Skills required for a technical writing
What are the skills needed to become a Technical writer?¶
Every profession needs interpersonal as well as technical skills. Technical writing is a profession where maximum weightage is given to interpersonal skills because if a person is ready to learn, authoring related skills can be developed or learnt. Following are the basic interpersonal skills a technical writer should possess:-
Writing Skills¶
The Technical writer should possess good writing skills with impeccable grammar knowledge. After research and study, the TW should be able to transfer that knowledge in a consumable format. They should be able to communicate, raise and solve users issues by writing a document. TW should write in a clear, concise and simple manner. The writing should not contain any grammatical or technical errors. The document produced should serves the purpose it is intended. There is no scope of misunderstanding in the document. In order to write useful and relevant content, technical writer is advised to conduct audience analysis before pinning down words so that they can write better.
Basically finding the purpose of using a document will define the structure of sentences, knowledge depth requirement, and the format TW need to use it.
Technology Savvy¶
A technical writer should be technology savvy. TW should be curious and ready to learn new technologies. Being savvy will help them grasp the concepts and learn effectively. TW should be able to understand the business needs and provide user satisfaction. TW is a field of continuous learning, so TW should be flexible enough to change and adapt according to the requirement in the industry. They should enjoy learning, writing, and teaching.
Communication Skills¶
The Technical writer should be good at communication. The TW has to work collaboratively with Subject Matter Experts, Tech Professionals, and non-technical users. So, they should be able to communicate with everyone and get the knowledge they want efficiently. They should not hesitate to ask questions. The TW is a blend of a detective and a teacher in an industry. They should understand what, how and why of a product and, transfer that knowledge in an easy and simplified way.
Active Listening Skills¶
The TW should be a good listener, understands what is being said without getting judgmental, clarify things if not understood well, remembers what has been said, and respond in context to the verbal as well as nonverbal cues of the speaker. Be very patient, and neutral to the feedbacks.
If the TW has good active listening skills, they will be able to create better documents for their user since they know the pain and understands them very well. They are able to identify the problem user faces because of proper listening and asking the right question and addressing them later in the document.
Common Sense¶
Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.
- - Gertrude Stein
Every profession needs common sense, so does the technical writer. A TW has to deal with many kinds of people involving feedback from them. Hence, taking it objectively and accepting it is a must skill in an industry which feedback to consider and not. The technical writer needs to remain calm and neutral to the feedback. They should not take it personally because the only aim for them is to help their user in achieving their task. The TW should formalize their expectations with well-conceived goals and objectives so that others can understand and buy into them. Clear goals reflect clear thinking and clear expression.
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