Writing Tips and Traps for Professional Engineers

In Writing Tips and Traps for Professional Engineers, you'll learn ...

• Common traps in grammar, sentence construction, and word usage that account for the majority of writing problems
• Comma uses and abuses
• How to use colons and semicolons correctly
• Proper subject and verb agreement
• Common errors in parallel constructions

Overview

Credit: 3 PDH

Length: 37 pages

Let me be clear about something before we go any farther (or is it “further”): this WILL NOT be a rehash of that dry English grammar class you probably skipped in college as often as possible. There are too many reference books – in either paper or digital form – that you could use which would be more comprehensive.

The design of this course is based on the Pareto Effect - where 20% of a universe accounts for 80% of the impact. Although I admit I have no scientific basis, I intuitively sense that 20% of grammar rules and spelling errors account for 80% of the grammatical problems we see in everyday business writing. After all, we each tend to have our favorite phrases, buzz words, professional jargon, and communications styles and it is reasonable to think that our errors will tend to repeat if we are not aware of them.

This course will provide you with a useful guide targeted at those few significant rules of grammar and key misspelled or misused words. It is written for the professional engineer seeking to be as careful and accurate in writing reports, memos, and professional papers for publication as you are in your technical work.

The quality of your writing speaks volumes about your self-image and career aspirations. Maybe you are familiar with the phrase “don’t dress for the job you have but for the job you want!” The same rationale works for your writing.

This will identify many common traps in grammar, sentence construction, and word usage that surround us daily in a workplace of people who feel it is sufficient to be simply understood rather than grammatically correct. After all, they reason, how many people write well enough (or is it “good enough”) in today’s workplace to notice the difference? They have a very legitimate, but sad, argument.

The course even delves into digital communications because more and more workplace dialogue occurs there.

Finally, there is a bonus section that is closely associated with well-written documentation. It is a strategic model for a financial presentation. Although a well-written justification will not guarantee approval, a poorly written one will certainly not help it.