Technical Report Writing

Report writing is a part of every engineer's and technician's job, but it is often seen as a tedious and difficult task. Badly written documents with poor presentation will fail to communicate essential information, and cause confusion and mistakes. This practical course will help people develop their writing skills, and approach report writing in a more effective and efficient way.

Course Content

Communications
- Considering your reader
- Understanding the shared context

Software Aids for Writing
- Spell and grammar checkers
- Readability and sentences length analysis
- Software help for people with writing difficulties
- Help on the web for writers

Aids for Producing Reports
- The KRIS aid for organising the report
- A "Code of Practice" for report writing
- Using and designing templates

The General Structure of Reports
- The inputs, methods and outputs of reports
- Writing abstracts, keywords, abbreviations, references
- Conclusions and recommendations

Specific Reports
- Reports for your supervisor - facts and opinions
- Reporting on projects - progress, meetings, incidents, close out
- Investigative (R&D) reports, BS4811
- Test reports, BS5701/EN45001
- Business case (feasibility) reports
- Estimating (pricing) reports
- Marketing reports - routine, sales visit, new opportunities

Writing Procedures and Manuals
- Giving instructions, avoiding idioms and vagueness
- Presenting information, BS4884, diagrams
- Controlled languages

Presenting Reports Electronically
- Specific problems – and possible solutions
- Getting your e-reports read
- Writing for 'screen reading'

Checking for Errors in Reports
- Checking for conformity, sensibility and readability
- Review techniques

Professional Formatting and Layout
- Navigating through the document
- Effective use of graphics, drawings, tables etc

Writing for Effect
- Using effective words
- Readable sentences
- Persuasive paragraphs
- Grammar, spelling and punctuation