11 Free Technical Writing Training Courses

1. The 5 C's of Writing News for Mobile Audiences

Delivering technical information via mobile devices is tricky. SC Training developed a technical training course on The 5 C's of Writing News for Mobile Audiences to help writers produce articles and documents that are conversational and concise. The topics covered in this technical writer course include building a conversational tone, selecting considerate sets of words, keeping headlines concise and chunky, and incorporating a contextual perspective. 

These rhetoric techniques will help your technical writers convey detailed, high-level information in simpler language that will resonate well with mobile readers. This online writing course is also perfect for anyone looking to improve their business and email writing skills.

Through a microlearning design model, this free writing course is structured with 10 digestible lessons that can be completed in as little as five minutes. It’s a combination of informative modules and gamified exercises, guaranteeing higher retention and engagement rate. And while it’s ready to deliver, the course is editable through the drag-and-drop authoring tool of the best technical writing software, SC Training. You can add your own materials or even company branding to make it your own.

• Cost: Free (up to 10 users)
• Scope: How to be conversational, tips to be considerate and concise, adding contextual perspective, why and how to chunk text

Created By SC Training

3. Introduction To Technical Writing Training

Learning Tree’s technical writing training course is primarily focused on helping technical writers create technical manuals and white papers that their readers will find easy to follow and understand. This example of technical writing for students will walk them through the complete process of planning and writing sentence structure and sections, and editing technical documents to guarantee their clarity and avoid grammar errors and typos. They will also learn how to leverage diagrams, tables, and more graphical elements to express their ideas more effectively. This course is delivered in an instructor-led format, with the benefit of one-on-one instructor coaching after completion. Unfortunately, this instructional course is not meant for self-paced learning and can be fairly costly.

• Cost: 2990 USD
• Scope: The planning, writing, and copy editing process, structuring information for clarity and readability, designing documents with graphical elements

Created by Learning Tree

5. Effective Technical Writing

Learn the keys to writing good quality technical documents with this technical writing training course prepared by Phoenix One Knowledge Solutions. In this course, technical writers will have the opportunity to attend a 2-day training, where they will gain expertise on how to plan a technical document and how to write effectively and appropriately for their target audience. Here, they will receive some pointers for creating documents that are clear, concise, and user-friendly. This course will also guide them on how to test and proofread a technical document, ensuring that they finish with a high-quality piece of technical writing that accomplishes their goal.

• Cost: Available upon request
• Scope: How to plan a technical document, write appropriately and clearly for the audience, testing and editing a technical document

Created by Phoenix One

6. Technical Writing One and Two

Google Developers has put together these two technical writing training courses for software engineers and engineering-adjacent roles, aiming to equip them with training writing skills and help them write clear software documentation and establish an effective help system. The Technical Writing One course goes over the fundamentals of technical writing, like recognizing pesky pronouns, converting passive voice sentences to active voice, understanding the difference between bulleted lists and number lists, and more. Their Technical Writing Two, on the other hand, is a follow-up free English writing class online for those who have completed their first technical writing training. It digs deeper into the advanced elements of technical writing, like writing drafts, organizing large documents, and writing clear figure captions, among others. 

These two courses require at least a little writing proficiency in English to ensure a smooth learning experience. They are optimized for laptop or desktop use, although learners can also take them via tablet or phone. 

• Cost: Free
• Scope: Introduction to technical writing, converting passive voice sentences to active voice, utilizing bulleted lists and number lists, organizing large documents, writing drafts

Created by Google Developers

8. Technical Author/Technical Writing Course

The Technical Author/Technical Writing Course by Cherryleaf comprises a series of modules that will equip writers with the key skills of technical writing and effective IT and software user documentation. This course will take the learners through the entire process of documentation, from planning and writing to editing, indexing, and production. It will also guide your team on creating content that follows the best practices, so they can work and write as efficiently and effectively as possible. The content of this course will be delivered in short video presentations, which can be accessed anytime and anywhere. There will also be writing exercises that anyone can complete for around two days. 

• Cost: 185 EU
• Scope: The purpose and value of technical documentation, entire documentation process, the best practices for working more efficiently and effectively

Created by Cherryleaf

10. Technical Report Writing for Engineers

Find out how to communicate your complex ideas and transform them into reader-friendly engineering reports with the help of this technical writing training course by FutureLearn. This self-paced training will run for about 6 weeks, covering key topics like the anatomy of good technical reports and the skills needed to write and deliver them. It will also go over why citations are so important, as well as how figures, diagrams, and labeling can help writers improve their writing habits. By the end of this course, learners should be able to develop their own technical engineering report and effectively communicate information to their audience. 

• Cost: Free for 8 weeks; 64 USD for unlimited access
• Scope: Segmenting data, defining and creating documentation set using XMetal, DITA (Darwin Information Type Architecture)

Created by FutureLearn