In this episode I’m talking to Swapnil Ogale, a Technical Writer Advocate for Redocly based in Melbourne, Australia, who is also a Community and Conference Manager for Write the Docs. He gives us the inside scoop on arranging Write the Docs events conferences both in-person and online, and talks to us about the importance of advocacy for technical writers.
Documentarians for Diplomacy: Bringing the Mirth with Kat Stoica Ostenfeld
We’re back after a short and unexpected break! Sorry to keep you waiting!
This episode you’ll hear Kat Stoica Ostenfeld, an accomplished tech writer living in Copenhagen in Denmark. A linguist by credential, she says diplomacy is the key to being an effective documentarian, and shares how her translation and applied linguistics background helped her find common understanding and success in the world of technical writing.
Additional topics: Beautiful limestone buildings; puppy chat; spouse sacrifices; documentation as its own pillar; language proficiency vs successful communication; the meaning of “documentation”; linguistics applied; the diplomacy of being a tech writer; full stack teams; writing rage; linguistic detective work.
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Marrying skillsets and existential googling with Caity Cronkhite
In this episode, I’m excited to be speaking to Caity Cronkhite, Seattle-based founder and CEO of Good Words LLC.
We talk about her experience of starting up as a tech writer both in-house and freelancing, before starting and growing her own successful business in the technical writing industry, and the successes and struggles of operating Good Words LLC in these strange and unpredictable pandemic times.
Read moreHow to Infiltrate a Hackathon in Iowa with Philip Kiely
In this episode we're speaking to Philip Kiely - author of 'Writing for Software Developers' - about being a first-time author, adventures in Budapest, and how to infiltrate a hackathon during a blizzard!
Read moreA Fond Farewell (Yet Warm Welcome!)
The KnowledgeOwl crew joins longtime host Jacob Moses to discuss their acquisition of The Not-Boring Tech Writer podcast, including why Jacob started the podcast, how the podcast has evolved, and what listeners can expect for the future.
Read moreSkill #36: Creating Usability Tests for Your Organization
Mariana Moreira—Technical Writer at Zup Innovation and Community Manager of Brazil’s budding technical comm community, Tech Writing BR—shares how you can begin creating usability tests for your organization.
Read moreSkill #35: Understanding Basic Design Principles
Laci Kettavong—Marketing and Member Coordinator at Stoke—shares how you can understand basic design principles to improve your documentation.
Read moreSkill #34: Crowdsourcing Technical Communication
Dr. Chris Lam—technical communication professor at the University of North Texas—discusses his newest platform, CrowdsourceTPC, and how you can use it to find insights and resources to advance your career.
Read moreSkill #33: Getting Started with Open Data
Longtime open data advocates Jesse Hamner and Kyle Taylor help us understand the value of open data and how the civically-minded technical writer can get plugged into this exciting movement.
Read moreSkill #32: Understanding Translation and Localization
Mike McDermott—Director of Language Translations at MadTranslations—shares how organization can have a seamless, successful translation process, including how to research the right translation service, who to get involved in the research process, and how to create content optimized for translation.
Read moreSkill #31: Choosing the Right Knowledge Base Software for Your Organization
Kate Mueller—Support Sorceress and Cheese Monger at KnowledgeOwl reflects on her career to share the criterion you should consider as you choose the right knowledge base for your organization, including how to get started in your research, how to get company buy-in, and which essential features you should look for in a knowledge base software.
Read moreSkill #30: Landing a Tech Writing Internship
German technical writer Joachim shares how prospective tech writers can land their first tech writing internship.
Read moreSkill #29: Understanding Your Reader (as a Whole)
Alexander Yant—occupational therapist turned tech writer advocate—reflects on his career as occupational therapist to share how you can understand your reader as a whole, including why empathy is one of the most important aspects of audience analysis, how tech writers can boost their audience analysis skills, and how effective audience analysis can demonstrate your value as a tech writer.
Read moreSkill #28: Researching as a Tech Writer
Margaret Eker—technical writer at Magento, an Adobe company—shares how you can boost your researching skills as a tech writer, including how tech writers traditionally research new features, why tech writers should research the domain in which they work, and which steps you can take today to boost your research skills.
Read moreSkill #27: Contributing to GitHub
Tad Dieken—tech writer at Accuray—shares how to get started contributing to GitHub, including how to find projects that interest you, how to overcome imposter syndrome in GitHub, and which new skills you may learn in the process.
Read moreSkill #26: Getting Started with API Documentation
Tom Johnson—technical writer at Amazon—shares how to get started in API documentation, including where the tech writer fits in the API documentation process, what skills tech writers need to excel at API documentation, and where to find the best resources to ramp up those skills.
Read moreSkill #25: Nudging Users to Action through Contextual Help
Kacy Ewing—soon-to-be-Brooklyn-based tech writer—shares the skills you need to excel in creating contextual help, including how to position yourself in the user experience process, how to practice your contextual help writing, and where to find the best examples of contextual help.
Read moreSkill #24: Finding Your Content DNA
John Espirian—technical copywriter and author of the soon-to-be-released book Content DNA—shares how you can find your content DNA, including how to find your niche as a writer, how to market that niche to prospective clients, and how to use your niche to win big clients.
Read moreSkill #23: Transitioning into Tech Writing from Very-Much-Not Tech Writing
Chad Sterling—Product Technical Communications Specialist at KUKA—shares how you can transition into technical writing, including where to find a tribe of technical writers, how to use your existing skills to transition into technical writing, and how to ramp up your skills to find your first gig.
Read moreSkill #22: Using Your Detective Skills as a Technical Writer
Jamie Roddy—Manager of Technical Communicators who leads a team of global technical communicators—shares how you can use your detective skills as a technical writer, including which detective skills are most useful for technical writers, how to ramp up those skills, and how detective skills can help you transition into other fields within a software company.
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