Improve Your Writing Skills
Ed Weiss Ph.D.
Elements of Winning Proposals
(A 1-day Course)
Who Should Attend
Technical professionals who manage, direct, write, or edit technical proposals especially internal proposals/plans/recommendations.
Need
Technical professionals must be able to write proposals that win acceptance and funding. Yet, this topic is generally lacking from their training. This course explores the components needed in a well-made proposal. The emphasis is on internal proposals, generally small enough to be prepared by one author. The theme of the course is that every page of a well-made proposal must contribute to the sales strategy.
Objectives
Participants will be able to:
Describe and outline the major components in a successful technical proposal
Revise and edit poorly prepared proposal materials
Outline
Objectives and Issues
Ten Requirements for a Winning Technical Proposal
Components in a Full Technical Proposal
The Summary--"Why You?"
The Technical Component--Demonstrating Superior Skills
The Management Component--Demonstrating Character and Competence
Final Project: Proposal Core for a Real Product ....
or Service
Usability Testing for Technical Communicators
(1 day)
The Need
Usability testing is a process in which developers and technical communicators ensure that their products,
system and documentation are as easy to use, as intuitive and reliable, as possible. Usability testing is formal,
an integral part of the production cycle.
Outline
Gain a competitive advantage over less usable competing productss
Ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty
Protect the developer from certain safety and liability issues
Subjects
Defining Usability-Ease of Use, Appropriateness, MTBF
Usability as a Product Differentiator
Usability as a Safety/Liability Issue
Measuring Usability-Observation techniques, field study, content analysis of service problems
Setting up a Usability Laboratory
Writing Usability standards
Testing the Usability of Setup Instructions
Testing the Usability of a Procedural Manual
Testing the Usability of a Reference Manual
Testing the Usability of A User Interface
Testing the Usability of an Online HELP Utility
Issues: Usability testing in the product/production schedule
Preparing English Technical Documents
for International Readers
(and for Translation)
Who Should Attend
Persons who write or edit English-language documents for international readers, or for translation. The primary audience is those who prepare business and technical communications.
The Need
While there are about 400 million people who speak English as their first language, there are about 800 billion who speak it as a second or "foreign" language. This gradual emergence of English as a global language, especially in business and technical communication, has made many English-speakers somewhat complacent about their writing. The result is that too much English-language material is unnecessarily difficult for international readers. Furthermore, the elements that make it hard to read make it harder-less reliable-to translate.
Objectives
The aim of this course is to teach a small set of essential principles. Participants will learn to produce documents that are:
Extremely simple and readable
Free from error-causing vocabulary, idioms, punctuation, and syntax
Free from distracting cultural errors and insensitivity
Adapted to local communication cultures
Outline
The course will be interactive, with about 50% of the time spent on real editing exercises.
1. International English: Standards and Styles
Uncontrolled, natural English is unacceptable for international communication
Uncontrolled natural English is unreliable in translation
English can be an effective lingua franca only if used with sensitivity to the culture
of the audience
2. Strategy 1: Extreme Simplicity and Clarity
Raising the bar for technical precision and understandability to a higher standard
Adopting a Basic, Plain, or Simplified language product
Applying strict readability limits
3. Strategy 2: Eliminating Error-Makers
Vocabulary and idiom
Syntax and punctuation
Measurement conventions
4. Strategy 3: Eliminating Inappropriate Culture-Markers
Culture-charged language
Attitudes toward the reader
Problems of "context" and communication cultures
5. Strategy 4: Local Adaptation
Beyond translation
Alternative models of communication
6. Strategy 5: Replacing Prose
Lists, steps, and tables
Maps, scripts and structured prose
Decision diagrams
7. Final Questions: Issues for the Post-Modern
Technical Communicator
How to Write a Usable User's Manual
Who Should Attend
Anyone responsible for user documentation: manuals, guides, tutorials, training programs.
Novices or experienced technical writers. Persons charged with producing standards for documentation.
The Need
Many users' manuals and operations guides are inaccessible and unreadable. Even the best hardware and software companies distribute publications far below the quality of their products. Sometimes, even very good systems are rendered unworkable or uncompetitive by incomplete or unusable documentation.
Most manuals are written by people with little or no experience in user documentation. Indeed, even professional technical writers are often stumped by the peculiar problems of this medium.
At the same time, there have been great strides in the science of writing and documentation: usability testing, readability research, as well as in the technology and tools available to writers: publishing systems, style- software, hypertext.
Objectives
This course is built on the premise that effective-"usable"-user documentation must be designed and
tested, not just "written". It argues that a guide or manual is a device, and, therefore, that it
must be "engineered" to support the reader.
