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Specifications for Technical Communicators

"Why have I been handed this spec?"

This three-hour course will look at the nature of specifications from a technical communicator’s point of view: their purpose, the kinds of specifications a technical communicator is likely to encounter or be asked to write, and their interaction with technical documents.
  • Duration

    3 hours

  • Format

    Video

  • Price

    495 excl. VAT 
    VAT or applicable local sales tax will be calculated automatically at checkout based on your billing country.

    About this course

    Before any training starts, we ensure that the course is accessible to people with disabilities, or with a special need to be taken into consideration for learning. Please contact us by email at: training@firehead.net in order to find possible adjustments we can implement together to promote the success of your learning experience.

    Who this course is for

    Beginning to mid-level technical communicators and other content developers who use specifications as source material, or need to write specifications for products or internal processes.

    What you'll learn

    Key takeaways – when you successfully complete this course, you will:

    • Acquire a clear idea of what specifications do and don’t do
    • Understand their relationship to customer-facing technical publications
    • Learn about the different types of specifications and how to write them
    • Learn about specifying technical content – doc specs, style guides, SOP’s, etc.
    • Understand specifications in an agile environment

    How you'll learn

    This is an asynchronous, self-guided course. The material is presented via short videos, which you can watch at your leisure.

    Additional resource materials are provided, and there are activities that lead to a certificate of completion once done correctly.
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    Presented by

    Ray Gallon

    Technical communicator and XX
    Ray Gallon is president and cofounder of the Transformation Society, which develops strategies for humanist digital transformation and organizational learning, and researches the theory and practice of smart pedagogies. He has over 50 years’ experience as a communicator, most recently in the technical content industries, including major companies such as IBM, Alcatel, and General Electric Health Care. He is a speaker on communications topics at conferences around the world.

    Ray is a fellow of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), and has served as an STC international board member, past president of STC France, and president of The Information 4.0 consortium. He is a frequent speaker and keynoter on communications topics at conferences and seminars around the world. He has contributed to numerous books, journals, and magazines, and is the editor of The Language of Technical Communication (XML Press).

    Earlier in his career, Ray was an award-winning radio producer and journalist.

    Course Objectives

    You can expect to spend about three to four hours completing all of the elements of this course, including videos, readings, quizzes and the final assessment.

    The course is entirely self-directed, so you can complete it at a time and pace that works best for you. If you leave the course and come back at a later time, your course progress will be saved so you can pick up where you left off.

    On successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
    • Analyse the core components and limitations of technical specifications in product development environments
    • Differentiate between specification types and demonstrate their relationship to end-user documentation
    • Create industry-standard technical specifications, including documentation specifications, style guides, and standard operating procedures
    • Apply specification writing principles and best practices within agile development frameworks
    • Evaluate existing specifications for completeness, clarity, and alignment with documentation requirements

    What's in this course?

    • videos
    • content
    • downloads
    • activities
    • self-assessments
    • additional references
    Videos - short, engaging presentations from the course instructors that bring the topic to life (transcripts can be provided as an alternative learning format).

    Content - text and graphics that allow you to read and consider a variety of topics.

    Downloads - templates, guides, and additional resources for your reference that will deepen your understanding.

    Activities - real-world scenarios that provide you with an opportunity to apply what you’ve learned (scoresheets are provided so you can assess your own work upon completion).

    Assessments - self-grading quizzes that assess your learning through multiple choice, multiple response, and true/false questions.

    Additional references - references to related materials outside of the course to use to continue your learning.

    Course Prerequisites

    There are no specified prerequisites for taking this course.

    Requirements

    To engage with the materials in this course you will need to have:
    • A strong internet connection for playing videos, downloading files, and accessing other course materials
    • An approved browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari...)
    • A PDF reader for accessing course resources
    • Office software for completing activities and downloading templates
    • Ability to open multiple file types: mp4, PDF, docx, xlsx

    Course Outline

    What People Are Saying...

    Recommended

    "It was valuable to see how specifications matter for technical communicators: how to work with them, how to write them, how to use them."

    Very Helpful

    "Ray added a lot of insight into working with the product team to define specs so everyone can benefit from them."

    Brilliant Course

    "I wish I'd taken this course when I was starting my technical communication career."

    Results for 2025 Available Soon!

    Last updated: 17/10/2025