How did the use of an AI tool influence your approach to graded work in the course?

Initially, I saw AI as experimental, useful for brainstorming but not essential to graded work. That changed quickly. Assignments with AI, especially peer reviews and tone analysis, showed me that it can be a practical writing partner.

For peer review, I could only use AI for feedback. I worried the tool would make my comments sound generic or mechanical. Once I learned to guide it with prompts and readability checks, I got feedback that I could shape into specific, thoughtful comments. I maintained control over the tone, but AI saved time by flagging things I had missed, such as overly complex wording in plain-spoken pieces.

One key takeaway for me was learning how to stay in control of the tool, rather than letting it dictate my writing. Vague questions led to ambiguous answers. Concrete prompts such as “Check for tense consistency” or “Simplify to an 8th-grade level” yielded precise results. This skill carried into my drafting process, where I now ask, What should this sentence do? How do I know it works?

What course materials had the most significant impact on your own career goals?

Several course materials reshaped how I now approach technical communication and strengthened my confidence as a professional writer.

The lecture with Val Swisher and Dr. Kim on content and style changed how I think about communication on a global scale. Swisher emphasized global readiness, ensuring content that is clear, structured, and consistent so that it can be translated, localized, and reused across various audiences.

She explained that consistency is more than just a style preference; it is a business advantage that saves time, reduces costs, and enhances the user experience. Her discussion of balancing push content (what companies distribute) and pull content (what audiences seek) made me realize that strong communication depends on understanding what users truly need, not just what we want to say.

The Plain Language Revision project gave me the tools to put that theory into action. Using readability metrics such as Flesch-Kincaid and Dale-Chall helped me measure clarity and precision. Rewriting complex material into simpler, more direct language reminded me that effective writing is about accessibility, not formality. It confirmed that plain language is a skill every communicator needs, especially in legal, compliance, and customer-facing documentation, where misunderstanding can have real consequences.

The A/B Testing Project is still in progress, but has already provided valuable insight. My team is analyzing tone and audience engagement by comparing multiple versions of the Publytics “About” page. We designed and distributed a survey to test how readers respond to different tones, formal, casual, and humorous, and we will soon present our findings in a final slide deck.

Even at this stage, the project has demonstrated to me how tone and style can impact perception, trust, and brand connection. For example, a few participants described the casual version as “approachable and easy to read,” while others found the formal version to be “professional but less personal.

” Those early responses already suggest how tone affects credibility and user interest. Seeing that difference firsthand has reinforced the value of data-driven analysis in enhancing content strategy decisions in real-world settings.

Participating in peer reviews also strengthened my awareness of tone and linguistic style. Evaluating how my classmates shifted between formal, casual, and humorous tones helped me see how sentence structure, word choice, and punctuation work together to shape voice. The process made me more intentional about tone in my own writing and reinforced that these minor adjustments influence how readers perceive professionalism, clarity, and credibility.

Looking Ahead: How I Would Guide a New Student

If I were talking to someone just starting this class, here is what I would tell them:

Do these things:
• Engage fully in peer reviews. They may seem like extra work, but they teach you to apply theory practically. Reviewing someone else’s tone shift makes your own revisions sharper.

• Use AI responsibly, stay in control, avoid copying outputs, treat it as a junior collaborator, prompt carefully, check readability, and ensure your voice is always present.

• Tie the course material to your goals. For me, plain language and style guides are closely tied to compliance and legal writing. Others may tie it to UX, marketing, or design. The more you personalize, the more value you get.

• Utilize your CMS, such as WordPress or Hostinger, as a portfolio. Publishing these blogs is not just an assignment; it is an opportunity to establish a professional presence that future employers can see.

Avoid these pitfalls:
• Do not let perfectionism stall you. Assignments are meant to be iterative. Draft, revise, and keep moving. You will learn more by submitting than by waiting.

• Do not treat tone exercises as schoolwork only. Tone is a real-world skill, whether in a client report, help article, or marketing blurb. Taking tone seriously gives you an edge.

• Do not let AI fix everything. It is tempting, but unedited drafts stand out. Professors, peers, and employers notice. Always do a final pass yourself.

Wrapping Up

This course has been less about learning new tools and more about learning how to think like a technical communicator. AI, plain language, content strategy, tone variation, and peer reviews each pushed me to be intentional about style, clarity, and usability. The assignments are connected directly to the kind of career I am building, one where I can merge my legal background with technical communication and compliance.

If I could give one tip, technical communication is not about sounding smart. It is about making complex information usable. Every tool, from readability metrics to AI, helps you serve readers better. That mindset will set you apart in the classroom and in the workplace.

More than anything, this course taught me that writing is a form of problem-solving. Each assignment required me to consider the reader’s perspective, clarify meaning, and build trust through precision and tone.

Those are the same qualities that define effective communication in the workplace. I now approach every document, whether a legal notice or a content-strategy plan, with the same goal: to make information transparent, accessible, and purposeful.