Learn how to write any technical document well. Save time and write clearer for any audience.

Technical Writing Foundations Course

Available for groups as a self-paced online course, instructor-led virtual or instructor-led onsite training, and for individuals as a self-paced online course.

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Learn exactly how this course will help your team or you quickly become a better technical writer in weeks.

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Learn how to take your expertise and turn it into clear, user-friendly technical writing. You’ll learn how to plan, write and edit documentation, instructions, SOWs, procedures, and reports that express technical details for your particular audience.

In today’s business world, technical writing is highly demanded, but there isn’t as large of a pool of skilled technical writers as you may think. Whether you're just starting out in technical writing, contemplating it, or heading towards becoming a pro, this course can help you take your technical writing skills to the next level.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to technical documentation. This course provides a flexible framework that encourages critical thinking and discernment in your approach to technical writing. It also includes personalized feedback on your actual technical writing.

This course is suitable for engineers, researchers, IT support, and any other individuals that have to communicate technical information clearly and effectively.

INDIVIDUALS

$645

Online self-paced course available for individuals. Sign up today and learn how to become a better technical writer.

Enroll now

GROUPS

Online self-paced courses and instructor-led virtual and onsite training can all be customized to match your needs. Group discounts apply.

Customize for Groups
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Participants in our Technical Writing Foundations Course will be able to:

  • Learn to write effective technical documents.

  • Learn the optimal process for planning and writing any technical document.

  • Generate and organize ideas effectively, thus saving time and effort.

  • Understand appropriate language and content for audience needs.

  • Create clearer, more concise technical documents.

  • Begin and end technical documents effectively.

  • Eliminate bloat.

Who is this course for?

This course is a great fit for you or your organization if you or your team:

  • You’re in charge of a group or division in your company and looking to improve your team's technical writing skills and ability to communicate technical information.

  • You're an individual looking to improve your technical writing skills to get a raise, become more effective in your communication, or become more qualified for a new job.

  • You work in engineering, research, IT support, or any other role that has to communicate technical information clearly and effectively.

Each course lesson progressively improves a different facet of your technical writing skills and dives into Statements of Work, Policies, Procedures, Reports, and Specifications Documents.

At the end of the course, you will be able to plan, draft, edit, and evaluate technical documents with skill and efficiency.

This writing training is essential for analytical positions that need to review and summarize information and recommendations into technical documents—engineers, scientists, support, and many senior positions.

If you mostly write technical reports (or have already taken this foundational course), see our Technical Report Writing Course here.

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Course Certificate

After completing the course, you will earn a personalized certificate. You can display your certificate in the certification section of your LinkedIn profile, download it to print, or mention it in your résumé.
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Individual written feedback for every student

To truly improve your technical writing skills, you need both course instruction and feedback on your actual technical writing.

During the online self-paced course, you will apply what you are learning in two writing exercises that help practice technical writing in different scenarios. After submitting each exercise, you will receive both subjective and objective feedback from your instructor that also resolves your specific blocks that impede your personal writing.

Objective feedback:

  • Is the document based fully on reader need and perspective?
  • Does the reader have all information needed?
  • Is any information that is included not needed?
  • Is the document logically organized?

Subjective feedback:

  • Is your tone too blunt or too timid?
  • Are your word choices clear, strong, and persuasive?
  • Can you cut any unnecessary words?
  • Are there any grammar errors?

Instructor-led group training

Onsite training, shown on the left, is highly interactive, with many individual, peer, and group activities where participants will receive feedback.

Groups work together to deconstruct documents, break down individual writing concerns, plan an upcoming document, and more.

After onsite training concludes, participants can submit a recent document to receive even more personalized feedback from their instructor.

Instructor-led virtual training

Virtual training also allows for highly engaging instruction, exercises, and discussion.

Learners complete activities in breakout rooms, break down documents individually, and are encouraged to participate in lively conversations and ask questions.

After virtual training concludes, participants can submit a recent document to receive even more individual feedback from their instructor on their actual writing.

Learn more about our instructor-led training.

Our clients' feedback

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This was a fantastic class, and the discussion of user requirement documents and project status reports was illuminating. I can see already how much time I will save using these techniques.

Business Analyst
Liberty Mutual Insurance Group
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I love that the course provided additional resources that I can continue to use as reference material.

Analyst
Transocean
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I enjoyed participating in a group setting because it allowed me to interact with the rest of the group and made the webinar much livelier. I also had the opportunity to brush up on my grammar and syntax skills and apply them to technical writing.
President
Greensite Engineering, Inc.
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This training helped me immensely for writing reports and emails for future coordination with clients and experts.
Project Engineer
HWA, Inc.
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This course taught me how to break down the writing process so that I could write an easy-to-follow report tailored specifically to my clients' needs.

Senior Associate
Industrial Economics
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I learned very valuable tips such as what to avoid when writing and how to follow a process. I will surely apply what I've learned when I write emails and risk assessment reports in the future.

Senior Regulatory Affairs Manager
Novo Nordisk
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In this comprehensive technical writing course you will learn:


  • To extract and highlight significant information and differentiate this from background information.
  • Strategies to convey complex technical information to non-technical readers.
  • How to write a clear and meaningful executive summary.
  • How to optimize a technical document that may be reviewed by regulatory agencies.

