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Specifications Writing - Getting It Right!
Tedious, boring, difficult. The three damning words that have (unfairly) come to be associated with the writing of specifications. Variously known as a form of technical writing, procurement document or implementation paper, specifications writing has grown in stature as buyers have asked more and more demanding requirements in return for their purchase or patronage for a product, service or event. Vendors, on the other hand, have become more evasive and reluctant to provide critical information that may reduce their chances of winning a tender or bid.
DR SUNNY GOH has been on the dictating as well as receiving end of specifications so much so that he has made it a craft to ask as much as he could as a specs-giver and reveal as little as possible as a specs-taker. No matter, this compressed one-day workshop is aimed at helping the specs writer think precisely, act professionally and write proficiently. Today, the Trainer teaches procurement officers and purchasers how best to draft specifications that meet the exacting standards in a tendering process.
Even for those who are not likely to craft specifications in their work, the writing principles of good technical writing will also be taught in the course. You’d never know when you would need to draw on these precision writing skills - so it is better to be specific than to be sorry!
DR SUNNY GOH has been on the dictating as well as receiving end of specifications so much so that he has made it a craft to ask as much as he could as a specs-giver and reveal as little as possible as a specs-taker. No matter, this compressed one-day workshop is aimed at helping the specs writer think precisely, act professionally and write proficiently. Today, the Trainer teaches procurement officers and purchasers how best to draft specifications that meet the exacting standards in a tendering process.
Even for those who are not likely to craft specifications in their work, the writing principles of good technical writing will also be taught in the course. You’d never know when you would need to draw on these precision writing skills - so it is better to be specific than to be sorry!
Objective
At the end of the one-day workshop, participants will be able to:
- differentiate the different types of specs writing;
- write sound, sensible and strong specifications; and
- apply specs writing skills in other forms of technical writing.
Outline
- What is Specification Writing
- The Role and Types of a Specification
- When to write Outcome-based specifications
- When to write Compliance-based specifications
- Drawing Up Specifications
- Writing Specifications
- Common errors in Specifications approach
- Details in compliance specifications
- Details in performance specifications
- Details in service specifications
Who should attend
Staff Officers who either have to write specifications or provide details for specs writers. The course will help them to avoid the pitfalls in a specs document and deal with contingencies and conflicts.
Testimonials
"Sunny is a clever specifications writer - knows when to give, when to keep - good for those of us dealing with data overload." PUB (Mar 2016)
"I half expect the course to be boring, and the other half to be difficult. Sunny made both ends meaningful." PA (June 2017)
"Sunny made technical writing look easy, and specs writing appear appealing. Not an easy task when we have too much info and too little space." Chapman International (Oct 2018)
"I half expect the course to be boring, and the other half to be difficult. Sunny made both ends meaningful." PA (June 2017)
"Sunny made technical writing look easy, and specs writing appear appealing. Not an easy task when we have too much info and too little space." Chapman International (Oct 2018)
Profile of Dr. Sunny Goh
unny is a Trainer of Trainers (TOT) and has taught many writing coaches to approach writing in a highly professional way. He was a deputy military security chief and head of the International directorate in Mindef’s Defence Policy Office, where specifications and procurement are part of his writing routines. As a desk editor in The Straits Times, he has trained media practitioners how to write sharper yet simpler. He was a member of the SAF Scholars Selection Board and chairman of a university’s Resource Panel.
As a volunteer, he was a Mediator with the Ministry of Law, a Council Member of the Singapore Red Cross Society and writes regularly for the local and regional media.
