Writing Technical Explanations For Non-Technical Readers
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Technical writing in plain English
One of the toughest challenges for any writer with expertise is explaining a complex subject to readers who don't have a technical background. You’ve made an effort to acquire the knowledge that qualifies you for your job, but now you must adjust what you know to explain it all to a reader who won’t understand the technical writing that comes naturally to you. You also may need to tailor your technical writing to accommodate a mixed audience: some of your readers may know a little about the topic while others know nothing at all. What should you include, and what should you leave out? This course teaches you how to write technical reports using tried-and-true solutions to this perennial problem.
Course Highlights
- Learn the procedures for how to write technical information for non-technical readers
- Learn how to write technical reports read by both technical and non-technical readers
- Learn how to plan and organize clear, concise, readable technical reports
- Receive extensive, helpful comments on the technical reports you write for the course
- Learn how to write clear sentences and the appropriate vocabulary
- Learn to use the correct punctuation
- Learn to use key terms so your reader cannot misunderstand
Course Description
The Writing Technical Explanations for Non-technical Readers course teaches the skills required to create technical writing for readers who are not specialists in the subject and do not know the terminology. We teach you to write technical documents that convey your points methodically and structure your documents to guarantee easy comprehension.
When You Complete This Course...
- You will know how to structure your technical writing for clarity and choose vocabulary your non-technical readers will understand.
- You will understand how to write for different levels of expertise in the same document.
- You’ll be able to streamline the work of communicating by anticipating questions from your intended audience.
How It Works
Work Online
When you enroll, we give you access to all the online lessons and training materials. Each lesson builds on the lessons that precede it. We offer clear explanations for every part of our training and plenty of real-world examples of how to apply the skills you are learning.
Set Your Own Pace
You go at your own pace and submit assignments when you are ready. You don’t have to be online with other students or perform activities at specific times.
Instructor Feedback
Your instructor evaluates all your work, coaches you through learning the skills, and gives you personalized feedback on what you are doing well and what still needs polish. You can contact your instructor at any time if you have questions about your training, business writing, or the English language.
Certificate
When you finish the course within four months, you receive a graduation certificate.
Course Outline
Lesson 1: Communicate technical subjects clearly to non-technical readers.
Lesson 2: Provide information that suits the reader's knowledge of the subject, educational background, technical expertise, need for concrete explanations, and need for depth of knowledge.
Lesson 3: Include everything every intended reader needs to achieve your objectives.
Lesson 4: Give readers the information they need at the specific points where they need it for maximum understanding.
Lesson 5: When readers have differing needs or abilities, write different versions of the document or sections within the document to match the readers' needs and abilities.
Lesson 6: Write the information in clearly defined information blocks that the reader can read, understand, and remember, one block at a time.
Lesson 7: For each information block, write an explicit opening statement the reader can use to begin putting the block's details into a framework.
Lesson 8: Present information in a clear visual blueprint so readers can see the organization as they read.
Lesson 9: Use tables to organize the information so readers can place the details into a clear framework.
Lesson 10: Use key terms consistently.
Lesson 11: Fully explain the concept behind every new key term as the reader encounters it.
Lesson 12: Write clear, focused, organized paragraphs that help readers identify, understand, and remember concepts.
Lesson 13: Write sentences that are complete, simple, clear, and straightforward.
Lesson 14: Use only simple punctuation.
Lesson 15: Use words every intended reader will understand.
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Writing Coaching by Dr. Robert Hogan
Dr. Hogan has been training writers for 40 years in universities, colleges of business, consulting companies, and professional writing companies.
Learn more about Dr. Hogan.Course Features
Course Materials: Online
Certificate upon Completion: Yes
Instructor Feedback: Yes
Letter of Recommendation: Yes
Lesson Count: 16
Practice Activities: 16
Exams: 4
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