear to everyone else.
You’ve spent years building deep expertise in an area, but writing about it for others can be difficult. Your readers don’t share your knowledge, and you’re often writing for several different audiences at once. Your content is complex and detailed, and you’re not sure what to cut and what to keep, or how to structure it.
This practical workshop will help you solve all these challenges. You’ll learn the 10 elements of the plain language standard and how to apply them specifically to technical documents. You’ll do hands-on work using your own material.
As with all Write workshops, the content is consistent with both:
- the well-known Write Plain Language Standard
- the international ISO Plain Language Standard 24495.
Skills you’ll gain on the day
The technical writing techniques you’ll learn will make it easier for you to:
- assess the difficulty of your information for your readers
- select relevant information and focus on the key messages
- apply plain language principles to get your messages across effectively
- present data visually to help readers understand your content.
Who this training is for
You work in a specialised professional field and regularly write about complex or technical subject matter. You might be:
- a subject-matter expert writing technical reports
- a scientist, engineer, or analyst translating data into recommendations
- a policy writer making complex information accessible to decision-makers
- an IT professional writing documentation or product descriptions
- a researcher writing grant applications or publishing findings.
You don’t need to have done any other writing training. This is a specialist foundation workshop built specifically for people who write about complex and technical content.
Already attended Business Writing Essentials or another Write workshop?
Our Technical Writing workshop is built around the specific challenge of communicating complex, technical information to non-expert readers. If you’ve attended the Business Writing Essentials Workshop in the past, you’ll recognise those foundation principles on the Technical Writing Workshop. That’s because they’re essential to quality writing in any context. But the tools, examples, and exercises are all tailored to technical content. If you’re not sure if this workshop is the right one for you, get in touch and we’ll help you find the best fit.
What our clients say
I was just explaining to my manager that I’ve gained techniques I can apply immediately to improve my writing. The one-day workshop has neatly crystalised what I can do to level-up my work and make it more accessible and more enjoyable to read (and write!). I have a demanding role and taking a day out for development is a big investment, but one that I feel I got a great return on.
Laura M, Ministry for Primary Industries
I found the workshop really helped me understand how to write clearly in plain English and how to adapt technical structures. The pace and structure of the workshop were good for learning, with clear explanations, examples and activities. I found it useful to apply the techniques to my own work and the work of others.
Sarah C, Stats NZ
This is a great course for not only technical writing, but how to make writing clear and concise in general. It’ll help you in everything as small as an email to as large as a thesis!
Evan C, GNS Science
If you are based in New Zealand, please book through our New Zealand Technical Writing page.
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Contact Julia Bennett to discuss your training needs.
(WhatsApp) +44 7961 200 845