Get a detailed introduction to technical writing in a workplace context. Topics include audience analysis, memo writing and internal communications, form letters, presentations and the use of visuals, process documentation, proposals, and writing for the internet.
In every career, you must be able to communicate effectively and clearly if you want to be successful. This course will provide you with a background in the practical, technical writing skills necessary for today's workplace. This course covers internal workplace communications, external business-to-business and business-to-consumer writing skills, presentations and how to use visuals effectively, writing clear instructions and process documents, and using social media effectively. Because the goal of this course is to improve your ability to write clear, comprehensible examples of technical writing, most subunits include short writing activities that will give you hands-on experience in many different writing tasks. Each unit also includes a series of writing self-assessments that will allow you to evaluate your own writing based on specific criteria and provide examples and commentary on how to write successfully. This practical focus on specific writing skills will help you learn the writing skills you will need in the workplace. By the end of the course, you will feel comfortable tackling a wide variety of workplace communications.
- Unit 1: Audience Analysis
- Unit 2: Internal Communications: Writing Memos and Emails
- Unit 3: External Communications: Formal Letters
- Unit 4: Using Visuals to Convey Information
- Unit 5: Process Documentation
- Unit 6: Writing Proposals
- Unit 7: Communicating on the Internet
- Select the appropriate technical communications style for a given audience;
- Describe communication goals to readers in the workplace;
- Apply strategies for writing clear English;
- Utilize effective page layout and design;
- Explain how visuals aid understanding;
- Integrate effective planning and revision into technical communications; and
- Differentiate among models for instruction, description, definition, and summary.