28 Jun

Best Technical Writing Training in Lucknow, India

How does technical writing training help boost your career in technical writing in India?

Technical writing is all about presenting complex information in a manner that is structured, articulate and easy to understand. Often considered similar to content writing, technical writing training takes a different approach involving focus on improving analytical skills, communication skills, writing skills, and knowledge of processes as well content authoring tools and platforms.

Since technical writing is a form of technical communication, it comes within the purview of the definition given by the Society for Technical Communication that defines it as any form of communication that demonstrates the following features:

Communicates about technical or specialized topics, such as computer applications, medical procedures, or environmental regulations
Communicates through printed documents or technology, such as web pages, help files, or social media sites
Provides instructions about how to do something, regardless of the task’s technical nature

It is quite clear that technical writing is vastly different from content writing. While the most common example of content writing is a blog which is a digital diary or journal of sorts wherein you can document anything you like; technical writing covers many different genres. User manuals, product descriptions, white papers, data sheets, are a few examples. Content writing blogs serve the purpose when we need to understand what the content is but when it comes to how to use the content – it is technical writing that comes to our aid. For this purpose, technical writers use a variety of tools to author content, such as:

Desktop publishing tools & word processors (Microsoft Office, Adobe Framemaker, InDesign, QuarkXPress, Apple Pages)
Image editing software (Adobe Photoshop)
Screen capture tools
Help authoring tools
Content Management Platforms ( WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Wiki-based tools)

Good verbal communication skills are a prerequisite to becoming a technical writer but what is equally important is the willingness of a person to get into this genre. More than just authoring documentation & identifying the target audience, one needs to constantly follow standard processes and guidelines. From executing & creating content to delivering and deploying outputs and the various forms in which the outputs are delivered, a technical writer must be aware about everything.

As an aspiring technical writer, your responsibilities extend beyond creating written content and this may include producing visual aids (diagrams, images, illustrations, whiteboard animations, etc.) to complement complex information. To convey it in the most clear, concise and effective way possible, it is also important that you possesses analytical reasoning and questioning abilities along with sound knowledge of computers.

However, these skills cannot be acquired in one day. They take time to learn and are developed over a long cycle either through on the job experiences or in a comprehensive training program that can boost the learning as well as the career growth.

At Ascezen Consulting – a Lucknow based Content Writing Services provider, we provide training to the aspiring writers covering all the important aspects of writing, including tools such as Madcap Flare, Adobe Frame Maker, Screen Capture and Project Management tools. Technical Writing training course at Ascezen Consulting, Lucknow, India includes:

Understanding and Concepts Technical Writing
Need and Application of TW
Documentation Development Lifecycle (Traditional Waterfall Model)
Agile Documentation
Templates
Reporting and formats
Pre-requisites
Technical Writing Essentials:
Various types of documentation deliverables and formats
Samples
Style Guides: Why, How?
English Grammar Refresher
Sentence Construction, Punctuation, Subject-Verb Agreement, Articles, Prepositions
Tools Training:
MS Office, Adobe FrameMaker
- Adobe RoboHelp
Screen Capturing tools: Overview and Usage
Indexing
Single-Sourcing
Collaborative Authoring, Cloud-based Tools
Working with Productivity Tools
Professional Grooming: Soft Skills
Conference Call Etiquettes
Interviewing skills
Email Etiquette
Communication Skills

Get in touch with us to know more about our content writing and technical training courses offered at Lucknow, India and how you can scale up your career in content-driven industry.

03 Oct

Technical Writing Tools for Online Help Authoring

Online Help Authoring Tools

Technical writing can be described as simplifying complex information, concepts or procedures so that the users or readers are able to accomplish some goal or task. A technical writer uses a range of technical writing tools and skills to create easily understandable content for the targeted audience. Most technical writing companies in India such as Ascezen Consulting use a variety of documentation or technical writing tools according to a project’s needs or client specifications.

Various technical writing tools are used by technical writers for designing, creating, publishing and maintaining documents, manuals, and files. These tools reduce the effort and time to create documentation files by providing all the essential features and utilities to create, organize, present, and publish understandable content for the users.

Benefits of using Help Authoring Tools

Online help authoring or documentation tools allow technical writers to create the most accurate, complete, and effective help manuals without spending extra time and duplicating effort to generate various output formats such as online help, user manuals or something for handheld devices. Single-sourcing online help authoring tools such as Adobe Robohelp and Madcap Flare can produce online help simultaneously in CHM format, context sensitive webhelp and even offline documentation such as eBooks, printed user manuals and PDFs.

