The ability to document ideas, facts, and plans into writing is key to success in any technical field. Electronic communication, whether by chat, text, or essays forms a basis for much of how we share information in our professional lives. Writing is a critical life skill that can be learned, trained, and perfected. Many of the first impressions of others are made via email, cover letters, or proposals.

Persuasion and our ability to sell ideas while maintaining positive relationships with others is a talent that is challenging to learn, and near impossible to master.

This session focuses on communication through writing, with a strong focus on its use in highly technical fields. Included are tips and best practices of ways to improve written skills, as well as the most common ways in which writing can fail us (and how to avoid or recover from them). This is a professional development session that is structured and presented as a technical session, including demonstrations, personal examples, and all the embarrassing stories that come along with them!

The impact of diversity on our writing skills will be included, as lacking a face-to-face element can easily result in miscommunications. Strategies for minimizing these situations while using diversity to our advantage allows for more effective communication while maintaining respect for others, regardless of their backgrounds.

Effective writing goes beyond spelling and grammar. Communicating intent, staying focused, and using both data and organizational needs to convey problems and outline solutions will be the difference between success and failure.