With our world becoming increasingly reliant on technology, technical writing has become ubiquitous. However technical writers are indispensable to efficiently introduce these new technologies to the general public in simple language. Technical writing as a career is booming, with numerous opportunities for both freelance and full-time technical writers. To make the most of these times, you should upskill to meet the industry standards. To save you time, we have come up with a curated list of the top seven technical writing courses in New Zealand.

What is Technical Writing?

The Society of Technical Communication describes technical communication as communication on technical or specialized matters. It is usually in the form of instructions to perform a technical task through a technological medium. The biggest subdivision of technical communication is technical writing.

Any writing of complicated technical processes comes under technical writing. These may include reports, press releases, memos, business proposals, product descriptions, datasheets, specifications, white papers, etc. To be more precise technical writing is no longer limited to long user manuals.

Today a wide range of fields use this form of writing: Consumer electronics, engineering, aeronautics, finance, medicine, and law, to name a few. Technical writing serves the purpose of helping a target audience understand complex information with ease. Relevant, valuable, and correct information explained in clear and concise language helps the target audience follow a set of instructions to attain a particular goal.

These goals may be as varied as operating industrial equipment, using a software application, or coaching a sports team. Thus, technical writing is inevitable in any activities demanding diligence and skill.

Technical writing helps businesses enhance the usability of their products and services. However, the audience of technical writing is not always general consumers. Companies and organizations use this form of writing to explain internal workings, policies, and transactions with other organizations.

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Types of Technical Writing:

Technical writing has become a commonplace genre. We come across different technical documents at various steps of our life and career. Technical writing has many niches. However, we will discuss some most common types below:

1. Scientific paper:

A scientific paper is an article presenting the original work of scientific research or study by an individual or a group. Scientific journals usually publish scientific papers.

2. User manuals:

User manuals or user guides intend to assist customers in using a product with a written guide and linked images. User manuals are available in both hard and soft copies.

3. White papers:

White papers are authoritative documents usually combining expertise and thorough research in a particular topic to inform readers and to present a solution to a problem with the help of factual evidence. Usually, a company publishes a whitepaper. However, white papers do not involve product endorsement.

4. Press release:

A press release is an official statement by PR professionals to provide information to media persons. These are usually in the form of brief and compelling news stories.

5. Promotional brochure:

Promotional brochures are promotional documents introducing a company or an organization and its products and services to likely customers.

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Technical Writing Courses in New Zealand:

1. IIM SKILLS

IIM Skills is a leading institute in India, offering training programs in in-demand skills to meet the workforce requirements worldwide. Industry experts prepare the curriculum and lead the online live sessions for the career-oriented and industry-relevant courses.

The professional courses at IIM Skills are suitable for people with diverse lifestyles and schedules as students, entrepreneurs, work-from-home professionals, homemakers, and new job seekers.

IIM Skills offers one of the best technical writing courses in New Zealand and elsewhere. The course details of the technical writing course are as follows:

• • Course: Master Technical Writing Course
  • Duration: 5 weeks and guaranteed internship for a month
  • Fee: $ 283.90 + tax

Syllabus:

1. 1. Introduction
   2. How to Write
   3. Creating Your Content
   4. Technical Reports
   5. White Papers or Journals
   6. DDLC and Versioning
   7. Conversational Writing
   8. Rewriting and Publishing
   9. API Documentation using XML
   10. Data Sheets, User Manuals & Application Notes
   11. Effective Writing
   12. Medical Writing
   13. Case Study

The technical writing course by IIM Skills is suitable for content writers, marketing executives, technical documentation engineers, configuration and control engineers, design or development engineers, hardware engineers, software engineers, and technical writers.

The prerequisites for the technical writing course include a degree in any discipline, basic computer knowledge, and excellent language and communication skills. Technical Writing Master Course introduces you to the best software tools for technical writing such as MS Visio, MS Project, Git, Scribus, Canva, etc.

The training program will teach you to conduct audience analysis and write a compelling and concise document. It introduces you to the different forms of technical communication.

You also learn to select the most appropriate one for a piece of technical information. As a part of the course program, you study to explain technical concepts in simple terms for an average person’s comprehension.