Single sourcing

With the help of single sourcing feature, technical writers only have to create the content just once, without the need to maintain separate copies for all the output formats, thus resulting in saving time and effort. It also prevents rework or updating each output format separately.

Some of the common output formats include:

PDF – It is the most common format used for documents, manuals, and files and shared on the web. It suits well for viewing on the computer or printing the manuals.

CHM – It is based on HTML format and offers various formatting options, embedding of videos, images and hyperlinks.

Web Help – It shares common features with CHM and allows the user to post HTML files to the website. It helps in updating documentation and is effective for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tactics.

WYSIWYG editor

It is an acronym used for “What You See Is What You Get.” It allows the user to see the printed document exactly as how it appears to the end users.

Screen Capture Tools

Screen capture tools such as SnagIT, Madcap Capture, RoboScreenCapture, or Fullshot can be used for collecting and editing screenshots to demonstrate the use of any software or device in the best possible way.

Image & Photo Editing Tools

Simple Image & Photo Editing tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Office Picture Manager or Microsoft Paint can be used to create, edit or post the most appropriate images according to documentation requirement.

Video Creation & Editing Tools

All of us know that videos are becoming one of the most effective ways of learning to do new things. Video Creation & Editing tools such as Adobe Captivate, Madcap Mimic, Camtasia allow the technical writers to create, capture, edit and post user-assistance or learning videos on the web.

Some Popular Technical Writing Tools

Adobe RoboHelp

RoboHelp is one of the leading technical writing tools that are used for developing web-based help such as HTML help, WebHelp and JavaHelp. Apart from being used for webhelp, it is also used for developing simple tutorials and help manuals. It is considered as one of the standard help authoring tools in technical documentation arena.

RoboHelp allows technical writers to import Microsoft Word, Adobe FrameMaker and Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) files and automatically map styles and tables of contents (TOC).

The latest version of RoboHelp allows technical writers to customize headers and footers in printed documentation and create single-click HTML5 publishing with ease. At the same time, they can manage shared resources on the cloud, create online help for mobile apps and help online and offline viewers.

Madcap Flare

MadCap Flare is also very popular among the technical writing tools used to create technical documentation such as user manuals, software documentation, online help and policy & procedure manuals. This online help authoring tool is very useful in creating, publishing and managing content to multiple formats such as print, desktop, online and mobile. It not only makes the documentation efficient, but also reduces processing time and related costs.

The documentation offers control to technical writers in designing technical documentation. They get full Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) support and can use multiple CSS files for a variety of components and mediums.

It supports high-end image graphics and provides various options to create content according to different requirements such as print-ready PDF, web, desktop and mobile.

Since all the files and documentation in a Flare project are in XML format, the software helps in sending the entire project out for translation, instead of just the output.

Summary

With the help of these technical writing tools, technical writers can do wonders with online help and support material. They can turn even the most complex documentation or technology into a simple and comprehensible content with the help of help authoring tools. These tools are very helpful for technical writers to get their creativity and imagination roam freely.

Due to constant advancements in computer technology, more productive help authoring tools are being introduced often, so it is important for writers to get updated at regular intervals.

Ascezen Consulting trains the aspiring technical writers on almost all of the leading technical writing tools used in the industry. Get in touch to know more about the technical writing training course at Ascezen.

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By admin Technical Writing Ascezen Consulting, CHM, documentation tools, Online Help Authoring Tools, PDF, technical writing companies in India, technical writing tools, technical writing training course, WYSIWYG 0 Comments

19 Jun

How Can Technical Writing Training Help Aspiring Technical Writers?

A career in Technical Writing in India took off in last two decades and it became a conscious career choice for job-seekers only in the past 10-12 years. Before that, almost all the technical writers in India found their careers in technical writing, accidentally.

Many aspiring technical writers are not sure why do they need training in technical writing. The common perception among the untrained and inexperienced writers is that all they need is a skill to write well to become good writers. Besides the gifted talent for writing, there are a number of things that need to be acquired through learning and practice. Here’s why they must go through an instructor-led technical writing training program.

The Industry Needs Ready Professionals

Most first-generation technical writers in India are self-trained. They never had the privilege of getting trained by expert technical writers or technical writing trainers. The learning was primarily community-based and slow. Today, the industry knows what it wants from technical writers and the writers need to be on their heels as soon as they are hired for a job. A formally trained technical writer is equipped with all the knacks and tricks of the trade.