 

What is included in this course?

This technical writing course is split into several detailed sections.

Getting Started

An Introduction and Self-Assessment

Review the objectives and breakdown of the course content. Share your specific course goals, and tell us about the technical documents you write. 

Lesson 1

6-Steps to Effective Technical Writing

Learn a practical framework for writing any technical document. This six-step process helps you understand the strategies needed to write a clear report, SOP, procedures document, user manual, etc. This process will allow you to spend 30% less time on every document you write. This applies to all documents conveying technical information.

Lesson 2

Organizing a Technical Document

Organize your technical documents for clarity. Nothing is worse than getting a technical document that is difficult to understand. This lesson includes tips and tricks on how to organize the beginning, middle, and end of your technical documentation and make it clear for your reader.

Lesson 3

Statement of Work

Learn how to apply the 6-Step Process to a sample statement of work technical document.

Lesson 4

Policies and Procedures

Understand the nuances of writing policies and procedures. This lesson enables you to understand if all other documents (specifications, SOWs, etc.) adhere to the policies and procedures of your organization and how they fit into the overall operations.

Lesson 5

Conveying Technical Information in Internal Reports

Reports can feel overwhelming because there are so many variations. Learn how to assemble a well-organized technical report.

This lesson also looks at the important consideration of writing an executive summary.

Lesson 6

Specifications Documents

In this lesson, you'll learn the purpose of a specifications document and how to plan an effective specifications document. You'll learn the difference between these technical documents and internal reports and review a sample specifications document.

Lesson 7

Format Considerations

Technical information is dense. Learn formatting techniques to create a visually appealing, easy-to-scan document that helps your reader easily understand complex, technical information.

Headings, white space, typography, visual structure, and the best graphical representation of data are addressed.

Lesson 8

Clarity and Word Choice

Make sure your document is a pleasure to read with concise and clear language that presents complex technical information competently and confidently. 

This module ensures that your sentences are accurate, easy to reach, and engaging. 

Lesson 9

Professional, Confident Tone

Depending on the technical document you're writing, your style and tone may vary. In this section, we will teach you how to write with a competent, polished, confident tone for your specific document.

Lesson 10

Grammar and Syntax

Access different web-based grammar tools and learn how to apply a grammar and correction strategy to your particular grammar errors.
View the Full Course Outline
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Key skills you will learn in this course:

  • Employ an efficient process for planning and organizing technical information.
  • Synthesize complex information and learn to write an effective executive summary.
  • Understand how to tier information appropriately in to match your specific audience needs.
  • Ensure content conveys information for business decisions, within a readily absorbed format.
  • Eliminate jargon and deadwood to streamline your document.
  • Reduce the amount of time required to write and read technical documents.

Includes individual feedback on your writing

This course includes award-winning instructor coaching and feedback and ongoing support.

Technical Writing Foundations Course Instructors

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Kara Latz

As a multilingual American, Kara has a unique perspective of the English language. She is an instructor and specializes in business writing, technical content, and generalized marketing.

Four years ago, backed by an Emory B.A. degree, Mercer University MBA, and a 20-year career in corporate America, Kara endeavored to engage in her true passion to help companies and people bolster their company and personal brand image through writing.

Kara resides at Lake Oconee, GA with her husband, three children, and two dogs. She is an active volunteer with the local Boys and Girls Club and high school Career Coaching.

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Bailey Lang
Bailey is a professional writer, editor, and accountability coach with more than a decade of experience. 
 
She began her career in marketing communications for a global HR outsourcing company before taking a detour into academia. She earned her MA in rhetoric and writing at the University of Findlay and then completed her Ph.D. in rhetoric and writing studies at Bowling Green State University. Along the way, she wrote and published a book, numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, and more. 
 
When she’s not writing or editing, you'll find her reading, hiking, or knitting. 
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Elisabeth O'Quinn

Elisabeth has a unique combination of business and business writing acumen, with extensive background in writing, editing, and content marketing management.

She has supported a variety of businesses, writing blog articles, reports, presentations, and editing business documents. She has supported many of our clients with rave reviews of her writing feedback.

Elisabeth lives in Georgia with her cat and rescue pup. In addition to writing, she loves traveling with her twin sister, learning German, and creating watercolor prints. 
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Grace Cuddy

Grace supports Instructional Solutions' online courses and also works with individuals and groups from several multinational companies across Europe as a business writing coach.

She is bilingual in English and Spanish and has traveled extensively, providing a keen sensitivity to global writing. She has a strong background in corporate communication and management and successfully developed cross-functional writing and communication processes in a large corporate team. She is also a successful blogger and has received rave reviews from her writing critiques and coaching for our work with DuPont, Liberty Mutual, and many other groups. 

She is bilingual in English and Spanish. She enjoys yoga, travel, and dance. She splits her time between New York City and Madrid.

Become a better technical writer.

Sign up today or schedule a discussion to become a stronger, clearer writer.

INDIVIDUALS

$645

Sign up today and start learning how to become a better technical writer.
Enroll now

GROUPS

We offer customized online, virtual, and onsite courses, workshops, and trainings that match your organization's needs. 

Schedule a call