The Cherryleaf Podcast

153. Meeting and Connecting with Technical Communicators

In this episode, Ellis discusses the importance of networking and meeting other technical communicators, especially for those who work solo or in small teams. He explores various avenues for connecting with industry peers, from conferences and meetups to virtual groups and informal gatherings.
Key Topics Discussed:
Challenges of Solo Technical CommunicatorsMany technical writers in the UK work alone or in small teams, limiting opportunities for professional exchange.
Conferences & Meetups
Ellis mentions conferences like TCUK and Tekom and describes the more casual atmosphere of meetups, such as those organised by ISTC and Write The Docs London.
London-based events like ISTC’s monthly gatherings and Write The Docs London meetups, which feature speakers, presentations, and networking sessions.
Benefits of Attending Events
Navigating Networking for Introverts
Tips on starting conversations, showing empathy, and practicing conversational balance to ease networking anxiety.
Write The Docs London Event Recap
Highlights from recent presentations by Neo4j’s David Oliver on building a documentation team and Mark Woulfe on using dashboards to analyze documentation performance.
Alternative Networking Ideas
Tips for Speaking at Meetups
Final Thoughts
Connect with Ellis Pratt:
Website: Cherryleaf.com
Social Media: LinkedIn and other platforms (search "Ellis Pratt")

152. From User Docs to Podcast

We explore an intriguing development in content creation: AI-generated audio from technical documentation.
We’ve prepared two examples to showcase this technology, and we discuss its potential impact and applications.
We used the user guide for Audacity, the popular audio editing application, to generate an AI-narrated overview:
https://youtu.be/yPlfAPpqGuw?si=cCJeZ-hfvg_o--fg
We also created an audio overview of Transport for London’s API using only their OpenAPI (Swagger) file as the source:
https://youtu.be/-j1yiFz8-Tc?si=WaRHpn0mgID8J4qX 
We'll also publish a transcript of this podcast on the Cherryleaf blog.
About Cherryleaf:
Cherryleaf

151.Emerging Trends in Technical Communication: A 2024 Conference Insights Deep Dive

In this episode of the Cherryleaf podcast, we explore the latest trends in technical communication as revealed by an in-depth analysis of conference themes from 2024.
By examining data from leading events such as Tekom, TC World, LavaCon, and the STC Summit, we identify eight major themes shaping the industry, with a surprising dominance of AI and generative technologies.
Listen in to understand how these trends are influencing content strategy, user experience, compliance, and more, and learn how to position yourself at the forefront of these developments in technical communication.
We'll also publish a transcript of this podcast on the Cherryleaf blog.
About Cherryleaf:
Cherryleaf

150. AI in technical writing: where's the ROI and is it all hype?

Remember the excitement when ChatGPT burst onto the scene? Suddenly, it seemed like AI was going to revolutionise everything, including our field of technical communication.
But now, 18 months and six Cherryleaf AI podcast episodes later, we're asking the big question: Was it all just hype?
You've probably heard some folks saying AI isn't delivering the promised return on investment. And others swearing it's changing the game. So, what's the real story?
In this episode, we'll examine these claims through the lens of technical writing. We'll:
Examining recent claims about AI's lack of ROI
Exploring how these claims stack up in the world of technical writing
Looking at the potential benefits and pitfalls of AI for our work
Discussing what factors might influence whether AI is worth the investment
Whether you're an AI enthusiast or a sceptic, stick around. Let’s figure out where AI really stands in the world of technical documentation.
We'll also publish a transcript of this podcast on the Cherryleaf blog.
About Cherryleaf:
Cherryleaf
 
Goldman Sachs
https://www.goldmansachs.com/intelligence/pages/gs-research/gen-ai-too-much-spend-too-little-benefit/report.pdf?
Ed Zitron
https://www.wheresyoured.at/pop-culture/
Ethan Mollick: 
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d35e72fcff15f0001b48fc2/t/668d08608a0d4574b039bdea/1720518756159/chatgpt-full.pdf
https://x.com/emollick/status/1815563452640854093
MadCap Software
https://www.madcapsoftware.com/blog/madcap-ixaccms-ai-positron/

149: Promoting the value of techcomm

We've created some YouTube Shorts on promoting the value of techcomm. We talk about the process of creating the videos and the content in the videos.
See also:
Cherryleaf's YouTube Shorts
Uncovering and communicating the value of your tech comm teams' work, with Keren Brown 
 
We'll also publish a transcript of this podcast on the Cherryleaf blog.
About Cherryleaf:
Cherryleaf

148. Using AI in techcomm - 2024 survey results

In April 2023, we conducted a survey into the use of AI and ChatGPT in technical communications. We thought it would be interesting to carry out a similar survey again. 
In this podcast, we talk about the results from the survey and describe what has changed over the last 12 months.
We'll post a transcript on the Cherryleaf blog.
About Cherryleaf:
Cherryleaf

147. The art of persuasion

This month's podcast looks at the language of persuasion and how technical authors can use it.
What do we mean by persuasive language? What is nudging and are we as technical authors able to use this type of language?
As part of the research for this podcast I watched some public information films and read articles which are mentioned in the podcast. Many thanks to those organisations, authors and their expertise. Here are the links to the ones mentioned in the podcast:
The British Film Institute (BFI) has a comprehensive catalogue of public information films as well as much other entertaining and informative material. You can watch the ones mentioned in the podcast by following the links below:
Lonely water film
Green Cross Code film
AIDS awareness film
Internet shopping film
Marco Janicke's article "Who listens to safety instructions anyway" in TC World
More info about Marco
Nest leaf information
We'll also publish a transcript of this podcast on the Cherryleaf blog.
About Cherryleaf:
Cherryleaf

146. What is the current demand for contract Technical Authors?

In this episode, we look at the current demand for contract Technical Authors in the UK, using statistics from ITJobsWatch.net. We look at the the number of vacancies and whether this has affected the rates offered.
We'll also publish a transcript of this podcast on the Cherryleaf blog.
About Cherryleaf:
Cherryleaf

145. How large organisations create useful, informative, accessible content

This month's podcast looks at how large organisations create useful, informative content which is accessible to a wide, often global, audience.
As part of the research for this podcast I looked at various websites which are mentioned in the podcast. Many thanks to those organisations and their expertise. Here are the links to the ones mentioned in the podcast:
Panasonic
Ikea
Gov.uk
Fast Company
We'll also publish a transcript of this podcast on the Cherryleaf blog.
About Cherryleaf:
Cherryleaf

144. Corporate rebranding - how it affects technical authors

This month's podcast looks at what is involved in a corporate re-brand and what is involved for technical authors if their organisation decides to rebrand.
What is a corporate brand? And what is involved when an organisation decides to rebrand?
As part of the research for this podcast we looked at various websites which are mentioned in the podcast. Many thanks to those organisations and their expertise. Here are the links to the ones mentioned in the podcast:
indeed.com has lots of informative articles, their article on the importance of branding was very informative: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/rebranding
Profile tree are a web design and digital marketing company with lots of great posts about digital marketing strategy: https://profiletree.com/why-rebrand/
Madcap Flare is help authoring tool widely used in the technical authoring community and beyond: https://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare2023r2/Content/Flare/Branding/Branding.htm 
We'll also publish a transcript of this podcast on the Cherryleaf blog.
About Cherryleaf:
Cherryleaf