Burning Bush Technologies, a highly respected analytics software company that studies labor trends, says that their studies show that "writing, communication, and organization skills are scarce everywhere. These skills are in demand across nearly every occupation...Even fields like IT and Engineering want people who can write."
Burning Bush Technologies, a highly respected analytics software company that studies labor trends, says that their studies show that "writing, communication, and organization skills are scarce everywhere. These skills are in demand across nearly every occupation...Even fields like IT and Engineering want people who can write."
Tech Writers Master Class was developed to help you get an edge in the job market by teaching you the skills you need to write better technical documents. Designed to be suitable for all levels of experience, this is a practical course that tells you specifically HOW to improve your skills, not just what you should do.
The instructor interviewed more than 50 technical professionals to prepare this course. This course is focused on helping all technical professionals, from entry-level to experienced. By the end of this course, you'll know how to do the following:
Write documentation that meets the needs of different audiences.
Interview subject matter experts.
Organize your document logically.
Choose the best writing style.
Use accurate, precise words and avoid common word-choice mistakes.
Write powerful sentences and paragraphs that flow.
Use graphics that are the best for what you're illustrating.
Proofread and edit your documents more professionally.
And more.
Don't be left behind. Learn how to write great technical documents by taking the Tech Writers Master Class.
This lecture welcomes you to class and shows you how to navigate to the Overview, Q&A, Bookmarks, and Announcements sections.
When we write technical documents, we always need to remember that our documents are important -- even critical to our readers' safety and well-being. This lecture explains why people who can write good technical documents are valued in business these days, and documents three situations where poor or non-existent documentation cost money and time -- and even cost lives.
This lecture describes a personal experience with confusing instructions and also outlines several challenges and roles students face when writing technical documents.
This lesson helps you have a good perspective of how English has evolved and continues to evolve today. At the end of this lesson, you should have a good understanding of things to be aware of so you can keep current with language and writing trends.
In this lecture, you'll learn how the traditional view of technical writing differs from the new view. You'll also identify the things you want to work on throughout this course and review the summary of this section.
Test your comprehension of the things you learned in Section 1. Good luck!
At the end of this lecture, you will understand why it's important to classify your readers and know the three stages of reader analysis.
This lecture helps you learn how to classify your readers and understand what they need from your documentation. After viewing this, you will be able to classify your readers and better understand their needs.
This lecture provides specific strategies to use when writing for different types of readers.
Test your comprehension of the things you learned about analyzing your readers. Good luck!
In this lecture, you'll learn how to define the purpose and scope of your document.
In this lecture, you'll learn more about subject matter experts and how to work with them better.
In this lecture, you'll learn how documents help you write better documents more easily, two outline-numbering sequences you can use, and two types of outlines to choose from.
This quiz enables you to test your comprehension of the things you learned about getting ready to write. Good luck!
In this lecture, you'll learn about different commercially published style guides and how to create a company or project style guide.
In this lecture, you'll learn about four writing styles that are commonly used in technical documents, and some writing styles you should avoid as much as possible.
In this lecture, you'll learn how to develop your personal writing style and how to avoid writer's block.
This helps helps you test information you learned about writing with style.
This lecture covers basic facts about words and challenges technical writers face when choosing words. We’ll also cover how to do the following:
· Write so your words can stand on their own
· Use accurate, precise words
· Use appropriate words
· Avoid ambiguity
· Use more concrete words than abstract ones
And use specific words.
In this lecture, you’ll learn how to use technical words and abbreviations. You’ll also learn how to make it easier for your readers to learn the technical words and abbreviations you use and whether to use "a" or "an" in front of abbreviations and initialisms where each letter is pronounced individually.
In this lecture, you’ll learn how to correct common word-choice mistakes, especially when you mistake one word for another. In addition to taking a closer look at some commonly confused words, you'll learn some simple "tricks" to help you remember which word to use.
This quiz helps you test your comprehension of the things you learned iabout choosing the right words. Good luck!
In this lecture, you'll learn about the four types of sentences, how to write them, and how many of these different types of sentences you should use in your documents.
In this lecture, you’ll learn about powerful sentences. You’ll learn what makes sentences more powerful and how you can write them.
In this lecture, we’ll take a look at seven major causes of foggy writing and how we can avoid this in our writing.
This quiz will enable you to test your comprehension of the things you learned about writing powerful sentences. Good luck!
This lecture teaches you the key elements of good paragraphs and how to write them.
Did you know that the way you write your paragraphs and arrange the sentences in them can influence how readers receive the information you're conveying? This lecture reviews different strategies for writing paragraphs and helps you decide which one would be the best strategy for your purposes and your audience.
Test your comprehension of key points presented in this section. Good luck!
In this lecture, we’ll discuss the effect graphics have upon readers and how graphics can help you get your message across to your readers.
Graphics provide valuable information and increase your readers' comprehension, but do you know the rules for using them correctly? You will after you review this lecture!
In this lecture, you’ll learn how to use bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, flow charts, and organization charts.
Graphics add a lot to our documents. In this lecture, you'll learn tips for using clip art, drawings, icons, photographs, screen shots, and tables.
This quiz will enable you to test your comprehension of key points you learned in this section.
In this lecture, you'll learn the basic principles of document design and things you can do to design your documents so they are more readable and attractive.
In this lecture, we’ll look at the elements of document design more closely and discuss how to use them. You'll learn how to handle the design of the following:
Page sizes, Margins
Line alignment
Line spacing
Typefaces
Type sizes
Highlighting
White space
Page numbers
Headers and footers
Warnings, cautions, and notes.
In this lecture, we will discuss layout designs for some common page sizes.
This quiz enables you to test your comprehension of key information you learned in Section 9.
In this lecture, we’ll talk about the elements that are typically used in instructional documents plus how to use lists more effectively and guidelines for publishing your documents online.
In this lecture, we’ll talk about technical reports and how you can write better ones.
In this lecture, you’ll learn how to write proposals and how to use a highly effective technique for persuading your readers.
This quiz enables you to test your comprehension of key information you learned in this section.
In this lecture, you'll learn the most efficient and effective ways to edit and proofread documents, how to get ready to edit and proofread, how to pace your writing, and more.
In this lecture, we’ll talk about a technique for editing called the Levels of Edit. Although it was developed many years ago, it is still being used today by companies around the word.
In this lecture, we’ll talk about document reviews and how to handle them – especially your subject-matter expert reviews of your documents.
Usability testing enables you to find out if your documentation meets your readers’ needs. This is an important part of your documentation process, especially when you are writing user manuals, procedures manuals, and other similar documents. This lecture shows you step-by-step instructions for conducting a usability test
This quiz enables you to test your comprehension of key points you learned in Section 11.
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