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Re: How do I teach manual writing in a four-hour seminar?
Subject:Re: How do I teach manual writing in a four-hour seminar? From:"Tim Altom" <taltom -at- simplywritten -dot- com> To:"TechDoc List" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 4 Jul 2000 15:52:08 -0500
Yes, it's just possible to do. However, your audience must be eager,
properly prepared with some background in writing, and you must have a
single, straightforward methodology to teach. If there is any resistance, if
the students drag their feet or have problems, or if the methodology isn't
honed, then you're out of luck.
We teach our Clustar Method to students in about six to seven hours of class
time, but our students are generally tech writers who have to be cajoled and
convinced of many things. We could probably ram the fundamentals into four
hours, given the good conditions I've outlined above. We've presented at STC
conferences, for example, in which the fundamentals are rapidly outlined
within two hours, but it's a push and we assume a lot on the part of the
audience.
In our formal classes, we also generally have the student for an additional
six to seven hours of workshop time, in which the principles are applied,
something you won't have in your seminar. The difference is that the pro has
to be given good background to form judgements, while a "seminar-graduate"
would not need to make so many judgments, but simply write to the formula.
Tim Altom
Simply Written, Inc.
Featuring FrameMaker and the Clustar(TM) System
"Better communication is a service to mankind."
317.562.9298
Check our Web site for the upcoming Clustar class info http://www.simplywritten.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Peter Shea (USF) <pshea2 -at- luna -dot- cas -dot- usf -dot- edu>
To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 04, 2000 2:55 PM
Subject: How do I teach manual writing in a four-hour seminar?
> I've recently begun my hand at consulting after teaching writing for a
> number of years. One problem I'm faced with is this: Many organizations
> will want me to teach their staff how to write manuals (which I've done
> in multi-session classes). But for the one-day seminar that many
> businesses want, how do I compress the steps into a short period while
> doing justice to the process? Is it even possible?
>
