Technical report writing 'live' online course

This is a 10-hour e-class and has been designed over 1.5 days. The aim of this e-class is to enable participants to write effective technical reports.

These reports play an important part in the life of many professional people: they are a link between writer, colleagues and clients worldwide.

Reading and writing reports occupies a considerable proportion of working time, particularly for senior staff.

Yet many professionals (including those in engineering and technology) lack confidence in their report-writing skills and feel that their credibility suffers because their reports are not a fair reflection of their expertise.

By attending this e-class you will learn how to:

• Write effective technical reports that achieve their aims
• Relate to their target readers
• Select the right content for their readers
• Select the best length and design for the report
• Present their findings in a clear manner
• Understand the importance of writing an accurate, concise, and straightforward report
• Create good summaries
• Include accurate references
• Include appropriate well labelled diagrams
• Understand the benefits of independent proof reading

Who should attend?

All those aiming to improve their technical writing skill, including Engineers, Scientists, Mathematicians, Statisticians, Data providers, Scientific journalists.

E-class overview

This 10-hour course has been designed over 1.5 days it can be delivered virtually or face-to-face.

Introduction and defining your purpose

• The basics of communication
• Understanding what your starting point is
• Identifying the key challenges, you face and the things you find difficult
• The importance of knowing what you hope to achieve by your report

Gathering information for your audience

• Understanding who your audience is and what they need to learn
• Identifying the key elements that are relevant
• Making the correct choice of material
• Removing distracting information from your message

Deciding on your format

• Designing your report
• Sections and sub-sections
• Appendices
• References and bibliographies

Writing your report

• Writing your report into a story
• The use of paragraphs
• Clearer, shorter sentences
• Grammar

The visualisation of data

• The importance of your visualising data
• Which type of graphic suits your purpose
• Where to position graphics
• How to reference graphs and tables

Finishing the report

• Summaries and Abstracts
• Table of Contents
• Title page
• Appearance
• Proof-reading

Timings for Day 1: 09:15 - 16:00

Timings for Day 2: 09:15 - 12:45