After completing the course program, your technical writing becomes refined, visually appealing, and audience-oriented. You also adhere to the best practices in formatting and documentation to avoid pitfalls.

Live interactive online sessions, flexible schedules, round-the-clock access to the LMS, and a shareable Master certification are salient features of the course program. The course also comes with dedicated placement assistance and internship opportunities, thus becoming one of the best professional technical writing courses in New Zealand.

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2. Auldhouse

Auldhouse is a leading provider of IT training courses in New Zealand. They offer customized training programs that are flexible and cost-effective. Here, the instructors are industry experts knowledgeable about applications, frameworks, methodologies, and emerging technologies.

Auldhouse is an award-winning learning partner of Microsoft and a Partner of Choice of Google, AWS, Cisco, Citrix, ITIL, Red Hat, VMware, CompTIA, etc.

The institute issues standardized and well-recognized industry certifications to students who complete training programs. Auldhouse offers one of the technical writing courses in New Zealand that is a perfect blend of theory and practice. The course details are as follows:

• • Course: Technical Writing
  • Duration: Two days
  • Fee: $1,390.00 excl GST

Syllabus:

1. 1. Getting Started
   2. Structure and Style
   3. Grammar
   4. Writing for the Web
   5. Short Document Techniques
   6. Long Document Techniques

The course program will teach you to form and use a technical brief with the target audience profile, success criteria, and scope of the technical document. It helps you create identifiable branding through content, formatting, structure, and heading, which are consistent in style.

You will also learn to identify the level of grammatical correctness in the technical document. The technical writing program by Auldhouse teaches you the disparities between writing for the web and writing for print.

You learn to make the website content fascinating and navigable for scanning. As a part of the program, you also study to apply technical writing methods to long documents and short documents. The training program has no prerequisites making it one of the best technical writing courses in New Zealand for all, irrespective of educational background.

3. Tactics

The tactic is a chief provider of performance support services in regions like New Zealand, Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. The institute, which began as an independent consulting business, now has a team of specialists with international experience in documentation and training.

Tactics provides training in Process mapping, business writing, technical writing, email writing, and structured writing, among other customized training courses. The following are the course details of the technical writing training program by Tactics:

• • Course: Technical writing
  • Duration: Two days
  • Fee: $1,495 + GST per person

The topics that the course program covers are:

1. 1. Analyzing and planning
   2. Effective writing principles
   3. Organizing content
   4. Presenting content
   5. Editing and testing
   6. Speeding up your writing
   7. Case study

Technical Writing by Tactics is for those who create or maintain a vast amount of written information like user guides, manuals, standard operating procedures, knowledge bases, or training materials. As a part of the program, you will learn structured authoring principles and various tools and techniques.

The topics discussed in the program are analyzing and planning, efficient writing principles, organizing content, presenting content, editing, and testing, speeding up the writing process, etc.

There is also a case study to help you apply your knowledge in this technical writing certification in New Zealand. The program has in-house and customized training. International students can also opt for online training via Zoom.

The various modes of training, course materials, expert instructors, and the course completion certificate make Technical Writing by Tactics one of the best technical writing courses in New Zealand for professionals and students.

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4. Knowles Training Institute

Knowles Training Institute New Zealand is a distinguished training & development solution. The institute offers contextualized and tailored courses to meet the requirements of its clients. They take a step-by-step approach to their training programs.

Industry experts created the courses at Knowles Training Institute, which you can learn, both offline and online mode. They also guide the learners through the course programs, which incorporate a quantitative method to help learners assess their knowledge.

Knowles Training Institute provides one of the best technical writing courses for writers, journalists, editors, and any job sphere that requires technical writing. The following are the course details:

• • Course: Technical Writing Course in New Zealand
  • Duration: One day
  • Fee: Not available

Syllabus:

