It was geared directly towards the type of documents engineers write every day.
Get to the Point! A Practical Writing Course for Technical Professionals
Written Communication
Don't waste your audience's time: Be clear, concise, complete and confident in your communications.
Most technical professionals avoided writing classes but now find that to succeed, they must be able to put their ideas and information in writing. Emails, reports, proposals, recommendations, and business cases are still the most effective way we deliver information. How you communicate is what will differentiate you and your organization from your competition.
We have delivered this course for nearly 50 years and offer simple yet practical techniques, designed for technical people.
This comprehensive agenda introduces participants to the Pyramid Method of WritingTM and applies it to several writing situations. Participants will also receive personal feedback on at least three writing assignments and experience group and individual exercises.
Course Outline
This is condensed content from our two-day classroom course and delivered remotely in four webinars. Participants will have exercises between sessions to practice the skills and will receive personal feedback on writing assignments.
May 11: Webinar 1 (1.5 hours)
• Identifying and focusing the reader's attention on the main message
• Applying Pyramid Method of WritingTMto organize information
• Understanding the purpose for writing (informative or persuasive)
May 14: Webinar 2 (1.5 hours)
• Writing action-getting requests for internal and external audiences
• Differentiating between "need to know" and "nice to know" information
• Using language to create a confident image of you and your organization
• Using the active voice to make the information easier to understand
May 19: Webinar 3 (1.5 hours)
• Personalizing your writing to create a comfortable tone
• Eliminating wordy expressions from your writing
• Developing a clear, concise and complete writing style
• Writing short reports – incident, inspection, field trip, progress and project completion
May 21: Webinar 4 (1.5 hours)
• Using numbers and abbreviations correctly
• Writing to multiple levels of audiences (technical and non-technical)
• Writing longer reports – evaluations, recommendations,
Course Testimonials
There is a good balance between instruction and exercises which keeps participants active and involved.
I wish it was longer! (I can’t believe I said that about a writing course!)
Instructor
Education
BS in Technical Communication from Clarkson University
MS in User Interface Design from the London Guildhall University
Lisa Moretto
President
- Devoted career to helping technical professionals communicate more effectively.
- Engaging and interactive presenter who is frequently invited to speak at international conferences.
- In technical communication field since 1988.
Publications
Co-authored books with Ron Blicq
Get to the Point! (Prentice Hall)
Guidelines for Report Writing (IEEE Press)
Technically Write! (Prentice Hall)
Writing Reports to Get Results (Prentice Hall)
Affiliations
- Past President of the Rochester Engineer Society
- Member of the Society for Technical Communication
- Member of the IEEE Professional Communication Society
Hidden Talent:
She rides a unicycle