Our two-day technical writing and communications training course is developed and presented by seasoned technical writers and editors. This course will help you write and present effective technical information more clearly.
Develop stronger technical documents.
Technical writing and communication are critical to all aspects of environmental, health, and safety (EHS) work. You might need to communicate with various audiences, from other EHS specialists to professionals in related disciplines to laypeople. Many times, you will be communicating with all these audiences at once.
Ineffective technical communication creates problems:
- Inaccurate information
- Unpersuasive materials
- Inattentive audiences
- Damaged credibility
- Misunderstood content
- Compliance failures
Technical Communications for EHS Professionals™ presents many elements that will help strengthen your technical writing and presentation skills:
- Meeting audience needs with appropriate information, tone, and level of detail
- Selecting communication type
- Overview of using AI to help with organization and the writing process
- Writing process best practices, including plain language
- Document and slide organization and formatting
- Effective tables, lists, and visuals in written and oral communication
- Common writing issues
- Editing, including an overview of editing tools
- Planning your talk/training
- In-person and virtual presentation tips
- Writing and speaking exercises designed to help students practice and receive immediate feedback
Who should attend this course?
This course is valuable for all EHS professionals in private and public sectors, but especially if you are:
- An aspiring EHS professional or someone who wants to move up the career ladder
- A new EHS professional or new to writing technical documents or presentations
- An experienced EHS professional who wants to write or speak more effectively
- A new EHS manager or supervisor who wants to gain skill in editing or advising your direct reports and consultants
Participants are expected to have access to and be generally familiar with Microsoft Word and PowerPoint OR Google Docs and Google Slides during the class.
What does this course deliver?
Technical Communications for EHS Professionals™ provides participants with a solid foundation for writing targeted, effective technical documents in less time, and editing your own work and others’ writing in EHS documents. You will gain strategies for planning and delivering an effective EHS presentation.
At completion of the course, you will receive a certificate for your records.
What is the course format?
Technical Communications for EHS Professionals™ includes presented material and periodic opportunities for open discussion over two focused days. To keep the course interesting and enjoyable, participants engage in ungraded exercises that practice and reinforce presented material and open new topics for discussion.
Course modules are presented in logical and connected sequences. The instructor and participants explore unique environmental management challenges and proven strategies. All participants are encouraged to ask questions and discuss concepts throughout the course.
Participants are expected to have access to and be generally familiar with Microsoft Word and PowerPoint OR Google Docs and Google Slides during the class.
Students enter this course with a wide range of technical writing and communications training, experience, and capabilities. To reduce stress associated with sharing written materials, all class exercises are conducted in a manner that allows students to receive individual feedback, without the need to share their work products with the class.
What’s covered in the course?
This course will leave you well qualified to write or edit technical documents for your organization. It will also help you prepare to deliver an effective speech and produce helpful, professional-quality visual aids.
Topics Covered Include:
- Technical Writing and Editing of EHS Documents
- Understanding and selecting appropriate forms of technical communication
- Defining a document’s purpose and audience
- Overview of using AI to help with the research and writing process
- Writing a draft
- Presenting technical information in an understandable way—Plain language
- Clear and concise writing
- Overview of AI editing tools
- Common errors in EHS communications
- Effective use of visual displays, such as graphs, tables, and diagrams
- Document formatting best practices
- Planning and Delivering a Stellar Presentation
- Incorporate your story
- Budgeting time for presentation preparation
- Creating effective slides
- Tips for strengthening the beginning, middle, and end of a presentation
- Practical speaking tips
Course Agendas are subject to change
Participants are expected to have access to and be generally familiar with Microsoft Word and PowerPoint OR Google Docs and Google Slides.
Day 1: 8:15 am – 4:15 pm
- Welcome & Introductions
- Your Communication Challenges
- Basics of Technical Writing
- Knowing Your Audience and Purpose
- Overview of Using AI to Help with the Research and Writing Process
- Tips for Completing a First Draft
- Organizing Technical Documents
- Tables, Lists, and Visuals
- Common Writing Issues
- Editing Checklist
- Editing Tools
- Peer Review Strategies
Day 2: 8:15 am – 3:00 pm
- Purpose-Driven Speaking
- Understanding Your Audience
- Budgeting Time for Presentation Preparation
- Incorporate Your Story
- How to Structure a Presentation
- Assert–Evidence–Call to Action Format
- Handling Q&A Effectively
- Principles of Slide Design
- Choosing Effective Data Displays
- Improving Your Delivery/Presentation Tips
- Managing Nerves
Joy Drohan, MS, is an environmental science writer and editor with three decades of experience in translating complex environmental topics into clear, compelling narratives. Her experience includes water quality, environmental sampling, toxicology, risk communication, emergency operations planning, PFAS, microplastics, harmful cyanobacterial blooms, watershed management, nutrient management planning, hydrogeology, saltwater intrusion, sea-level rise, wildfire ecology, natural gas development, waste management, and engineering.
Joy has authored or edited a wide range of scientific and popular materials, including books, peer-reviewed journal articles, grant proposals, press releases, reports, web content, magazine articles, and educational curricula. Her line editing and copyediting help ensure clarity and precision with every project.
Her clients reflect the breadth and depth of her expertise. She has worked with leading universities (Penn State, North Carolina State University, University of Maryland), national and state environmental agencies (National Park Service, US Department of Agriculture, US Fish and Wildlife Service), major publishers (W. W. Norton & Co., Island Press, Santa Fe Institute Press), scientific and nonprofit organizations (Interstate Technology Regulatory Council, American Society for Enology and Viticulture, The Conservation Fund), and private companies.