There Is A Great Deal To Know Even Within The Niche Profession of Technical Writing

As they say, Technical Writing is a Niche. Yes, it is. But there is whole lot of stuff to be learned before one could claim to be a complete technical writer. There is so much variation in language tone, writing style, presentation for each type of documentation. The complexity does not stop here as there are scores of tools to work with. And you must know about where and how your document will be presented to your audience. It is your responsibility to ensure that your work is accessible to your end-users. An accomplished and experienced technical writing trainer would be certainly able to prepare you for those ‘tech’ challenges in technical writing.

Everyone Wants To Grow Faster

Once you get the “technical writer” tag, you want to keep growing at a steady pace. This growth comes easier if you do not spend more time learning at your job. If you know your trade, you are likelier to be more efficient. In the long run, you will get bigger, better challenges that lead to a natural, smooth career progression.

A Certificate Adds Weight

A technical writing certification will make you stand apart from the frivolous job-seekers who are not focused on technical writing profession. Your certificate will begin with making that distinction for you. Not just that, your interview will most likely be focused on what you learned during the technical writing course, giving you more opportunity to talk about readiness for the job.

To Plan Career Growth, Better

Once you are an accomplished technical writer, you will be able to plan the next moves, better. There are a number of avenues that open up for experienced technical writers. You can decide to continue to be a technical writer throughout the career just for the love of writing or you can move into project management. With a technical writing certificate, you are aware of all the options and you can spot the opportunities of becoming a business analyst, domain expert, or a project manager. Be your own master!

Learn What You Can’t

At your job as a technical writer, you will be asked to perform tasks in accordance with your key responsibility areas or project requirements. In that limited space, you might learn whatever you can but there will be a limitation. You may not even know your options of learning and trying out different skills within the ambit of technical writing. During a technical writing training course, you will get a chance to lay your hands on a variety of tasks that require different skills and knowledge of specific tools or techniques. So, you get to learn even what you may not get to do in a typical technical writing job.

Mentoring And Career Guidance From Trainers and Peers

It always helps to have a mentor during those distressing stages of career when you need that expert advice on a career move or a technical solution. The trainers or the faculty members at the training institution often act as life-long coaches and gurus. The batch-mates during the training usually go on to become good peers as you tend to grow along with them through the career. With a set of professionals to help, you would never be short of bright ideas.

The reasons listed above are sufficient to speak in the favor of choosing to get prepared before you dash into a technical writing job. Ascezen Consulting offers certificate courses in Technical Writing, Creative Writing, E-learning, and Business content writing. Get in touch for details.translate english to italian

By admin Technical Writing, Training Creative Writing, e-learning development course, India, learning, Technical Writing, technical writing course, technical writing training india 0 Comments

28 Nov

Top 5 Reasons Why Should You Invest in a Content Vendor?

Top 5 Reasons Why Should You Invest in a Content Vendor?

In the present business scenario, there are quite a few companies who have a content team or technical publications department in place. They are the ones who understand the value of having content creation or documentation expertise in-house. There are other companies who either don’t have the budget or a permanent need to employ a team of writers and obviously some managers to look after them. Most of such companies rely on freelancers or contractors when they have a content requirement such as refurbishing their website or blog, and may be when a product needs documentation just before shipping it out. Many people would agree that there are challenges in working with freelancers. Here are top five reasons why organizations should seriously consider investing in a specialist content vendor or content service provider.

1. Using A Specialist On The Job Is Always Better

It is always safer to have a specialist do the job. Though it seems anyone with good language skills can produce any kind of content but let’s admit that it is just a myth. Even within the range of content, there is whole lot of variety to be dealt with and there are specialists in handling technical content, business content, web content or something for print media.

Besides, there are some search engine (read google) trends to be followed at a given time, differences in writing styles across geographies and industries. An experienced writing professional would be able to add greater value from all the significant perspectives.

2. An Established Content Services Provider Is More Reliable Than A Freelancer

If a content vendor is a registered company then its reliability quotient is much higher than a freelancer sitting in a remote place, a few continents away. While it is possible for a freelancer to vanish and return with a brand-new profile and persona, it is not so easy for a company that has to create a name for itself and grow its business in the long term.

A content vendor would be more likely to have a business continuity plan and adequate resources to deliver in time even in case of materialization of some risks.

3. A Content Vendor Can Give More Variety Than A Freelancer

A content service provider would be able to provide a great deal of variety in content solutions ranging from website content, blogs, brochures, case studies to user manuals, online help and training videos or e-learning solutions. A team of independent contractors or freelancers may be able to produce all of this but it would be a herculean task to coordinate and get consistent results in quality as well as timelines.

