Advanced
Business & Technical Report Writing
Introduction
This workshop oriented
course uses tools and methods to produce high class technical reports. Once
familiar with the tools, students should be able to adapt reports to suit the
requirements of the readers.
Who Should Attend:
This course is essential
for anyone in the company who is involved with operations, maintenance, IT,
workshop etc.
Learning Objectives
To develop delegates’ ability and confidence in their writing skills by
introducing them to:
·
The basic principles of good technical writing
·
Proven models for structuring letters, memos, faxes,
reports etc. based on current best practice
·
Strategies for applying communication and persuasion
principles to writing tasks
·
To provide opportunities for practicing
these skills with individual feed-back and suggestions for improvement
Methodology:
Each topic is taught as follows:
Ø
Introduction
Ø
Discussion
Ø
Quiz
Ø
Exercise
Course Outline
Module 1: An overview
on technical writing
§
The advantages and disadvantages
of written communication.
§
The differences between written
and spoken English.
§
The Visual dimension.
Module 2: Style and
Purpose
§
The 5 basics of good technical
writing.
§
Analyzing your purpose.
§
Analyzing the reader’s
requirements and expectations.
§
Positive vs. negative writing
styles.
§
Avoiding common mistakes.
§
Punctuating for clarity.
Module 3: External
technical Letters and Faxes
§
The importance of first
impressions.
§
How readers read letters.
§
Standard elements.
§
The opening, development and the
closing of the message.
§
Getting the right tone.
§
Models for common types of
technical letters.
§
What’s the difference between a
letter and a fax?
Module 4: Internal Memos and Briefs
§
The flexible memo.
§
Structuring memos for different
purposes-the information memo, the problem/solution memo, the suggestion memo.
§
Choosing an appropriate memo
style.
§
Structuring and writing briefs.
Module 5: Reports –
what are they?
§
Types of report.
§
Why do we write them?
§
What distinguishes a good report
from a bad one?
§
Audience-orientation-understanding.
Module 6: Planning a Report
§
Defining your objective/terms of
reference.
§
Identifying your primary and
secondary readers.
§
Collecting you material – primary
and secondary course.
§
Producing a skeleton outline.
Module 7:
Structuring A Report
§
Standard formats for informal and
formal reports.
§
Standard formats for longer.
Formal reports.
§
Choosing an appropriate format and
making it work for you.
§
Special report formats – meeting
reports, incident reports etc..
§
How do I make my report easy to
read?
Module 8: Choosing the right style
§
Objective and impersonality.
§
Writing for ease of understanding.
§
Achieving precision.
§
Fitting writing style to purpose –
analytic descriptive and informative style.
§
Punctuating for clarity.
Module 9: Introduction and using MS Visio
§
MS Visio Training.
§
Using Visio drawings in reports.
§
Process design with Visio