Technical Writing

This course teaches you the fundamentals of technical writing. After completing this class, you will know how to do the following:

• Use terminology—including abbreviations and acronyms—consistently.
• Recognize and disambiguate pesky pronouns.
• Distinguish active voice from passive voice.
• Convert passive voice sentences to active voice.
• Develop strategies to make sentences clearer and more engaging.
• Create helpful lists.
• Create effective lead sentences for paragraphs.
• Focus each paragraph on a single topic.
• State key points at the start of each document.
• Determine what your target audience already knows and what your target audience needs to learn.
• Break long topics into appropriate sections.
• Use punctuation (commas, parentheses, colons, em-dashes, and semicolons) properly.
• Choose among several different tactics to write first drafts and additional tactics for writing second and third drafts.
• Use several techniques to detect mistakes in your own writing.
• Organize large documents.
• Introduce a document’s scope and any prerequisites.
• Write clear figure captions.
• Pick the proper information density in technical illustrations.
• Focus the reader’s attention in illustrations.
• Establish context through a “big picture” illustration.
• Revise technical illustrations effectively.
• Identify different documentation types.

Register 21 days before class start date and save 10%! Enter discount code EARLY10 during registration.

Register 21 days before class start date and save $250! Enter discount code EARLY250 during registration.

Is there a discount available for current students?

UMBC students and alumni, as well as students who have previously taken a public training course with UMBC Training Centers are eligible for a 10% discount, capped at $250. Please provide a copy of your UMBC student ID or an unofficial transcript or the name of the UMBC Training Centers course you have completed. Asynchronous courses are excluded from this offer.

What is the cancellation and refund policy?

Student will receive a refund of paid registration fees only if UMBC Training Centers receives a notice of cancellation at least 10 business days prior to the class start date for classes or the exam date for exams.