4. A Content Vendor Assumes More Accountability And Shares The Risks

Some organizations, owing to their domain and industry segment, might often be under the threat of facing legal consequences due to copyright or plagiarism issues. It is imperative to review their content for originality before it is published or circulated. Service-level agreements are one of the means of ensuring that the authors take some responsibility but a vendor company is far better risk-sharing partner than an individual. Besides, a content vendor may employ better means to check plagiarism such as a peer-review process or using plagiarism detection tools.

5. A Content Vendor Saves Management And Quality Assurance Costs On Content Production

Managing a team of freelancers also has a cost. More than the cost factor, it is the ability to judge the quality, originality and cost of content production that needs a relatively much experienced professional with content or documentation expertise. A freelance writer is self-managed but a team of contractors would need a manager. A content services provider, on the contrary, would be able to provide an expert supervision and project management at a comparable much lower cost than a full-time manager to manage a need-based engagement with freelancers.

By admin Content Writing, e-learning, Instructional Designing, Technical Writing Content Service Provider, Content Service Vendor, Content Writing Services, plagiarism, Technical Writing Services 0 Comments

22 Nov

Documentation Development in Agile Development Models

Documentation Development in Agile Development Models

In the previous post, we discussed about the integration of Documentation Development Life Cycle (DDLC) with the Waterfall Model of Systems Development. Now that the software engineering is evolving to bring in more speed, efficiency, and tendency to provide quicker insights into the final outcomes, there are newer methodologies gaining popularity. Agile Development is one such approach that talks about having increments of working software developed in some defined time periods to give more clarity and garner confidence of developers and customers alike.

With the change in perspective, documentation development needs to change suit too. Let’s see how does the technical and user documentation get affected while progressing in an Agile fashion. To understand the change solicited by the Agile Development process, let us understand what it demands.

There are many Agile Development models such as Scrum, Extreme Programming, Agile Modeling and so on. For this post, I would consider Scrum model to explain Agile Development process.

The essence of Agile Development lies in more emphasis on collaboration, communication, incremental tangible outcomes, and active customer participation. However, it doesn’t completely ignore the importance and role of processes, documentation, and extensive planning. It puts more focus on what needs to be built rather than aggressively tracking how it is being built. Agile Development is all about being receptive to change and adapting quickly. It also puts more responsibility on team members to communicate, collaborate, give ideas, identify risks, propose solutions, set goals, prioritize tasks, and track the status for one’s work products.

To be precise, the Agile Development models split the main project objective or goal into small and smaller increments that would be developed over a number of time frames such as a week to a month, during the estimated project duration. For every defined cycle, also called a Sprint, each member has to identify his work product or software increment that is complete in a way and can be used.The tasks are identified in a very interesting manner by depicting them as “user stories” wherein a user should be able to use the work product to accomplish something.

Communication and collaboration take the center stage. The team meets before the start of every sprint to plan for it and then once again after they finish the sprint—to review the progress, challenges, risks, identify the lessons learned and the best practices for future. But that’s not all they have for communication and collaboration. They meet on a daily basis in a very short meeting that gives a chance to share about the progress, bottlenecks, and to plan when and where they can get help.

Transparency is the main keyword. All Agile Developments models ensure that all the team members know what the other person is doing. It helps in proper coordination and better planning.

So, the take away for the documentation engineers is:

The technical writers can see the bigger picture right through the beginning as they are included in the sprint planning meetings.

The technical writers get to interact with all team members or any specific member, who could help with the required information. This eases the requirement understanding and requirement gathering challenges.

At every change initiation, they get a chance to discuss the impact on documentation and plan for it in time.

The most important aspect for technical writers is time management and planning the activities that aren’t dependent on work product in any sprint. Some examples of such activities could be preparing templates or stylesheets, and so on. They have to ensure that they schedule such activities either in early sprints where there is more of analysis and design underway or whenever they finish their work product sooner in a sprint.

As for the Documentation Development Life Cycle (DDLC), it shrinks to fit in every single sprint and follows an iterative and incremental approach.

Overall, working in an Agile Development model gives more comfort, support, and visibility to the technical writers and they don’t seem to work out of an island.

