Episodes

Monday Sep 11, 2023
Monday Sep 11, 2023
We talk to Daniel Foster, Director of Strategy at TechSmith, about the contentious relationship between technical writers and video content.
A growing trend among technical writers is the integration of video content alongside traditional documentation and visuals, offering a dynamic and immersive medium to enhance user understanding and engagement. However, writers generally prefer words because they’re easier to reuse and scale, as well as being more efficient for their overall business. This leads to a rather contentious relationship with video elements...especially with clients specifically requesting more of them.
Daniel regularly works with technical writers on how to bridge this gap and effectively leverage video content to complement their writing.
We discuss how technical writers can effectively manage this contentious relationship.
We will publish a transcript on the Cherryleaf blog.
About Cherryleaf:
Cherryleaf
Techsmith's Research hub includes:- Value of Visuals- Ultimate Guide to Simplified User Interface Graphics (SUI)- The Ultimate Guide to Easily Make Instructional VideosGuide to adding captions to videos
Simplify Tool in Snagit (tutorial)Audiate

Friday Aug 11, 2023
Friday Aug 11, 2023
We reflect on the lesson learnt so far as a result of developing our upcoming elearning course on using Generative AI in technical communication.
We will publish a transcript on the Cherryleaf blog.
About Cherryleaf:
Cherryleaf

Wednesday Jul 12, 2023
Wednesday Jul 12, 2023
As part of our research into using generative AI in technical communications, we ran a survey to discover the questions that technical communicators are asking.
In this episode, we review those questions and identify some common themes.
About Cherryleaf:
Cherryleaf

Monday Jun 12, 2023
Monday Jun 12, 2023
When people talk about AI, chatbots, and tools like ChatGPT, all the new terminology can make it hard to understand how it all works. In this episode, we're going to look at the definitions of some of the words that you might hear.
Register for our webinar Using AI in techcomm: What you asked, and the answers
Thursday 29th June 2023
As a way of bridging the gap between the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the specific needs of Technical Communicators, we conducted a survey within the technical communications community. We wanted to uncover the most pressing questions, concerns, and areas of interest related to using AI and ChatGPT in technical communications.
In this webinar, we’ll present some of the questions you raised, and outline the answers to those questions. Additionally, we will present a framework for identifying opportunities and best practices for integrating ChatGPT and AI into their technical authoring processes.
About Cherryleaf:
Cherryleaf

Friday May 12, 2023
Friday May 12, 2023
In this episode, we talk about writing procedures that are needed for regulatory compliance.
By this we mean organisations that might be investigated by a regulatory body.
We describe the different approaches to creating the content.
We'll post a transcript to the Cherryleaf Blog.
About Cherryleaf:
Cherryleaf

Tuesday Apr 11, 2023
Tuesday Apr 11, 2023
We wanted to talk about some ideas that we've taken from Google on how to present elearning video content. And to share them in case you are also involved in e-learning, and you wanted to copy these ideas as well.
We examine one of Google's videos from its UX Design course. These courses are on YouTube, so it’s possible to view them without having to sign up to a course.
Link to the video:
Intro to UX (User Experience)
We'll post a transcript to the Cherryleaf Blog.
About Cherryleaf:
Cherryleaf

Sunday Mar 12, 2023
Sunday Mar 12, 2023
It's been about three months since ChatGPT was launched. And we thought it would be good to look at really the status of what ChatGPT might mean for the future of technical communication.
And we did a blog and we did some experiments back in December, as have others, and people have reflected on the pros and cons of it.
And we thought it would be good to take a look at it today.
--
We'll post a transcript to the Cherryleaf Blog.
About Cherryleaf:
Cherryleaf
--
More information:
Wie gut ist Künstliche Intelligenz in der Technischen Dokumentation?
https://www.parson-europe.com/de/blog/kuenstliche-intelligenz-chatgpt-technische-dokumentation
Cherryleaf: What will ChatGPT mean for the future of technical communication?
https://www.cherryleaf.com/2022/12/what-will-chatgpt-mean-for-the-future-of-technical-communication/
ICMS GmbH: https://www.icms.de/kuenstliche-intellig enz-in-der-technischen-redaktion-fluch-oder-segen/
Pinecone: Generative Question-Answering with Long-Term Memory https://www.pinecone.io/learn/openai-gen-qa/

Monday Feb 13, 2023
Monday Feb 13, 2023
In January 2023, there's been quite a few layoffs in the tech sector. It's reported that Google has laid off 12,000 people, Microsoft 11,000, Amazon 18,000, Salesforce 8000. And there's also been layoffs at Meta, Cisco, Spotify, and other organisations.
In this episode, we're going to look at dealing with being laid off or being made redundant.
We'll post a transcript to the Cherryleaf Blog.
About Cherryleaf:
Cherryleaf

Wednesday Jan 11, 2023
Wednesday Jan 11, 2023
We talk to Diana Logan, Manager, Technical Writing at GitLab, about Gitlab’s approach to documentation and code.
We discuss:
Working in an “Docs as Code” environment
The upcoming GitLab Docs hackathon
Working for a fully remote, asynchronous organisation
We've posted a transcript to the Cherryleaf Blog.
More information:
GitLab Docs Hackathon 23 - 27 January, 2023
Five fast facts about docs as code at GitLab
How to update GitLab documentation
About Cherryleaf:
Cherryleaf

Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
It’s that time of year for us to gaze into our crystal ball and share your and our predictions for the future of technical communication for 2023 and beyond.
Thread on LinkedIn
Thread on Twitter
We've posted a transcript to the Cherryleaf Blog.
About Cherryleaf:
Cherryleaf