1. 1. What is technical writing?
   2. Who is a technical writer?
   3. What do technical writers do?
   4. The benefits of technical writing
   5. Top 10 Myths About Technical Writing
   6. Various types of Technical Writing Documents
   7. What is within the genre of technical writing?
   8. Using technical writing to improve business knowledge
   9. Consuming technical writing to create more
   10. Practicing technical writing
   11. Descriptions versus Instructions
   12. Deciding what counts as good technical content
   13. Identifying matters in the media to write on
   14. The Three “Knows” of Technical Writing
   15. Characteristics of Technical Writing
   16. Measures of Excellence in Technical Documents
   17. The Content Approach
   18. Acquiring the Three Types of Knowledge
   19. Understanding Audience and Purpose
   20. Collaborative Technical Writing
   21. Writing for Multiple Audiences
   22. Academic and Workplace Research
   23. Conducting Secondary Research
   24. Primary Research
   25. Focus on Process
   26. Laboratory Report
   27. Feasibility, recommendation, and evaluation reports
   28. Checklist for the technical report
   29. Style of Technical Writing
   30. Audience analysis
   31. Planning techniques
   32. Layout & Structure
   33. Signposting to support your reader
   34. This means for presenting complicated ideas & concepts simply & clearly
   35. Presenting numbers, charts, and graphics.
   36. Highlighting benefits
   37. Appropriate use of jargon
   38. Advanced technical writing techniques
   39. Editing & improving readability
   40. The career path of a technical writer

Each participant of the Technical Writing Course in New Zealand will receive learner’s guides, handouts, and PowerPoint slides. You can also opt to do the technical writing course online.

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5. CherryLeaf

Cherryleaf is a technical writing agency combining communication skills and technical knowledge. Their clients include project managers, policy managers, developers, hiring managers, professional technical communicators, and people beginning a career in technical writing.

The Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators, a competent body for technical communicators in the UK, has accredited Cherryleaf’s Technical writing course content.

Other organizations like the Technical Communicators Association of New Zealand and the Australian Society for Technical Communication have also recommended the training program to their members. The following are the course details of this much-appreciated technical writing course:

• • Course: Technical Author/Technical Writer/technical writing training course
  • Duration: Not Available
  • Fee: $ 448.45

Syllabus:

1. 1. The purpose of technical documentation
   2. The different models for technical documentation
   3. What is a Technical Author/Technical Writer?
   4. Adopting a user-centered design approach
   5. Overview of the writing process
   6. Planning your content
   7. Researching the product and audience
   8. The Information Design stage
   9. Software tools
   10. Overview
   11. How to write & present different types of information
   12. Using images & videos
   13. Index, Search, & Metadata
   14. Hyperlinking
   15. Reviewing and editing

The course program has no prerequisites and suits learners of all knowledge levels.   It discusses the value and purpose of technical writing. As a part of the program, you learn the entire documentation process like planning, writing, editing, indexing, and production.

You learn the skills you may need as a technical writer and the framework you need to follow to save time. Finally, the training program teaches you to write and structure your content effectively to improve usability. However, the course does not cover DITA, API documentation, User Interface text, STE, or ATA 100.

A learner will have access to the course program for thirteen months, and the learning process is self-paced. Throughout the program, you will practice your skills in your project. You can choose to get feedback for the project.

After the assessment process, you will receive a course completion certificate. Technical writing training by CherryLeaf is one of the best technical writing courses in New Zealand that would teach you to create user assistance for an app or product.

6. Udemy

Udemy is a global destination for online education where the number of learners and online courses increases every day. The course programs on different topics are available in over sixty-five languages.

Hence, they match the learning styles and requirements of all. Some relevant technical writing courses on Udemy give a comprehensive learning experience in the field. They are:

1. 1. Professional Technical Writing

• • Duration: 6 hours
  • Fee:$ 161.59
  • Instructor: Ugur Akinci

Syllabus:

1. 1. Introduction to Technical Writing
   2. Components of Technical Documents
   3. Technical Writing Techniques 1
   4. Technical Writing Techniques 2
   5. Technical Editing Techniques 1
   6. Technical Editing Techniques 2
   7. Creating a Technical Document template
   8. Creating an Index
   9. Variables in Technical Writing
   10. Graphs & Charts in Technical Writing
   11. Tables in Technical Writing
   12. Images in Technical Writing
   13. Flowcharts in Technical Writing
   14. Conclusion
   15. Final Assignment
   16. Updates
   17. Audience Analysis
   18. Robohelp 2015
   19. How to Find Technical Writing Job
   20. Bonus Videos