By admin Documentation Development Life Cycle, Documentation Process, Documentation Project Management, Project Management, Technical Writing Agile Development, Agile Modeling, DDLC, Documentation Development Life Cycle, Extreme Programming, Scrum, Technical Writing, Technical Writing Process, Waterfall Model 0 Comments

14 Nov

Mapping Documentation Development Life Cycle (DDLC) with SDLC

Software Development Life Cycle is a sequence of phases or logical stages in the course of development of an idea into a software application or a product. It is commonly abbreviated as SDLC. A well-known traditional approach to SDLC is known as Waterfall Model. The Waterfall Model lists the stages in the life cycle as:

Communication (Project Initiation, Requirements Gathering)
Planning (Estimating, Scheduling, Tracking)
Modeling (Analysis, Design)
Construction (Code, Test)
Deployment (Delivery, Support)

For any software application to be developed, the development team isn’t just constituted of software engineers, analysts, and architects. It also requires people to test and document the processes as well as the product. The group that works on creating and maintaining documentation is known as Documentation or Technical Publications group and it is composed of Technical Writers—people who can create Technical and User Documentation.

The Technical Writers also follow a development cycle for creating documentation, which is known as Documentation Development Life Cycle. The Documentation Development Life Cycle (DDLC) maps with the SDLC such that the entire product team works in close coordination to complete the development, adhering to a common project schedule. Modeled on SDLC, the DDLC has somewhat similar stages as that of SDLC. However, the duration of stages varies according to the difference in availability schedule of inputs for various stages. Let us begin with taking a look at the stages in the DDLC.

The DDLC stages, as understood by Technical Writing team at Ascezen, include the following:

Understand Requirements
Design
Develop
Review
Finalize
Publish

The activities to be performed during each of the stages are listed below:

Understand Requirements
- Understand the Product or Application to be developed
- Gain an understanding of the Domain or Subject Matter
- Understand Client Requirements for Documentation
- Study Legacy Documentation and Writing Style Guides used by the Client
- Provide Content Consulting or Evangelism
- Propose Documentation Deliverables and Tools to be used
- Prepare Effort Estimate
- Propose Team Size and Composition
Design
- Prepare Templates and Stylesheets
- Prepare an Outline or the Table of Contents for documents to be created
- Create Content Strategy for Single-sourcing or writing for multiple user roles
- Create a Documentation Project Schedule
Develop
- Gather Information: Read Design Specifications ,Interview Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
- Create Content Drafts
- Create and Insert Graphics
- Format the Content
- Generate Output(s)
Review
- Language Review
- SME or Technical Review
- Client POC’s Review
Finalize
- Incorporate agreed changes after each review
- Finalize the Content
Publish
- Integrate the Documentation with the Product or Application
- Send for final publishing or distribution

Mapping Documentation Development Life Cycle with SDLC

Mapping the Documentation Development Life Cycle (DDLC) with the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) isn’t as straightforward as it seems. Some of the reasons are:

Documentation starts quite late in the SDLC: Most often, the last few to get on board a project are the documentation people. Even if they aren’t, the requirement understanding stage for technical writers is extended till the time they get to read a formal requirement specification document or see a prototype. However, it doesn’t happen like that always as sometimes technical writers get to document the design specifications too.
Documentation can’t finish as soon as the Software Development: It is only when the entire software application is developed that the documentation can be given its final shape. Even after all the content in created, there are activities such as language and SME reviews, creating index entries, generating and testing final outputs. All this may take some time until we can announce the completion.
Trivial Changes in the Application may call for Critical Documentation Updates: Small changes such as change in UI resulting in relocation of a button or field, modification in input type on a form, reorganization or reordering on menu may account for an unexpected volume of change across the documentation. It might also require recapturing and replacing numerous screenshots.

With the above factors, the DDLC may not have all its stages completely go hand-in-hand with the SDLC stages. The Requirement Understanding stage of DDLC goes on till the commencement of Construction or Development phase of SDLC. Typically, there would be a lag in Documentation Finish dates and the DDLC would extend the duration of SDLC, too.

By admin Documentation Development Life Cycle, Documentation Process, Technical Writing DDLC, Documentation Development Life Cycle, documentation project schedule, effort estimation, Information Gathering, Review, Reviewing Documents, SDLC, SME, software development life cycle, Technical Writers, Technical Writing, The Waterfall Model, Understand Requirements 0 Comments

05 Nov

The Potential of Minimalism in Content and Website Design

If you want to develop a mobile version of any website, it will be a good idea to go with a minimalist approach. Quite a few critics cringe at the notion of minimalist design, presuming it will make the overall design and layout boring. The concept is also misinterpreted as black text on a white background devoid of any effects or graphics. However, all these assumptions are very far from the reality. It must be noted that minimalism does not involve dull or uninteresting techniques or features. The main objective of minimalism is to present different elements and features in their primary role, without the need to involve unnecessary frills and distractions. In reality, several usability experts have a view that minimalism will enhance the impact and effectiveness of website designs.

