Technical Writing Seminar in 2023: A Complete Guide

We all are surrounded by technology and we humans cannot live without it. From a computer to high-tech robots to chemical industries, every field has its own technology and usage. Various scientists and engineers are involved in these technological advancements and every day we get new updates in technical areas.

These technological processes are very difficult to read and understand by common people and the fact is that scientists and engineers actually work for common people- the end-users. To make this task easy, technical writers come into the picture. They make the life of a common person easy by writing the complex technological processes into easy, graspable information.

In this article, we will try to understand technical writing, what a technical writer does, and some of India’s best technical writing seminars or courses available in the markets.

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Must read- A Guide on Technical Writing and Technical Writing Courses

So let us begin with the basic question- What is Technical Writing?

What is Technical Writing?

Technical writing is drafting or writing technical information which is used in technical fields. These fields can be engineering, robotics, finance, computer hardware, IT, and biotech. It is a sub-field of technical communication. It is performed by a technical writer or a technical author who writes it in a professional format.

Technical writing is all-encompassing of all technical-related documentation and processes. Reports, briefs, and executive summary statements are things that are covered under technical writing.

Check out: A Comprehensive Guide to Technical Report Writing Skills

What does a Technical writer do?

A technical writer drafts and writes technical reports, policies, press releases in well-defined formats. The main task of a technical writer is to convert complex and technically difficult written material into a simple, understandable document.

As a technical writer, you can use a variety of media to showcase your work like electronic media, print, and audiovisuals. In other words, a technical writer can be called an information communicator who uses his technical writing and knowledge to create technical assessments, training guides, and manuals.

You may be interested to know about Top Technical Writing Courses in India

The following tasks are to be managed by a Technical writer:

• Deep thinking, framing, and producing professional documentation which is free of errors and can be used for a different range of users.
• Research and evaluate to clearly communicate any complex technical information
• Knowing the targeted audience incongruent with the project necessities and planning content framework, its design, and tone.
• Proper use of charts, infographics to convert complex data into easy-to-grasp information to increase readability.

How to become a technical writer?

To become a technical writer, you must develop excellent skills in research and analysis, designing the formats, and written communications. There are certain steps to follow.

1. Education

The students must have graduated. You can go with Engineering, IT or medical field. As we know, to write some technical document, we must have a basic knowledge of the background. Completing your graduations will help you to write better content.

2. Certification

After completing graduation, you should opt for a technical writing certification. In India, there are many online courses available which we will mention below. These certification courses or seminars are of short duration type and fees also vary according to the institutes. If you are in the medical field, you can go to American Medical Writer’ Association (AMWA). Medical students will find it good for their careers.

3. Portfolio

Once you are done with certifications, now it is time for portfolio buildup. Start taking small projects. Do not go after money in the learning phase. Try to complete as many assignments as possible to make a better portfolio. It will help you to build habits and a portfolio as well. You can link back to these assignments as a future reference.

4. Network

Whether it is about a new job or technical writing, networking is very important. Start building your network in technical writing by joining groups on social media. Try to answer questions on Quora. While building networks, try to make contacts and find more projects to complete. Initially, this will may take time, but after few months, you will see results.

5. Industry Knowledge

Try to get updates on your industry. Stay connected with new developments and resources. If possible, join professional associations and groups which will help to get updates, new information, and tools.

We have listed some of the best technical writing seminars or courses in India. Students can choose at their convenience.

Top 6 Technical Writing Courses in India

1.      IIM Skills

IIM skills are among the top institutes in India. Whether you are just starting or want to hone your skills as an expert, IIM Skills is the right choice for you.

The best part is that it has an online course that has its benefits to sit home and learn while taking your favorite snacks. The course is designed with industry experts keeping the updated curriculum. The students will get to know about the tools which will help them in their technical writing. Tools like MS Project, Scribus, Git, and MS Visio will be covered under the course.

One more thing that makes IIM Skills stand out when we talk about the technical writing seminar or course is that they provide a lifetime learning system. They have Learning Management System (LMS) where you can get the recordings for a lifetime.

The students will not only learn from industry leaders but also get international certification. Apart from this, IIM skills provide placement assistance to the students.

The course overview is as follows:

1. There will be an introduction to Technical Writing
2. You will learn writing manner
3. Content Conception
4. Know about White Papers and Journals
5. Document Development Life Cycle (DDLC)
6. Discourse Writing, Proofreading, and Publishing
7. Datasheets and user guides
8. API Documentation and Case Studies

Some more courses

Online SEO Course

GST Course

Content Writing Course

Digital Marketing Course

2.      Udemy

We have placed Udemy in position 2^nd for Technical Writing Seminar or courses as it is one of the best online course providers in India. Udemy provides courses for Technical Writing for every level. Whether you have just started as an expert, you can get the technical writing seminar or courses on Udemy.

Technical writing is industry-specific. You can technical writers for engineering, medical, and IT. Whatever the field maybe, you can get the course on Udemy with affordable pricing. Students can get API Technical writing, Business technical writing on Udemy. The course duration varies from 1 hour to 5.5 hours.

The students will learn about the following concepts of technical writing:

1. Different technical writing techniques
2. Various document template creation
3. Planning of documentation
4. Different table formats
5. Various Components of a technical document, usage of various graphics and flowcharts.
6. Various trends in technical writing and much more.