This course, suitable for both novice and experienced documentors, also explores the new notion
of task-oriented user documentation-the emerging standard for the 90s-and the relationship between
books and "online documentation".
[NOTE: The course syllabus is based on How to Write Usable User Documentation,
by Edmond H. Weiss (Oryx Press 1991)]
Outline
The course will be interactive, with about 50% of the time spent on real editing exercises.
1. The Need: How User Manuals Succeed or Fail
The most common flaws and their consequences
The differences between acceptable and excellent publications
2. Documentation is a System; Manuals Work Like Programs
What makes a system usable?
What makes a manual usable?
How to "engineer"
3. Functions: What User Manuals Do
The four functions
The main Audiences and readers
Aligning manuals with their readers
The concept of User Support Technology
4. A Process for Developing Usable User Documentation
Planning/Analysis/Specification
Assigning the documentation chores
Defining topics and Audiences
Task-analysis as the basis of topics
X-Y readers and the differing needs
Preparing the user support plan
Outline/Design/Alpha Test
Outlining (the conventional way)
Modularizing ("quantizing" the outline)
modules that motivate the reluctant user
modules that orient the novice
modules that guide the competent user
modules for reference and quick-reference
Conducting a storyboard session
Testing the design
Assembling/Writing/Editing/Beta Test
Assembling the draft "to spec"
Editing for clarity and readability
ten ways to write an unclear instruction
replacing prose with diagrams and structured text
software tools for writers
Introduction to Usability Testing
How to Write a Winning Technical Proposal
(Two-day for corporate in-house sessions only)
Who Should Attend
Technical professionals who manage, direct, write, or edit competitive proposals in response to RFPs.
Scope
This course addresses the full range of proposals, with an emphasis on external, competitive proposals in response to RFPs or other tender documents. It presumes that the proposal will involve a group of authors working as a team. The theme of the course is that every page of a well-made proposal must contribute to the sales strategy.
Objectives
Participants will be able to:
Describe/demonstrate the main skills of technical selling
Discuss the elements involved in screening and qualifying prospective proposals
Analyze a tender/RFP
Describe and outline the major components in a technical proposal
Describe and demonstrate the major phases in proposal preparation
Revise and edit poorly prepared proposal materials
Prepare a ''proposal core'' for a real product or service
Adapted to local communication cultures
Outline
Objectives and Concepts
Seminar Objectives: What You Need to Know
The Vocabulary of Proposals: The Glossary of Technical Selling
Conflicting Conceptions of the Proposal
The Proposal Domain: Money Isn't Everything
The Proposal Loop: Marketing versus Merchandising
Features vs. Benefits: The Eight Motivators for Buying …
Win Theory: Without Differentiation, No Sale
Nine Requirements for a Winning Technical Proposal
Project 1: Criteria
The Nine Requirements for a Winning Proposal
Components in a Full Technical Proposal
The Structure of Technical Proposals
Each Component Contributes to the Sale
Front Matter-Engaging the Sponsor
Elements of the Front Matter: Attention & Impression
Summary: Point of Attack and Differentiation
Exhibit: One-Page Summary
The Proposal Theme: Why You?
Project 2: Define the Theme of Your Proposal
Project 3: List the Main Selling Points
The Technical Component-Inevitability and Insight
Structure of the Technical Component: The Inevitable Plan
Elements of the Technical Component: Demonstrating Insight
The Management Component-Character and Competence
Structure of the Management Component: Depth & Control
Elements of the Management Component: Proving Character
The Business/Cost Component-Proving Value
Elements of the Business Component: Establishing Value …
Pricing Strategies: Finding the Winning Price
Justifications for High Cost: What the Customer is Paying For
The Financial Timeline: Making Prices More Attractive
The Proposal Process
The Proposal Process Overview: Work Breakdown
Customer Intelligence: The RFP is Never Enough
Lead Screening: To Win, You Must Pick Winners
Project 4: Evaluate a Lead
Analyzing the RFP: Directives, Criteria, Clues
Bidders Conferences: Casing the Competition
Developing the Proposal Core/Directive: Marching Orders
Outlining and Storyboarding: Building a Model …
Topical Outlines versus Substantive Outlines
Exhibit: Topical Outlines vs. Substantive
Project 5: Write Some Substantive Headings
The Modular Proposal: A Series of Thematic Essays
"Chunking": Substantive Headings into Modular headings
Project 6: Write Some Modular Headings
Project 7: Write Part of a Proposal Core
Preparing a Module Spec
Exhibit; Thematic Table of Contents
Project 8: Write a Module Spec
Editing Drafts: Eight Barriers to Clarity
Project 9: Editing Sentences for Clarity & Impact
Use Style-Checking Software
Designing Accessible Pages
Exhibit: Inaccessible Page
Exhibit: Accessible Page
Designing Readable CVs
Red Team Evaluations: Combat-Testing the Proposal
Endgame: It's Not Nearly Over Yet
The Proposal Organization
Alternative Ways to Set-up a Proposal Organization
Files and Data Bases
Contents of the Corporate Proposal Manual
Closing Thoughts
Project 10: Planning Next Steps
Final Checklist
Elements of Winning Proposals
(A 1-day Course)
Who Should Attend
Technical professionals who manage, direct, write, or edit technical proposals especially internal proposals/plans/recommendations.
