Technical Training

I’ve always been a teacher in some form or other, formally and informally, and I’ve been writing Technical Documentation of all levels and types for over a decade. Whether I’m writing functional specifications, requirements, new-hire training or simply documenting existing processes, I can not only speak the industry jargon to co-workers but I can also type of speech to another if the audience requires it. The most commonly cited example is translating technobabble4  for non-technie, but I’ve also translated from legalese into English and then sewing jargon into plain speak. Once the jargon is understood, I can pretty easily translate it back out of the jargon as needed.

Technical Documentation

The problem with a portfolio of technical documents is that much of it is proprietary or includes sensitive information. In this example, I took my work and removed any all references to anything even remotely client or company specific and instead focused on the basic “how to” steps that is the foundation of this particular process. Clicking on the image will open the full PDF document.

I also spent several years teaching people ages 7 to 90 how to use their sewing machines and to sew. This is definitely a technical language all it’s own and any explanations found on my free tutorials assumes the reader is familiar with the basic language of sewing. One of the more advanced techniques is making welted openings, which one of my patterns called for and this is a page from the instructions that come with the pattern available for purchase.

Technical Video Training

Most recently, I’ve upgrading my documentation to include not only text documents but also video accompaniment. I pulled one short video from the end of the series, which was actually added because someone tried a shortcut which ended up not working and I wanted to make sure that shortcut was not used again. There will be lots of references here that don’t make sense unless you’re trained in the process but it is an example of me actively training. Click on the link below to open the WMV file – it should play in your native video player. There is nothing proprietary or business-specific in this video, which is why it was chosen. I did all scripting, video capture and editing.

Regardless of whether the documentation is printed or video or audio, I generally produce all content included. In these examples, I tapped the following skill sets: project management, analysis, time management, writing, editing, photography, graphic design, videography, and instruction/voice work.

Return to the main Portfolio directory page or see my resume for more details. If you’d like to contact me about work, please use the contact page.