An Interactive 5-Day Training Course
Writing & Presenting Subsurface Technical Reports
Writing and Presenting Technical Work
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Duration
5 Days
Price
$ 3,000
Starting From
30 Aug 2027
Home Geology and Geoscience Writing & Presenting Subsurface Technical Reports
Writing & Presenting Subsurface Technical Reports
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Writing & Presenting Subsurface Technical Reports - GG-WRITE-PEA27
| Code | Date | Time | Duration | Location | Currency | Early Bird Fee Per Person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GG-WRITE-PEA27 | 30 Aug - 03 Sep 2027 | 10 AM CST | 4 Hours Per Day |
Online |
USD |
3000 |
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Writing & Presenting Subsurface Technical Reports
This training covers the writing and presentation of subsurface technical work. It works through audience and purpose, report structure, writing the conclusion first, technical writing style, presenting data and figures, uncertainty and its honest expression, presentation design and delivery, handling questions and challenge, writing for assurance and regulatory audiences and the review of technical documents.
Description
Subsurface work is delivered through documents and presentations, and a substantial amount of good technical work fails to influence anything because it was communicated badly: the conclusion buried in section seven, figures nobody can read, uncertainty either suppressed or presented so heavily that the message is lost, and presentations that describe the work rather than its implications. These are correctable faults and correcting them makes technical work more valuable without changing its content.
This training covers both written and spoken delivery. Audience and purpose are established first, since a report for a peer reviewer, a manager and a regulator need different content and structure. Report structure follows, covering an order that serves the reader rather than the chronology of the work. Writing the conclusion first is then developed as the central structural discipline. Technical writing style follows, covering the sentence-level practices that make technical prose clear. Presenting data and figures is then addressed in detail. Uncertainty and its honest expression follow. Presentation design and delivery are then developed. Handling questions and challenge follows. Writing for assurance and regulatory audiences is addressed. The training closes with document review.
The conclusion goes first and almost nobody does it. Technical reports are habitually written in the order the work was done: data, method, results, interpretation, conclusion. Readers do not read in that order; they read the summary, look at a few figures and then read the parts that interest them. Putting the conclusion and its basis on the first page, and the supporting work behind it, means that a reader who reads one page has the message. The chronological order serves the author and the conclusion-first order serves the reader.
A figure that needs its caption explained has failed. Technical figures in subsurface reports are routinely unreadable: eight-point labels, colour scales that mean nothing, maps without scale or orientation, cross plots with unlabelled axes and ten series in indistinguishable colours. Each figure should make one point and make it visible at the size it will be printed or projected. Reducing the number of figures and improving each is almost always better than including everything.
Uncertainty has to be stated, once, in a usable form. Two failures are common and opposite: a report that presents a single number with no range, which overstates what is known, and a report that qualifies every statement so heavily that no conclusion survives, which is equally unhelpful. The usable form is a stated range, the reason for its width, and a clear statement of what the recommendation is across that range. That is three sentences and it serves the reader better than either extreme.
Finally, a presentation is not a report projected. A report is read at the reader's pace with the ability to go back; a presentation is heard once in a fixed order with no opportunity to re-read. The material therefore has to be reduced, the sequence has to carry the audience and each slide has to be legible from the back of the room. Projecting a dense report page and talking over it is the most common failure in technical presentation, and the remedy is simply to build the presentation as a different product.
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
- Identify audience and purpose and structure content accordingly
- Structure reports to serve the reader rather than the work sequence
- Write conclusions and executive summaries that stand alone
- Write technical prose that is clear and economical
- Design figures that make one point legibly
- Present data honestly without distortion
- State uncertainty in a usable form
- Design and deliver technical presentations
- Handle questions and technical challenge effectively
- Write for assurance and regulatory audiences and review documents
The training works on participants' own reports and presentations where possible, and on supplied examples otherwise. Documents are restructured and rewritten during the course and the before and after compared. Figures are redesigned. Participants present technical material to the group, receive challenge, and present again after revision.