3.      K Buffer

K buffer provides both online and offline courses for technical writing. For the online course, they have an “Online technical writer course” and for the offline, they have a “Job-Oriented technical writing course”

Let’s talk about both the courses separately:

• Online Technical Writer Course

It is a self-paced course in which you learn by yourself with the study material provided to you. The students become experts with the syllabus which includes various lessons, assignments, projects, reading recommendations, and finally certification.

This course contains:

1. Introduction to Technical Writing
2. MS Word publishing concepts
3. Mechanics of Writing
4. Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
5. Document Development Life Cycle (DDLC)
6. MSTP
7. Capability Maturity Model (CMM)
8. How to write different types of technical documents which includes software requirement specification (SRS) and White paper

Students will have to do assignments and at last, they get certifications.

• Job Oriented Technical Writing Course

If you are an experienced technical writer and you want to upgrade your skill, then you should consider this course.  This course is for mid-level, senior technical writers, instructional designers, freelancers, and engineering graduates.

The duration of the course is 60 hours spread over 3 months.

The overview of the course includes:

1. Introduction to Technical writing
2. Types of Technical Writing
3. Concepts of Printing and Publishing
4. Concepts of Publishing in MS Word
5. Document Development Life Cycle (DDLC)
6. Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
7. MSTP
8. Capability Maturity Model (CMM)
9. How to write different types of technical documents which includes software requirements specification (SRS), business proposal (BP), user guides, white paper, and case study
10. DITA- Theory and Practice
11. Structured Authoring and XML

In addition to the above, the students will learn about the software used for technical writing. Tools like Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe RoboHelp, Captivating, Photoshop, and InDesign will be taught. In simple words, you will have better skills in technical writing after completing the course.

4.      Information Developers Foundation

To empower people, to become better information developers, Information Developers Foundation is founded by Mr. Rahul Karn in 2009. The technical writing seminar or course provided is divided into 15 sessions. The students have to complete all the sessions and in the end, they get certifications after completing the assessment task.

The course is well designed for anyone with basic computer knowledge and understanding of the English language. Students who want to upgrade their skills can also join the course.

The course overview contains:

1. Introduction to IT Industry
2. What are the roles and responsibilities of Technical Writer
3. Career Path and Principles
4. Document Development Life Cycle (DDLC)
5. Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
6. Essentials of Technical Communications
7. Use of Grammar for Technical Writers
8. User manuals, troubleshooting, and installation guides components if technical writing
9. Use of SnagIt and Jing for screen capturing
10. Content Development Process
11. Using tools such as MadCap Flare, Adobe RoboHelp, FrameMaker, etc.
12. Introduction to DITA and API documentation

That’s not all!! To make you industry-ready they will provide business communication skills like email etiquette and meeting documents. Scrum training, freelancing, resume writing, and interview tips are some cherries on the top.

If you are still in doubt to join this course. Do not worry. InfoDev provides trial classes before actual enrolment. If you are convinced by the trial class, just enroll in their course and then if not, just keep reading for a better option.

5.      Coursera

When it comes to online courses, Coursera is among the top choices. Coursera provides a variety of online courses in different areas. Technical Writing is among them also. This technical writing course is provided by the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.

The course is divided into four modules and the duration of the course is approximately 19 hours. There will be a test at every end of the module to self-assess yourself. After the completion of the modules, the students will get certificates.

The overview of the course contains:

1. Various measures of excellence in technical documents
2. Content Approach
3. Three types of Knowledge for technical writing
4. Knowing your audience and purpose
5. What is Collaborative Writing
6. How to write for multiple audiences
7. Various Graphical Tools
8. Technical definitions and report writing
9. Know about academic and workplace research
10. Technical Documentation
11. The primary tool for information exploration- The web of science
12. Examples of information search

Coursera provides good quality course material and is trusted by thousands of people around the globe. Technical writing seminar or course under Coursera is also a good option to follow.

6.      Henry Harvin

Whenever it comes to online education and training, you will hear the name of Henry Harvin frequently. It is one of the leading organizations which provides education in the field of content writing, skill development, and various certification courses to boost your career. Henry Harvin also provides a technical writing seminar or course.

They have both online and classroom learning programs and have coverage from India to international countries. The duration of the course is 16 hours of live online classroom sessions. 24 hours of online brush-up and 50 hours of e-learning access. The students will also get 1-year gold membership in which you will get alumni status, access to e-learning, various brush-up sessions and job opportunities, and internships.

Post-completion of course, students will have:

• better technical skills
• knowledge of ethics in scientific communication
• able to do comprehensive research proposals
• knowledge of different types of literature review
• skill to write technical content understandable to laymen
• practical exposure to various tools

Brief of Course curriculum of Technical Writing Seminar/Course under Henry Harvin is:

1. Introduction to Technical Writing
2. Documentation Process
3. Various Technical Writing process
4. Grammar and editing
5. Various tools for technical writing
6. Different components of a technical document
7. Various technical writing techniques
8. Designing technical writing template
9. Formats of technical documents

But wait! The students will get two complementary modules. The first module will consist of soft skills development and the other will consist of resume writing.

Final Words

As technology is growing, skilled technical writers are in demand. Technical writing is not a game of just one month. It requires a lot of practice, patience, and hard work. But once you are familiar with formats and the right tools, you will be at a different level in your career. Therefore choosing the right institute is very important. Utilize the above information to choose the course which suits you the best.

Hope you got some relevant information from our article technical writing seminar or courses. Please let us know about any new course you know for technical writing.

All the best.