You don’t need a Ph.D. to conquer technical writing. However, if your content covers specific products, you’ll need deep product knowledge. The goal is to make complicated information accessible and clear for a broad audience, including readers who don’t have technical backgrounds.
This post will show you how to simplify technical writing without cutting corners. You’ll also learn how to break down complex topics so that your audience can understand them – without losing depth or detail.
What is technical writing?
Technical writing is specialized content that educates, informs or guides readers through processes, products or concepts. Examples include:
- White papers
- Academic articles
- Knowledge bases
- User guides
- Process documentation
- Product spec sheets
- Instruction manuals
Why is technical writing intimidating?
Technical writing is more challenging than other content. Many writers avoid it for that reason, especially if they don’t have direct experience in their relevant topics. Technical content takes more time and work than other forms of writing because it requires thorough research, careful organization, attention to detail and precise language.
Moreover, simplifying technical topics without losing accuracy adds an extra layer of difficulty. Let’s face it: Explaining the finer points of quantum physics to a nontechnical audience isn’t something many of us want to tackle.
Remove the fear factor with generative AI
Thanks to generative AI, technical writing is less daunting than it used to be. Gen AI streamlines technical writing across document types and formats, saving writers hours of manual work. It’s like the Swiss Army knife for technical content. Here are some of the ways you can use it to save time and effort:
1. Create content outlines.
Gen AI will create document outlines, ensuring technical content is structured and logical. Seeing the flow and potential gaps in your content will help save time before you start. Gen AI will also revise existing outlines for new content, suggest key points to include and customize content for specific audiences, based on their skills, behaviors and preferences. Customer data and predictive analytics provide rich insights that address specific user expectations and needs.
For example, you could start with a basic user guide and then tailor it with tutorials for different user roles or experience levels. Personalization boosts comprehension and engagement because it helps users learn at their own pace and avoid feeling overwhelmed. In turn, this helps reduce customer support requests.
2. Generate initial drafts.
Think of gen AI as your partner rather than your replacement. It can create first drafts of technical documents from detailed prompts. This allows you to focus on refining, editing and ensuring accuracy and quality. Fact-checking and validating the content is critical. Gen AI makes mistakes and may not grasp the nuances of technical concepts. In addition, the content can be too generic for specific audiences and lack examples that help users understand the material. If your business has style guidelines, you’ll also need to ensure the content is on-brand. In short, first AI drafts always need work.
Tools to try: Gemini, DeepL Write and Document360.
Bonus: Sample prompts
Gen AI’s output largely depends on the quality and precision of your prompts. Be specific, provide context and clearly define the document’s purpose and target audience. Writing prompts can be tricky, and results vary widely across AI tools. To help get you started, here are sample prompts for generating first drafts of various technical documents:
• User guide for a B2B customer relationship management tool (CRM)
Prompt: Write a comprehensive user guide for “WeDeliver,” a B2B, AI-powered CRM for B2B sales teams. The guide must cover all aspects of the software, from initial setup and user management to using advanced AI features for sales forecasting and automation. Include sections on account setup and user onboarding, contact and account management, sales pipeline management, AI-powered sales automation, reporting and analytics, integrations and troubleshooting. Include an introduction of no more than 25 words and a conclusion of no more than 25 words. Audience: New users, sales teams, sales managers, CRM administrators and IT staff.
• Quick-reference product sheet for a rotary die cutter
Prompt: Create a concise, one-page product spec sheet for the “Pro5002 Get it Done” rotary die cutter. The sheet is intended for quick reference and comparison with competitor products. Present the information in a clear and easily digestible format. Include key features and benefits, technical specifications, footprint and dimensions, key safety features, warranty information and contact information. Audience: Plant managers, production supervisors and purchasing managers.
• White paper about the future of edge computing in manufacturing
Prompt: Write a 5,000-word white paper about the future of edge computing in manufacturing, discussing emerging trends and disruptive technologies that are shaping the industry. Write five sample titles of no more than 14 words each, three sample introductions of no more than 50 words and one conclusion of no more than 30 words. Generate sections on the current state of edge computing in manufacturing, emerging trends, the effects of these trends on manufacturing, challenges and opportunities, and predictions about the future of manufacturing at the edge. Audience: Manufacturing executives and industry analysts.
• API documentation for a B2B marketing automation tool
Prompt: Create API documentation for “Think Bigger,” a marketing automation tool that’s designed for developers who work on marketing agencies’ projects. Cover end points for campaign creation, audience segmentation and performance tracking, along with sample use cases and code examples that are relevant to agency workflows. Audience: Developers who work on marketing agency projects.
3. Check grammar, spelling and (maybe) punctuation.
Save hours of manual work by using gen AI to find and correct grammatical and spelling errors. But understand you may encounter limitations, depending on the tool you use. I don’t rely on gen AI for punctuation. I’ve found repeated mistakes, such as extra commas, missing commas and word omissions that introduce grammatical errors.
Similarly, gen AI content may not be in active voice, which is best practice. Active voice makes content clear and direct. Passive voice is wordy and makes your subject matter ambiguous. In an active sentence, the subject is doing the action. For example, “The team analyzed the data” is active voice. “The data was analyzed by the team” is passive voice.
4. Improve readability.
Gen AI simplifies complex language and industry terminology, making content readable for nontechnical audiences. In your prompts, instruct it to use simple and clear language, along with short words and sentences. Alternatively, direct gen AI tools to optimize technical content for Flesch Reading Ease, which analyzes sentence lengths and word complexity. As a result, the content will be easier to read and understand than if you didn’t specify the simplicity level.
However, when improving readability, avoid oversimplifying. Some technical concepts are naturally complex and can’t be easily simplified without losing their meaning. In other words, don’t compromise accuracy, context or precision for a high Flesch score. If the intended audience is highly technical, a low Flesch score might be acceptable. As a best practice, use technical terms when necessary, explaining them on first reference.
Tools to try: ChatGPT, Paraphrasingtool.ai and Readable.
5. Summarize complex information quickly.
One of gen AI’s most valuable contributions to technical writing is its ability to scan reports, documents and research papers to create clear, concise summaries. This saves you hours of having to read and condense data and information. Grasp key points quickly and include them in your technical content. But be sure to verify the information is accurate by checking the source material.
6. Translate documents into different languages.
Translate technical documents for global audiences quickly using gen AI. Some tools are designed to handle industry-specific terminology and complex concepts.
Tools to try: Reverso, DeepL Translator and Trados.
A powerful writing partner
To sum up, gen AI tools can help at every stage of technical writing, saving significant time and effort. But remember, AI still needs human expertise and input to fact-check, validate and ensure:
- Audience relevancy
- Accuracy
- Clarity
- Nuance
- Consistency with style guides and brand voice
- Readability
While gen AI is a powerful assistant, it’s not a replacement for human writers. I’m sure that’s something we can all appreciate.
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