Need
Technical professionals must be able to write proposals that win acceptance and funding. Yet, this topic is generally lacking from their training. This course explores the components needed in a well-made proposal. The emphasis is on internal proposals, generally small enough to be prepared by one author. The theme of the course is that every page of a well-made proposal must contribute to the sales strategy.
Objectives
Participants will be able to:
Describe and outline the major components in a successful technical proposal
Revise and edit poorly prepared proposal materials
Outline
Objectives and Issues
Ten Requirements for a Winning Technical Proposal
Components in a Full Technical Proposal
The Summary--"Why You?"
The Technical Component--Demonstrating Superior Skills
The Management Component--Demonstrating Character and Competence
Final Project: Proposal Core for a Real Product ....
or Service
Edmond H. Weiss, Ph.D.
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Edmond H. Weiss, Ph.D., is president of Edmond Weiss Consulting and Associate Professor of Communications at Fordham University's Graduate School of Business Administration. At Fordham, Weiss teaches courses in management communication, marketing communication, international business communication, and knowledge management.
For twenty-five years, Weiss has been president of Edmond Weiss Consulting, a firm that specializes in solving scientific, technical, and management communications problems. Weiss has developed documentation guidelines and corporate communication policies for such firms as:
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Northern Telecom
NCR
OKIDATA
Digital Equipment Corporation.
He has designed training and systems for IT professionals in such firms as:
Deutsche Bank
United Bank of Switzerland
Bell Northern Research
ADP
He has developed technical writing programs for:
Merck, Inc.
Hay International
Elbit Systems (Israel)
Microsoft
Weiss is a Fellow of the Society for Technical Communication and winner of the ACM Rigo Award for contributions to software documentation. He is one of only five people to receive both honors.
Weiss is the author of How to Write Usable User Documentation (Oryx Press 1991) as well as scores of other books and articles.
Other publications include:
"Usability: Stereotypes & Traps", in E. Barrett (ed), Text Context and Hypertext, MIT Press, 1988
"Taking Your Presentation Abroad", Intercom (The Magazine of the Society for Technical Communication), May 1999
"From Talmud Folios to Web Sites: Hot Pages, Cool Pages, and the Information Plenum",
IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, June 1998
"The Perils of Presentation Software", Today's Engineer, Fall 1998
"Twenty-Five Tactics to 'Internationalize' Your English", Intercom (The Magazine of the Society for Technical Communication),
May 1998
"Technical Communication across Cultures: Five Philosophical Questions", Journal of Business and Technical Communication,
April 1998
"Why Your Last Technical Proposal Failed", Intercom (The Magazine of the Society for Technical Communication),
January 1998
"'Professional Communication' and the 'Odor of Mendacity': The Persistent Suspicion that Skillful Writing is Successful Lying",
IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, Sept. 1995, pp. 169-175
"The Technical Communicator and ISO 9000", Technical Communication, Spring 1993, pp. 234-238
"Of Document Databases, SGML, and Rhetorical Neutrality", IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 36,
2 June 1993, pp. 58-61
"How to Write Usable User Documentation", by Edmond H. Weiss (Oryx Press 1991)
"100 Writing Remedies: Practical Exercises for Technical Writers", (Oryx Press 1990)
Satisfied Clients
The list of our satisfied Israel-based clients includes:
Amdocs
Applied Materials
Avaya (Lucent Technologies)
BIS Advanced Software Systems
BMC Software · BOS Better Online Systems
Computer Associates
Comverse Infsys
CreoScitex
ECI
Elbit
ELOP
Emblaze Systems
Frontline PCB Solutions
M-Systems
Machon Lev
Motorola
NDS
Nice
Oridion Medical
PassCall Advanced Technologies
Rafael
Real Time Image
The Text Store
Vocaltec
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