Organisations sending participants to this training will:
- Receive technical reports whose conclusions are findable
- Improve the legibility and usefulness of technical figures
- See uncertainty stated honestly and usably
- Improve technical presentations to management
- Reduce time spent extracting meaning from reports
- Increase the influence of good technical work
Participants will:
- Structure reports for their readers
- Write clear technical prose
- Design effective figures
- State uncertainty usably
- Deliver confident presentations
- Handle technical challenge well
- Geoscientists and engineers writing technical reports
- Technical staff presenting to management
- Graduate and early career technical staff
- Subsurface team leaders reviewing reports
- Staff preparing regulatory submissions
- Technical staff preparing assurance material
- Consultants delivering client reports
Module 1 - Audience and Purpose
- Identifying the actual reader
- Technical peer audiences
- Management audiences
- Commercial and partner audiences
- Regulatory audiences
- Investor and public audiences
- What each audience needs
- Purpose of the document
- Decision the document supports
- Length appropriate to purpose
- Multiple audiences in one document
- Separate documents for separate audiences
Module 2 - Report Structure
- Structure that serves the reader
- Executive summary content
- Summary that stands alone
- Conclusion placement
- Recommendation statement
- Method and data sections
- Results and interpretation
- Appendices and what belongs there
- Section ordering alternatives
- Navigation and headings
- Length discipline
- Report templates and their use
Module 3 - Writing the Conclusion First
- Conclusion first discipline
- Stating the answer in one sentence
- Supporting it with the key evidence
- The three things the reader must know
- Writing the summary before the report
- Testing whether the summary stands alone
- Avoiding suspense structure
- Signposting the supporting argument
- What to leave out
- Recommendations and their specificity
- Actions and owners
- Revising the summary after the work changes
Module 4 - Technical Writing Style
- Sentence length and structure
- Active construction
- Precision in technical statements
- Distinguishing observation from interpretation
- Quantifying where possible
- Avoiding unnecessary hedging
- Technical terminology and its correct use
- Avoiding jargon that is not terminology
- Consistency in nomenclature and units
- Editing for length
- Common technical writing faults
- Reading your own writing critically
Module 5 - Figures and Data Presentation
- One point per figure
- Legibility at final size
- Axis labelling and units
- Colour selection and accessibility
- Colour scales and their honesty
- Map elements: scale, orientation, legend
- Cross sections and their annotation
- Log displays
- Cross plots and series discrimination
- Tables against figures
- Captions and their content
- Reducing the number of figures
Module 6 - Expressing Uncertainty
- Stating ranges rather than single values
- Explaining what drives the range
- Percentile conventions and their definition
- Chance of success statements
- Confidence in interpretations
- Distinguishing data from assumption
- Stating what would change the conclusion
- Over-qualification and its cost
- Suppressed uncertainty and its risk
- Recommendation across the range
- Honest presentation of alternatives
- Documenting assumptions
Module 7 - Presentations
- Presentation as a different product
- Reducing content for spoken delivery
- Sequence and narrative
- One message per slide
- Slide legibility requirements
- Avoiding projected report pages
- Figures adapted for projection
- Time management and pacing
- Delivery and voice
- Nerves and preparation
- Technical depth for the audience
- Rehearsal and its value
Module 8 - Challenge, Regulation and Review
- Anticipating questions
- Answering what was asked
- Admitting what is not known
- Handling hostile challenge
- Disagreement with senior people
- Questions you cannot answer
- Writing for regulatory submission
- Compliance and completeness requirements
- Writing for assurance review
- Reviewing others' documents
- Giving editorial feedback usefully
- Building writing standards in a team
Upon successful completion of this training course, delegates will be awarded an official Certificate of Completion issued by the Petroleum Engineers Association (PEA), an ISO 9001:2015 certified training organization. The certificate carries 10 Credits and formally records the total learning hours completed.
Each certificate is signed by the Course Facilitator and the CEO of the Petroleum Engineers Association, and serves as verifiable proof of professional training that delegates can present to employers and professional bodies worldwide.
Frequently Asked Questions
All course bookings made through PEA are strictly non-refundable. By registering for a course, you acknowledge and accept that all fees are payable in full and are not subject to refund under any circumstances, including changes in personal or professional commitments or partial attendance.
PEA reserves the right to make reasonable adjustments to course content, trainers, or schedules where necessary, without entitling delegates to a refund. Comprehensive details of each course — including objectives, target audience, and content — are clearly outlined before enrolment, and it is the responsibility of the delegate to ensure the course's suitability prior to booking.
For any inquiries related to cancellations or bookings, please contact our support team, who will be happy to assist you.
