An interview with a Medical Communications Writer about professional writing

TW5212: Workplace Issues in Technical and Professional Communication

by Michael Kavanagh (17130913)

Presentation overview

  • set the scene for my interview

  • describe my main findings

  • provide some conclusions and recommendations

In this presentation I will:

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TW5212: Workplace Issues in Technical and Professional Communication

The interview

Setting the scene...

  • What?

  • Who?

  • When?

  • Where?

  • Why?

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TW5212: Workplace Issues in Technical and Professional Communication

I interviewed a professional writer

John Reilly, Medical Communications Writer

March 2018

At a café in Dublin

(i)                                       and  (ii)

We made contact by email

  • How?

to improve my practice by learning about:

writing professionally

interviewing

Main findings      1/4

  • build practical writtng experience

  • read high quality work by other writers

  • tech. writer = content developer + additional skills

Education and training background

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TW5212: Workplace Issues in Technical and Professional Communication

Main findings      2/4

  • learn the value of collaborative writing

  • know your target audience, context and medium

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TW5212: Workplace Issues in Technical and Professional Communication

Career path to professional writing

Main findings      3/4

  • writes science content for presentations

  • work with common tools like Word and PowerPoint

  • uses rhetoric to tell stories

  • can adapt to suit project requirements

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TW5212: Workplace Issues in Technical and Professional Communication

Current role and work environment

Main findings      4/4

  • write with interest and passion

  • learn writing techniques from journalism

  • stay current by up-skilling

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TW5212: Workplace Issues in Technical and Professional Communication

Career advice to future/ beginning writers

Results & conclusions

(i) professional writing

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TW5212: Workplace Issues in Technical and Professional Communication

What I learned about:

(ii) interviewing

A successful writer:

  • builds experience
  • learns from others
  • understands her audience, context and medium
  • requires strong professional skills
  • is willing to learn

A successful interviewer:

  • needs time and skill to prepare questions, arrange and manage interviews, worke with audio
  • uses interviews with other research methods
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