Summary: Tech Trainers and Tech Writers

[Robert Heath <rddheath -at- YAHOO -dot- COM>]

Hello,

Thank you to everyone who has replied so far to my original post, in
which I asked for a comparison of tech training to tech writing and
for advice on writing insructional materials. Here is a summary of the
responses:

Susan Gallagher wrote that "nothing
sharpens your instruction-writing abilities faster than taking what
you wrote into the classroom and watching 12 to 15 people struggle
over your wording!" She also suggested I compile a reading list for
educating myself more about the field.

Kristen Beer suggested joining the American Society for Training and
Development, which can be found online at http://www.astd.org.

Tanya Jessup recommended building a portfolio of writing samples to
complement my teaching experience, and even taking a tech writing
class.

Martha Davidson lamented the poor state of much that passes for
training materials, saying that "they reflect a distinct lack of
appreciation of the written word, and, in come cases, a lack of
awareness
of the principles of typography in the way the materials are presented
on the page." She also wrote that writing instructional materials
helps one to learn many of the same principles that are used in the
writing of documentation.

Bill Swallow wrote that "tech
instruction goes through everything step by step very reassuringly,
answering the question 'how do I do my job?'" Students want to know
how to increase their productivity, not how to use every single
feature in a software application.

Marie Paretti wrote that she "develop[s] a
training course first as a way of familiarizing myself with the
product, then write[s] the manual, then revise[s] the training!",
finding that "doing both makes me better at each because I work
directly with the user on a regular basis."

Thanks again to everybody. I have learned that tech training is really
not too different from writing, and that being a trainer can be
excellent preparation for being a writer.

Now I'm better prepared to decide whether to accept the job or not.

Cheers,
Robert Heath
rddheath -at- yahoo -dot- com

_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com


 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=