The Cherryleaf Podcast

94. Judging technical communication awards

Ellis was recently a judge for the UK Technical Communication Awards 2020. In this podcast we look at the process for judging the entries, and the variety of content submitted. 
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93. Writing controls-based procedures during the lockdown

Organisations that take a controls-based approach to auditing typically need controls-based procedures. We look at how they differ from other policies and procedures. We also discuss how we're approaching procedures writing projects during the lockdown. 
More information:
Cherryleaf procedures writing services
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Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash

92. Newly released applications from Microsoft and Adobe that could help you be a better communicator

We look at some newly released applications from Microsoft and Adobe that could help you be a better communicator:
Microsoft Fluid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy1Tyr93Sw4
Microsoft Editor
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/microsoft-editor
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-365-blog/introducing-microsoft-editor-bring-out-your-best-writer-wherever/ba-p/1247931
Microsoft Lists
https://youtu.be/plshQSoe_OY
Adobe RoboHelp Summer Release 2020
https://blogs.adobe.com/techcomm/2020/07/robohelp-summer-release-2020.html
More information:
Cherryleaf - for technical communication that keeps customers.
Cherryleaf newsletter
To contact Cherryleaf: info@cherryleaf.com

91. BLM, inclusivity and techcomm

Black Lives Matter (BLM), inclusivity and technical communicators: What can/should technical communicators do within and without their jobs?
 
BLM means recognising black people have historically suffered from prejudice and injustices, and that they still do today. 
 
We look at:
 
BLM and techcomm outputs
Encouraging Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) people to become technical communicators
Technical communicators using their skills in the wider community to support BLM
 
Links:
Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/ellispratt/status/1274966367159095296
https://developers.google.com/style/inclusive-documentation
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/style-guide/bias-free-communication
https://www.notion.so/9560a2fdb9364c1aa9e1ede6e6e84225?v=097d37e5e18d452b81af5712df427a56
https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/StyleGuide/current/StyleGuide/Domains
https://github.com/thm/uinames/blob/master/uinames.com/api/names.json
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53050955
https://www.cnet.com/news/master-and-slave-tech-terms-face-scrutiny-amid-anti-racism-efforts/
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-zTssredxA&feature=youtu.be
 
Image Robert Gale via Unsplash
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Cherryleaf - for technical communication that keeps customers.
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90. Mike Hamilton on using Flare to manage content for chatbots, the UI, Help and Knowledge Bases all from a single source

We caught up with Mike Hamilton, VP of Product Evangelism at MadCap Flare.
We talked about:
How is Covid-19/lockdown affecting you and MadCap?
Managing chatbots, UI text, Help and KB articles from a single source
What's new in Central 2020
What's new in Flare 2020?
Are the new features a sign of future developments?
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Cherryleaf - for technical communication that keeps customers.
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To contact Cherryleaf: info@cherryleaf.com

89. The end of corporate classroom training?

With the Covid-19 lockdown, corporate classroom training has had to stop.
But will it come back?
In this episode, we look at:
Do we need classroom training?
How Google is converting its technical writing for developers classroom course to an online format
How we are approaching the conversion of our classroom courses
What others advised on LinkedIn 
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More information
Cherryleaf - for technical communication that keeps customers.
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To contact Cherryleaf: info@cherryleaf.com
 
Unsplash image: You X Ventures

88. Will Myddelton on moving from an oral to a written culture

In this episode, we talk to Will Myddelton, Product lead at Local Welcome, about moving from an oral to a written culture within an organisation.
"An oral culture has huge advantages in that it’s fluid, easy to pick up, and doesn’t require a lot of attention to processes. 
But it has a big disadvantage which is that knowledge is stored inside people’s memories, or embodied in the things that are made in specific contexts.
This creates problems when someone goes on holiday, and even worse when someone leaves.
It means people often spend time reinventing or duplicating things that have been invented before.
Stepping back, it often means there is no single view of the system that the company is operating, (which is why so many design consultancies start with trying to map the systems that a company operates).
Finally, lots of organisations are trying to automate business processes, but how can you automate a process that isn’t documented (which is why there are so many business analysts who try and retro-document the processes that exist and are in operation)."
Links:
Conway's Law: latency versus throughput by Mark Seemann
Will Myddelton on Twitter
Local Welcome
Notion
Pioneers, settlers, town planners

87. Interview with CJ Walker about the technical writing scene in France

In this episode, we talk to CJ Walker, of Firehead, about the technical writing scene in France.
Firehead: www.firehead.net
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Cherryleaf - for technical communication that keeps customers.
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To contact Cherryleaf: info@cherryleaf.com

86. Covid-19 The future for organisations and for technical communication

The COVID-19 coronavirus is having a huge impact on people and organisations. With so many things that could be about to change, how should technical communicators respond?
In this episode we look at:
How organisations might change during and after the Covid-19 lockdown
What that means for technical communication
Comments made by others on LinkedIn
What changes we've made at Cherryleaf
Links:
Building a StoryBrand with Donald Miller - Your Checklist for Getting Through a Crisis
LinkedIn thread
 
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More information
Cherryleaf - for technical communication that keeps customers.
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To contact Cherryleaf: info@cherryleaf.com

85. Sara Feldman on how the writing in technical writing needs to evolve

We talk to Sara Feldman, about how the writing in technical writing needs to evolve.
We discuss:
The driving forces that are impacting our audience’s context in ways we need to account for in how we write
Things to do more
Things to do less
Customer-focused delivery
Think with Google: How consumer needs shape search behavior and drive intent
Sara Feldman on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarafeldman/
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More information
Cherryleaf - for technical communication that keeps customers.
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To contact Cherryleaf: info@cherryleaf.com