Putting the “technical” into “technical communication”

I came across a Facebook memory that recounted a conversation that I had about a year ago with Erin Gallalee from STC. She had suggested a couple of topics that might be of interest to technical communicators. Each can be a topic in and of themselves, and perhaps at some point soon, I might take …

What is an “expert?”

Years ago, Chris Bell, one of my friends on the SQL Saturday circuit, gave me a piece of advice that has stuck with me for years. He told me (and I'm paraphrasing here), "the definition of an expert is someone who knows something that you don't." When someone says someone is an "expert," most people conjure …

Worldstock #WorldPeace #UniteTheWorld #StopHate

For whatever reason, during my commute into the office this morning, my mind started wandering (as it usually does), and I started thinking about the conflicts throughout the world at the current moment: Israel vs. Hamas, Ukraine vs. Russia, and so on. And this is to say nothing about conflicts that have been ongoing for …

Coming up with new presentation ideas

I'm sure that one of the struggles -- and most common questions -- for new presentation speakers is, "what do I speak about?" For those of you who are budding presentation speakers, let me tell you that even experienced speakers can have the same problem. This issue is common, and it isn't limited to presentation …

Your User Manual

As a technical writer, anything that mentions “manual” (or “documentation”, for that matter) tends to catch my eye. I suppose it’s an occupational hazard. But when I saw this post from my friend, Steve Jones, it made me take notice.

I’m reblogging this for my own personal reference as much as anything else. Suppose you had a set of instructions for yourself? How would it read?

I might try this exercise for myself at some point, but for the moment, read Steve’s article, and see if you can come up with your own manual for yourself.

Voice of the DBA

Many of us have spent time looking through manuals or the documentation for some software or product. I know I’m on the MS docs site regularly for work, and there is no shortage of times I’ve used various manuals to help me fix something around the house. We usually use a manual when we want to learn how something is supposed to work, or how to get it to do what we want.

I saw a post on a personal user manual that I thought was a good idea for some people, maybe many people. This isn’t a manual for how you should live your life or work, but rather, how others might interact with you. This manual describes how you work, what motivates you, stimulates you, what pleases you, and even the environment in which are most productive.

Whether or not this is something you might give to co-workers…

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Make time for your art

This pic above showed up in a Facebook meme, and it spoke volumes to me. To sum up my thoughts in only a few words, I'm an artist. Okay, I suppose some context is in order; after all, I am writing this as a 'blog article. For the benefit of those of you who don't …

The #Coronavirus chronicles, part 23: Learning songs in a new language #COVID19

Before I get into this article, I need to direct you to a few other articles that I wrote, all of which are directly relevant to what I'm about to write. You will likely not understand some of the references in this article unless you read these other ones first (or are friends with me …

#TheBestOf… Bringing the world together by telling us about your special world

A wandering mind can be a dangerous thing. 🙂 If you're a 'blogger who's looking for something to write about, read on. Perhaps this will give you an idea. This afternoon, I was doing a mundane, household chore (specifically, I was washing dishes and doing some cleaning in the kitchen), and whenever I do mundane …

The #Coronavirus chronicles, part 18: Exploring your backyard (and places to visit near Albany, NY) #COVID19

(Photo credit: U.S. Grant Cottage State Historic Site) This morning, I saw a Facebook post from a friend of mine who visited the Ulysses S. Grant cottage. He posted about its historic significance, and included a number of photos that he took around the site. It was a neat post, and it made me want …

My company logo on a shirt

I was poking around VistaPrint's website the other day (this is the site I use to make my business cards). Of course, with any business that sells promotional items, I was greeted with the proverbial "try your logo on this product" popup window. One of the items that came up was shirt designs. I decided …