Some Advantages of Minimalism

Most usability experts believe that minimalism will definitely rule the roost in the future. The concept offers several interesting and unique ways to simplify uncomplicated website designs without much effort. Minimalism will enable users to use their smartphones and internet to access most of the web applications without any technical glitches emanating from compatibility issues.
The main functionality of minimalism is to restrict the intended message to its bottom line so as to provide clarity of ideas and expressions. Users may begin to complain as little as possible after being exposed to the powerful results of minimalism.
The concept will certainly find favor with mobile web users. It will enable users to download the content faster.
Users will be able to access the content in different layouts on different platforms with superior quality and increased smoothness.
Smartphone users browse internet on their phones quite frequently and they might easily get irritated if they have to needlessly navigate to many web pages or unrelated information before they get what they are looking for. A minimalist website design can easily eliminate inappropriate clutter of information or webpages.
Minimalism helps in brand building too. It is very important for a brand to stay consistent in order to be remembered for being neat in expressions. By removing clutter that is considered to be perplexing, a brand can definitely stand out in the crowd.

Mobile manufacturing companies can get benefited with the assistance from usability professionals to adopt minimalism in design. Today, mobile devices and components come with smaller bandwidth, slower data internet connectivity and smaller screens. All these technical restrictions can be effortlessly overcome by a unique minimalist design. The technology will unquestionably enhance mobile website designs and other technicalities in the future.

Minimalism in Writing

“The more you say, the less people remember. The fewer the words, the greater the profit.”
– Francois Fenelon

Most popular writers, authors, and poets have believed that brevity is very important to engage one’s audience. There, all we want to say must be said in brief. Let’s find out how some of us tend to get lengthier. Some writers create content using 2^nd person singular tone. It is considered very friendly. Certainly, it results in passive voice, which tends to detach the reader from the action because the sentences become lengthy and boring. This type of writing might confuse the readers as well. Therefore, it is better to create understandable active voice constructions to appeal the readers’ minds.

The current norm is minimalist writing. This type of writing is considered to be straightforward without being lengthy and uninteresting. The overall idea is to include appropriate information needed for the readers – no more, no less. The writer should create the content in a comprehensible, direct active voice.

Minimalism Unchained

Some people have an opinion that minimalist writing includes very few words or sentences. But in reality, minimalist writing is not easy. You need to explain the entire information or concept involving very words or phrases. The idea is to use less words and sentences but they must have a bigger impact on the mind of the readers. You need to question any phrase or word that you are about to use to know whether it is essential to communicate your intended message. You might need to think, review and rewrite to be sure of being brief and complete in communicating.

Some Tips for Minimalist Writing

Keep sentences brief and straightforward.
Infuse coherence in successive sentences to keep the flow.
Consolidate the cluster of short sentences in meaningful paragraphs.
Do not discuss several topics in a single paragraph to avoid confusing the reader.
Ensure that paragraph length is appropriate.
Always prefer active voice.
Use images or pictures to convey a powerful message instead of explaining it endlessly.

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By admin Content Writing, Creative Writing, Minimalism, Technical Communication, Technical Writing Content Writing, Francois Fenelon, Minimalism, Technical Communication, Technical Writing, Technical Writing skills, Writing 0 Comments

28 Jun

Editing versus Writing

All editors are writers but all writers aren’t editors.

I am quite sure most editors will agree with what I said above. Editing is different from writing and it is much more than proof-reading or reviewing. Those who don’t agree with that opinion, may be actually editing the content under the garb of reviewing and it’s time they start calling themselves Editors. With time, experience and bigger responsibilities, writers are poised to assume the role of an editor. It begins with prolonged exposure to a particular genre of writing, subject matter and the writing style followed. Obviously, when you know your content’s context in and out, you become an authority and can visualize the result of the smallest variations in tone and verbiage. With that, comes the attitude required to become an editor. You start looking at “drafts” and start making “edits” to make the copies read better and explain everything precisely and correctly. You begin to identify and remove the excesses. You look at documents from readers’ perspectives. You are the biggest critic.

