The 10 Good Habits of Technical Writers

Good technical writers never release anything until the work’s been thoroughly proofread. The best technical writers eliminate unnecessary words so that the text is as short as possible. The best writers search for “etc.” replacing it with actual content. Technically proficient writers check their detail for accuracy. If a good technical writer isn’t sure about […]

Technical Presentation - Online Technical Training

Technical Presentations are persuasive events.  Their purpose is to persuade others to read a piece of technical writing. Technical writers shouldn’t worry about boring their readers. Minimize reading by keeping the work as short as possible, as clear as possible, and as detailed as appropriate.  Presenting technical ideas doesn’t follow these rules directly, but this doesn’t mean […]

Distilling Complicated Information for Public Consumption: Writing Tips for Engineers

One of the essential technical writing skills for engineers is learning how to distill complicated information for the lay audience. dis·till (dəˈstil): (v) extract the essential meaning or most important aspects of. For engineers to communicate effectively with the public, they must know how to simplify complex systems and distill complicated concepts into comprehensive summaries […]

Improve Inter-company Communication with Your Writing

Effective inter-company communication shouldn’t be difficult, yet a lack of writing skills across the professional spectrum has made ineffective communication the norm. And while many companies do focus on using persuasive writing and other forms of effective communication with outside parties, most companies – and leaders – neglect positive inter-company communication. Per an article from […]

Why Professional Writing Skills Are Necessary For Professional Development in Engineering

Our education gives us the basics of communication. We can construct correct sentences and paragraphs because we understand the rules of grammar. We’ve acquired the basic rules and can write grammatically-correct text. Our college education afforded little in terms of courses on technical communication. An engineering degree program is already overloaded, and it wouldn’t be […]

What is it about writing that troubles engineers? What makes engineers so scared of writing? Why are so many of us reluctant to write for work?  OTT’s online Technical Writing for Engineers course answers these questions and shows you how to change habits to teach you how to write fluently, directly, and persuasively. It goes right back […]

How will technical writing help engineers succeed in their job?  There are many courses on technical writing for engineers. Most are delivered by writers that are not engineers. Today, professional engineers are all college-educated. Many of us took “technical writing for engineers courses” at college, but from whom? A professional technical writer is unlikely to have been a professional engineer. Our instructors were English or humanities majors who […]