EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
An effective business report captures and provides the right level of information on findings or projects accurately and logically.
Report Writing for Technical Professionals is designed to help technical professionals improve report writing skills, sharpen up and deliver reports that are concise, logical and persuasive. One thing is for sure, the more effective reports are, the greater the chances for a successful outcome.
Technical writing involves the ability to understand technical language as well as being able to express that knowledge in a clear, concise, and coherent manner. Our two day report writing course is extremely practical giving participants the opportunity to analyse technical writing in terms of language, grammar and style.
Delegates will have to identify three things they can implement in their workplace immediately upon their return. They will be encouraged to discuss these with their Manager or Supervisor when they get back to work.
Course Objectives
- Write for a particular target audience, and adapt the same material for different audiences.
- Formulate the purpose and goal of the writing, and develop an approach and method of persuading the audience of your main points.
- Order and structure the material and the flow of information in a manner to support your argument.
- Given the purpose and the persuasive message, create a report outline, and know how the various sections are going to link together to support the persuasive message.
- Recognise the value of writing in plain English.
- Recognise the value of visual material in technical reports, and be to match the verbal message with a graphical message
- Recognise the importance of layout, and the non-verbal messaging in the preparation of reports.
- Write effective technical reports and procedures that cater to the needs of their target audience
- Present complex experimental data in a logical, clear and concise manner making optimal use of graphs, charts and tables
- Build credibility by following the conventions of scientific writing to support explanations and arguments
- Ensure technical documents achieve maximum impact by efficiently structuring the data and avoiding common written English mistakes
- Analyze experimental data using the principles of statistical analysis
New skills you will learn:
- Preparation, planning and research
- Identifying the purpose of the report
- The challenges of presenting technical information
- Effective report writing fundamentals
- Using relevant and appropriate language
- Proof-reading and editing
Who is this Training Course for?
- Heads of Engineering Departments
- Project Managers
- Electrical Engineers
- Civil Engineers
- Mechanical Engineers
- Plant Engineers
- Production Engineers
- Supervisors
- Clients
- Contractors
- Sub-contractors
- Graduate engineers
- And anyone interested in improving their report writing and presentation skills
The Course Content
Module 1: Defining the Features of Technical Writing
- Principles and Strategies of Technical Report
- Knowing Your Audience, Purpose and Length of Report
Module 2: Formatting Technical Reports
- Headings, Chapters and sections
- Running headers and footers
- Types of reports and templates to use
Module 3: Get to the Point-Discovering the Main Idea and Arranging Details in Logical Sequence
- Writing styles & techniques
- The 12 golden rules of Writing
Module 4: It Takes Two- The Importance of Audience Awareness
- Focus on your audience’s needs
- Deter word choice, tone, and amount of details to include
Module 5: Style of Writing
- Writing Clear Sentences and paragraphs
- Remove Jargon, Redundancy and Wordiness
Module 6: Graphic Details- Punching Up the Presentation
- Kinds of graphics and their messages
- Suitability for placement in a graphic representation
Module 7: Group Practice and Interactive Session
- Spotting common language problems ( lengthy and confusing sentence structures, weak vocabulary, etc)
- Editing Content, Logic and Language
- Guided writing practice with examples
Participants are to bring along their reports for group learning, editing and discussion
Module 8: Putting it all together
- Drafting – the mindset to avoid writer’s block
- Checking your own
- Giving and receiving constructive feedback – what makes a review effective?