1. 2. Learn API Technical Writing

• • Duration: 1 hour
  • Fee: $ 30.42
  • Instructor: Peter Gruenbaum

Syllabus:

1. 1. Introduction
   2. JSON
   3. XML
   4. Final words

1. 3. How to Write Using DITA XML

• • Duration: 9.5 hours
  • Fee: $ 66.52
  • Instructor: JPDocu School of Technical Writing

Syllabus:

1. 1. Introduction
   2. Five Quick Steps to Writing in DITA XML
   3. DITA Elements
   4. Reusing content in DITA
   5. Profilin in DITA
   6. Information Architecture for Technical Communicators
   7. Information Architecture for DITA Authors
   8. How to Create Interactive Images in DITA
   9. Linking in DITA
   10. Customizing DITA XML Outputs
   11. Bonus Sections

All three Udemy courses include articles and other downloadable resources. Profession Technical Writing is a beginner-level course teaching you technical writing principles and creating document templates and user guides.

Learn API Technical Writing teaches you to read and comprehend structured data in XML and JSON formats. Through the course program, you study editing XML and JSON for tools that generate documentation. You also learn to write documentation for XML and JSON files, API documentation, or other documentation.

How to Write Using DITA XML is for technical writers who wish to advance their knowledge in DITA. The course program teaches you to write using maps and DITA XML topics.

It also teaches you to create interactive images and image maps and generate documentation deliverables by employing the Oxygen XML Author tool. You also learn to customize and configure your DITA HTML output.

All three courses come with lifetime access and a certificate of completion, making them valuable professional technical writing courses in New Zealand.

7. Google

Google offers one of the best free online technical writing courses in New Zealand for engineers. The course is also suitable for students of Computer Science and people working in engineering-related fields.

The course program has two parts, the former dealing with the basics of technical writing and the latter with intermediate skills in technical writing. The following are the course details:

• • Course: Technical Writing One
  • Duration: Not Available
  • Fee: Free

Technical Writing One is best suitable for those new to technical writing. This part teaches you to use terminology, identify ambiguous pronouns, and active and passive voices. It also discusses sentences, paragraphs, and lists.

You master to state the goals and target audience of your documents and perform an analyzing audience in the first part. You also learn the correct usage of punctuation and a beginner level of Markdown.

• • Course: Technical Writing Two
  • Duration: Not Available
  • Fee: Free

Technical Writing Two is for those who completed the first part. In the second part, you will learn tactics for the first, second, and third drafts. You also master techniques to detect mistakes, organize large documents, and introduce their scope and prerequisites. Figure captions, technical illustrations, sample codes, and document types are the other topics discussed in Technical Writing Two.

Both parts of the course program have pre-class and in-class learning materials to make the learning thorough. To conclude, Technical Writing by Google Developers is one of the best free professional technical writing courses in New Zealand.

Frequently Asked Questions: Technical Writing Courses in New Zealand

1. How to become a technical writer?

Companies usually expect technical writers to have a degree in journalism, communication, or English. You cannot compromise your writing skills to be a technical writer. A background in a technical field such as engineering, computer science, or web designing would be an added qualification.

2. Is technical writing a promising career?

Technical writing is very much a promising career and is rewarding for the financial benefits and job satisfaction. Technical writing is an integral part of an efficient user experience. So technical writers are increasingly in demand in all industries.

3. What are the qualities of good technical writing?

Some of the top qualities of good technical writing are:

• • Accuracy
  • Appropriateness for the target audience
  • Brevity
  • Comprehensiveness
  • Coherence
  • Use of action verbs
  • Well organized

Conclusion: Technical Writing Courses in New Zealand

With all the advancements in technology, companies need the services of technical writers more than before. In the competitive markets, it has also become imperative to make these technical documents both informative and engaging to attract new customers. Finding skilled technical writers is not an easy task for any business. Hence they place their trust in technical writers with professional course certification.

Certified technical writers assure efficiency and prior knowledge in research, audience analysis, best practices in documentation, knowledge of software tools, and refined skills in writing and illustration. In short, being a qualified technical writer with a globally accredited certificate would make your job search easy. With the help of the list of top technical writing courses in New Zealand, choose the right training program for you and enter a promising career.

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