Let’s try to answer this – How do you plan your editing?
I think you have to be pretty sure about the expected outcome. You try and match the content drafts with your visualization, make edits, rephrase, paraphrase, reorganize to get an edited version. An editor essentially intends to ensure the following:

Correctness of information
Accuracy of language
Logical flow of information
Ability to grab and sustain readers’ attention
Conciseness of content
Adherence to style guidelines

A point of caution for wannabe editors is that you should respect a writer’s style of writing and expression if it doesn’t come in the way of delivering the right quality. All of us know that we can say one thing in so many ways. However, some editors may want to stick only to their style of writing. This can hamper creativity and leave the writers with little motivation to do something new.

On the other hand, writers need to study the edits, make notes, ask questions, and prepare a personal review checklist. Using the checklist would help reduce the number of editorial changes that writers see in their future drafts.

Editing is also Mentoring
Editing is at best a feedback mechanism for writers. It tells them how to put it better and make it pleasure-to-read. When editors explain their edits either by entering descriptive comments within documents or explaining verbally while being respectful, they are bound to influence the writers positively and they are likelier to see rewarding results soon.translation english to french

By admin Business Writing, Content Writing, Creative Writing, Documentation Process, Technical Communication, Technical Writing Editing, Proof-reading, Proofing, Reviewing Documents, Technical Writing, Writing 0 Comments

10 Jun

Who can become a Technical Writer?

An important question for aspiring Technical Writers – What does it take to make a good Technical Writer? The available answers could resemble a job description saying: Mastery in English Language is absolutely mandatory, Expertise in word processing and documentation tools is required, Exposure to HTML, XML and DITA is preferred and so on.

Let us find out who can become a technical writer, in a simpler manner…

The job of technical writer involves donning many roles and therefore it obviously requires a mixed bag of skills. Besides being good at written English, a technical writer has to be a conversationalist, a technology and innovation enthusiast, people-oriented and an end-user advocate.

As a conversationalist, it becomes easier for a technical writer to strike casual conversations with product designers and developers, which is the easiest way to understand the needs that must be catered by the product. On the other side, if the technical writer gets to interact with the customers or end users, the conversation skills might be handy in capturing their expectations. At times, the user documentation starts when the product or application development is mid-way where some screens are ready, some aren’t, while a number of them need to be modified according to change requests. In such scenarios, it is important to communicate with developers, testers, and architects to understand the flow of application and the functionality for various pages.

Being a technology enthusiast helps the technical writers by making them inclined to take interest in the technological advancements, evolution of products driven by the demands of future, and understanding the business logic of seemingly complex products. It pays to be able to understand the business logic, information flow or sequences depicted in flowcharts, data flow diagrams or UML diagrams.

Working in collaboration with people from different backgrounds, functions and with varying skillsets, makes humanity as the most common team bonding factor. A technical writer may do well to reason out with most people, understand and respect their constraints, be assertive yet wear a calm and cheerful demeanor. The writer must be seen as a team player and people- oriented.

Last but the most significant role is that of a user advocate. Whenever we see a change in layout of a portal or an e-commerce website, a lot of it is driven by user behavior or consumer feedback. As end-user advocates, technical writers empathize with the end-users and look at the products from the users’ perspectives. It helps them visualize the user scenarios, the expectations and of course, they might bump into some exceptions. All of this can go back towards product enhancement and continuous improvement initiatives. So, it reaches a point where Technical Writers not only create and develop product documentation but they also act as product evangelists.

If you have the above mentioned traits, you surely qualify for a technical writer job. You can either get in touch to get associated with Ascezen Consulting Pvt. Ltd. as a Technical Writer/Information Developer/Content Writer or get enrolled for a training program that helps to acquire the required skillset.youtube language translator

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18 Apr

Creating an Effective Presentation

Presentations make a powerful medium to share information or sell products and services. Have you ever wondered what makes a PowerPoint presentation effective? Most of us are unsure when asked to make one. What makes a PowerPoint presentation become effective? Is it about the appealing visuals or catchy phrases? Or has it got to do with jazzy animations? Naturally, we end up asking experts for their inputs to reach some conclusions. Honestly, there isn’t a single thumb rule to achieve that but there surely are a few best practices widely acknowledged and accepted. There are certain do’s and don’ts to be followed while making PowerPoint presentations. Some tips to create an effective presentation are as below:

Get hold of the viewer’s attention

This is one of the most important aspects of a presentation. At the beginning of a presentation, one has to attract the attention of their audience. Grabbing their attention does not mean to overcrowd your slides but instead make them look effective. If your presentation is not able to retain the audience’s interest, all your hard work may go waste.

