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Advanced Technical Writing

(Contact Hours: 30) $295.00

Course Description

Advanced Technical Writing will give you the expertise and confidence to market yourself as a technical writer or simply to tackle more advanced assignments at work. Building on the skills you have acquired in the previous technical writing courses, this course emphasizes audience analysis, document organization and design, supplements, visuals, and research techniques. The course consists of one proposal that will incorporate all stage of technical writing: planning, writing, designing, and revising.

Required Book:
Pfeiffer, Keller, and Helba, Proposal Writing: The Art of Friendly and Winning Persuasion, 1st ed.

Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Analyze readers and/or situations to prepare for writing a proposal
• Define the purpose of a proposal
• Gather, record, and interpret data
• Use content, design, and style guidelines to produce a more readable, concise document
• Write and edit technical documentation
• Write a winning proposal

Students will demonstrate their understanding of advanced technical writing by creating a proposal. The proposal will include research, supplemental materials, and graphics. The student will submit the proposal in stages for assessment and feedback. Students demonstrate mastery of advanced technical writing by achieving at least 80% on the final proposal.

Assessment

Your assignments will be assessed as follows:

• A (100 to 90)
• B (89 to 80)
• C (79 to 70)
• D (69 to 60)
• F (59 and below)

Week 1

Learning About Proposals: Types, Purposes and Audiences

• Examine the audience, content and purpose for various proposal types:
  • formal and informal
  • solicited and unsolicited
  • internal and external
• Learn the 12 steps to a successful sales proposal
• Review the marketing and proposal strategy to ensure a winning plan
• Remember the five basic questions you should always ask when preparing a proposal

Week 2

Performing Research

• Learn tips and techniques to get the results you want from Internet searches
• Apply the learned techniques to perform your own research
• Select an interesting topic for your final project - writing a proposal

Week 3

Using Visual Elements to Enhance Your Documentation

• What are the basic principles of graphics?
• How can you use graphics to communicate and illustrate complex data?
• Create the following using a step-by-step process:
  • spreadsheet
  • table
  • data sheet
  • chart

Week 4

Developing a Plan

• Analyze a formal proposal
• Define your audience and the purpose of your proposal
• Design the look and feel of your document
• Submit your request for proposal (RFP)

Week 5

Preparing Your Preliminary Proposal

• Develop the following:
  • letter of transmittal
  • table of contents
  • table of illustrations
  • table of charts
  • introduction
  • executive summary
  • conclusion
• Subject your prelimiary proposal to a peer review
• Use the check sheet to ensure all components have been identified for your proposal

Week 6

Submitting Your Final Proposal

• Finalize all parts and sections of your document
• Apply necessary formatting, styles, and templates
• Make final edits from peer review and instructor comments
• Add graphics, pictures, branding, and logos to enhance the presentation
• Submit your final proposal

To register or for more information This on-line registration process is for credit card registrations only. If you wish to be invoiced and pay with a Purchase Order (PO), please fax your registration form and the purchase order to 919.515.7614. If you do not have a registration form, call 919.515.2261 and request a form; however, NCSU employees may use this on-line registration to pay via IDT.
Online	registration
Phone	919.515.2261
Fax*	919.515.7614
E-mail*	ContinuingEducation@ncsu.edu

*Make sure to include your name, address, and what information you are requesting.