The Cherryleaf Podcast

64. How you could make your Help topics appear at the top of the Search Engines

We take a deeper look at Schema.org/HowTo, which Google is promoting as the way to get instructional content to appear in the snippets box.
There's a video to accompany this episode:
How you could make your Help topics appear at the top of the Search Engines
More information:
Advanced Technical Communication training course
Cherryleaf
To contact Cherryleaf: info@cherryleaf.com

63. Creating compelling multimedia technical communication and working at Google, with Alexandra White

We talk to Alexandra White, a Technical Writer on the Ad Manager team at Google.
We discuss conference speaking, and creating compelling multimedia content for technical communication. 
More information:
Cherryleaf
To contact Cherryleaf: info@cherryleaf.com

62. Looking back on the presentations at The Evolution of TC 2019 conference

We look back on the presentations at The Evolution of TC 2019 conference. This was held in Sofia, Bulgaria. 
Evolution of TC conference website
Evolution of TC 2019 podcast workshop
rundoc
Cherryleaf
To contact Cherryleaf: info@cherryleaf.com

61. What Skills Will Technical Communicators Need for the Upcoming Years?

This a practice recording of Ellis' keynote presentation at the Evolution of TC 2019 conference on What Skills Will Technical Communicators Need for the Upcoming Years?
 
Links:
Evolution of TC
The Future of Techcomm STC video
Di MacDonald “Should I Really Bother Learning to Code?” 
“Design in Tech” reports
Tom Johnson - Tech Comm Trends: Providing Value as a Generalist in a Sea of Specialists
Cherryleaf
To contact Cherryleaf: info@cherryleaf.com

60. Google adds rich results support for how-to content

We look at Google's announcement to support and promote rich, how-to structured data in Google Search and the Google Assistant.
Google Blog: 
New in structured data: FAQ and How-to
Create a How-to Video Action using templates
https://schema.org/HowTo
 
To contact Cherryleaf: info@cherryleaf.com
www.cherryleaf.com 
 

59. The benefits of metadata, with Michael Andrews

We talk to Michael Andrews about metadata, and his new book "No More Silos: Metadata Strategy for Online Publishers".
No More Silos: Metadata Strategy for Online Publishers
 
To contact Cherryleaf: info@cherryleaf.com
www.cherryleaf.com 

58. Writing a presentation for a conference

We look at how to write a slide deck for a presentation. 
Evolution of TC conference
http://technicalcommunicationuk.com/
The Future of Techcomm video by Scott Abel
Different possible presentation structures:
The recipe
The map
The "Lessons I learnt" 
Nancy Duarte format - how it is, how it will be (politicians) 
The redemption story - failed but recovered
“You Are Not Alone” 
Nine tips
The list - skill 1, skill 2
The rhetorical structure
Overview, scope and definitions, why this is important, your argument, evidence, deal with objections, next point, summary, conclusion
Create interest, main point, supporting evidence, summary
The analogy - X does this, what if we see what we do as x
The hero’s journey - damsel in distress, knight in shining armour, scary dragon
Round up of experts - comments from others
Microsoft Sway templates for presentation
Image from Write2Users 2017 conference
The Secret Structure of Great Talks Nancy Duarte Tedx Talk
To contact Cherryleaf: info@cherryleaf.com
www.cherryleaf.com 
 

57. Word - saint or sinner?

We look at the pros and cons of using Microsoft Word.
Doc-To-Help
EditTools v8.0
WDesk
Top 10 reasons to move from Microsoft Word to Adobe FrameMaker by Tammy Halter
Why FrameMaker costs less than Word
FrameMaker v Word
CyberText blog
 
To contact Cherryleaf: info@cherryleaf.com
www.cherryleaf.com 

56. Microcontent in Flare - conversation with Mike Hamilton

In this episode of the Cherryleaf Podcast, we speak to Mike Hamilton about the new microcontent features coming to MadCap Flare. In particular, we discuss chatbots and using microcontent to improve search results.
To contact Cherryleaf: info@cherryleaf.com
www.cherryleaf.com 
MadCap Software: www.madcapsoftware.com

55. PDFs - saints or sinners?

We look at the pros and cons of using PDFs.
PDF to Markdown 
To contact Cherryleaf: info@cherryleaf.com
www.cherryleaf.com