Keep it simple and clear

A good presentation is easy to follow. One must always keep in mind that the content should flow smoothly without confusing the audience. There shouldn’t be conflicting ideas or contradictory statements within a single presentation. The content should use simple, clear words to reach the audience.

Do not overcrowd the slides

Every slide should cover a uniform number of points, for example, limit the number to 5 or 6 points for each slide. Considering the font used, we must keep in mind how many points can be accommodated on each slide to avoid the clutter on the slides. Keep the points short and brief. To make your presentation effective, always filter unnecessary information.

Maintain the word limit

Effective presentations generally deal with the right words, at the right place, in the right tone. We must always take care of the number of words used in each point or sentence. Always try to convey the message effectively in the least number of words possible.

Be careful with images and animations

To make your PowerPoint presentations appear catchy and appealing, always try to use images related with the topics covered. The use of animations should be judicious such that it shouldn’t distract the audience.

Choose right fonts, sizes and colors

The latest versions of Microsoft Office offer a variety of options when it comes to choosing the fonts. An effective presentation should contain font sizes which are legible for a large audience. Avoid using light font colors as it might not be clearly visible to viewers at a distance. Instead, the use of contrasting colors is recommended. Fonts and their sizes should be chosen keeping in mind that they do not appear blurred or pose any difficulty to the audience.

Maintain consistency and flow

It is vital to ensure consistency within and across all the slides to create an efficient presentation. For example, a presentation should have carefully designed slides to mark the beginning, main content and a logical end.

By admin Business Writing, Content Writing, Technical Writing Business Content, effective presentation, Microsoft Office, Microsoft PowerPoint, presentation 0 Comments

21 Mar

What is Technical Writing?

Technical writing is a form of writing that is used in fields such as computer software and hardware, engineering, medical science, finance, consumer electronics and many more.

Technical writing is a branch of communication that provides instructions on how to do something regardless of what the task is, for example, how to operate computer applications, medical procedures or mechanical equipment. The assistance is generally provided through web pages, diagrams, videos, help files, Microsoft Word or text documents. Technical writing involves the creation of support or help documents that can be clearly understood by readers.

Technical writing is performed by writers, who are inclined towards learning new technology and then simplifying it for other people. The technical writers usually begin such work by learning the purpose of the document that they will create, gathering information from existing documentation and from subject-matter experts. Technical writers do not need to be subject matter experts but it surely helps if they become one while working on a domain or suite of products for a long period. A good technical writer needs strong language and communication skills and must understand how to communicate with technology.

Technical writing is generally perceived to be synonymous with online help and user manuals though it is not limited to just that much. It also includes documents product troubleshooting guides, release notes, installation guides, marketing documentation, tutorials, e-learning modules, web content, legal disclaimers, business proposals, and white papers.

The objective of technical writing is to clearly convey the required information to audience in a way that the topic can be understood correctly. Technical writing is a way of analyzing, generating and managing information about various products and technical procedures that need to be explained. For big technical writing projects, a technical writer has to work with user interface designers, software programmers, testers, business analysts, software architects, domain experts, managers, customers, and above all—the end users. But for smaller assignments or in smaller organizations, a technical writer is expected to do the tasks largely by himself. First and foremost thing for a technical writer is to recognize the target audience. Technical writers who know the target audience can advise and execute solutions to the problems that no one else can recognize.

Technical writers must possess the aptitude to comprehend correctly and then be able to clarify it in the best possible manner. A technical writer must have good technical knowledge and good hold over the technical lingo, capability to write in a simple and concise manner with excellent research skills, expertise in various tools such as Microsoft Word, Adobe Robohelp or Framemaker.

Technical writing can be a very useful form of writing and communication for projects, lab reports, standard operating procedures (SOPs), instructions, proposals, and many other forms of professional writing.

For those seeking a career in technical writing, it may prove beneficial to pursue a formal training in technical writing to develop the skills and gain confidence. It can help engineers improve their skills and be able to communicate with individuals, in a better manner, to explain what they have to do, for example, a lot of the work that electrical engineers do is largely based upon technical documents, such as designing audio equipment, which uses many different parts, this could help improve both the ability to understand and write the documents.russian english dictionary

By admin Technical Writing Adobe Robohelp, Microsoft Word, Technical Writer, Technical Writer Skillset, Technical Writing, Technical Writing Training, What is Technical Writing, white papers 0 Comments