I'd Rather Be Writing Podcast

Tech docs and Agile: Problems with integrating tech writers into engineering Scrums (Part 1)

04 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Although it seems like documentation should be treated like other features worked on by a Scrum team, frequently it is not. When tech writers try to i...

Why simple language isn't so simple: the struggle to create plain language in documentation

27 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Although you can adjust your content's style to be simpler and more readable, technical documentation introduces many new terms and concepts for r...

When the pain of ignorance exceeds the pain of learning

23 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Users turn to documentation when the pain of their ignorance exceeds the pain of learning. Unfortunately, this is the worst state of mind to try to le...

Transparency in documentation: dealing with limits about what you can and cannot say

13 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Although traditionally as a technical writer you don't run into too many ethical scenarios for docs, sometimes you have situations where your abil...

Recording of my WTD Portland 2017 presentation on Building navigation for your doc site -- 5 best practices

08 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Here's the recording of the presentation I gave at the Write the Docs 2017 Portland conference. The presentation explores best practices for doc n...

Recording of User-Centered Design Principles for Organizing Documentation

18 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

I recently presented to the STC Twin Cities chapter on User-centered Design Principles for Organizing Documentation. When organizing your documentatio...

Recording: Modern Technical Writing, by Andrew Etter (STC Silicon Valley chapter)

24 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Andrew Etter presented about his book, Modern Technical Writing, to the STC Silicon Valley chapter on January 24, 2017 in Santa Clara, California. In ...

Recording: Writing tech docs like a hacker with Jekyll

18 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

I recently gave a presentation titled Writing tech docs like a hacker with Jekyll to the to the Southern Ontario STC chapter (on Jan 18, 2017). In the...

Recording of Open Authoring -- Collaboration Across Disciplines presentation, by Ralph Squillace

15 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Ralph Squillace, a senior content engineer for the Microsoft Azure Infrastructure team based in San Francisco, California, recently gave a presentatio...

Saving Your Sanity Through Better Client Relations -- with Alisa Bonsignore

18 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In this presentation, Alisa Bonsignore, a technical communication consultant based in the San Francisco Bay area, talks about how she developed confid...

How can technical writers thrive in agile environments? Event recording and details

20 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Last Monday we had a record turnout at our STC Silicon Valley chapter (with about 40 attendees). The topic was a panel discussion on how to thrive in ...

Recording of Let's Tell a Story -- Scenario-Based Documentation, by Matt Ness (STC Silicon Valley Presentation)

02 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Matt Ness, a technical writer at Splunk and a co-organizer for WTD San Francisco, recently gave a presentation to the STC Silicon Valley chapter calle...

Balancing the never-ending list of documentation to write with your natural interests and passions

02 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes I think that I've covered every possible topic on this blog that is possible to write about, and my muse becomes silent for a while. But...

Presentation recording: Hunting for API developer documentation jobs in the San Francisco Bay area, by Andrew Davis

15 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Andrew Davis recently gave a presentation on finding developer documentation jobs (mostly for API documentation) in the San Francisco Bay area. The ti...

The complexities of translation and the need for dynamic variables in the build process

15 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Translation is a complex undertaking that usually requires you to take advantage of dynamic variables and other parameters in your source format in or...

Will the docs-as-code approach scale? Responding to comments on my Review of Modern Technical Writing

01 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

My previous post reviewing Andrew Etter's ebook on Modern Technical Writing got an enormous response. Some readers said the docs-as-code approach ...

The Story of Paligo: A new browser-based CCMS with all the features you'd ever want

01 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Up until two years ago, Anders Svensson and his colleagues, based in Sweden, provided DITA and XML consulting. They eventually created their own XML-b...

Review of Andrew Etter's ebook on Modern Technical Writing

26 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In Modern Technical Writing: An Introduction to Software Documentation, which is an e-book you can read on your Kindle, Andrew Etter argues for a mode...

Applying Tim Ferriss' 4-hour work week rules to tech comm projects

20 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Principles in Tim Ferriss' book The 4-Hour Work Week can be applied to tech comm projects. By focusing on the 20% of tasks that result in 80% of t...

Thoughts on Transforming Documentation Processes presentation at WTD: Evaluating the trend to treat documentation as code

15 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

At the last Write the Docs conference, Riona Macnamara, a tech writer working on internal developer documentation at Google, moderated a panel about t...

Context switching and efficiency -- Kanban to the rescue?

13 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In Become More Productive and Motivated, Mattias Sander provides a well-written overview of Lean, which is a strategy for eliminating waste and focusi...

Why Programming Sucks and the fallacy of documentation in the context of code chaos

12 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Yesterday on Write the Docs, someone shared an article titled Programming Sucks, by Peter Welch. More than just a developer monologue, this article se...

Thoughts on Documentation Avoidance for Programmers

09 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

This past week on the Write the Docs forum, there was a bit of discussion around a recent presentation titled Documentation Avoidance for Programmers....

Presentation recording: Move Fast And ... Document Things? Lessons learned in building documentation culture at a startup, by Ruthie Bendor

22 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

During the May WTD meetup, Ruthie Bendor, a web engineer, gave a presentation titled Move Fast And ... Document Things? Lessons learned in building do...

Recording of 'Two great teams that work great together: Bridging the gap between documentation and support,' by Neal Kaplan at Write the Docs

22 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

We recently hosted a Write the Docs meetup in Redwood City with a couple of excellent presenters. Below is the recording of Neal Kaplan's presenta...

Recording of WTD presentation on Video Documentation, by Alicia Avrach

24 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Alicia Avrach, a content strategist at ThoughtSpot, gave a presentation about video documentation at a recent Write the Docs San Francisco meetup. In ...

Recording of STC-SV presentation on the Shape of a Modern Technical Communication Organization, by Sanborn Hodgkins

24 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Sanborn Hodgkins gave a presentation to the STC Silicon Valley chapter called Shape of a Modern Technical Communication Organization on April 18. In t...

Spec-driven Development with RAML -- presentation by Michael Stowe to STC Silicon Valley chapter

09 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In October 2015 Michael Stowe presented to the STC Silicon Valley chapter about spec-driven development, with a demo of RAML, which is an API specific...

Recording of Creating Documentation for Startups: Panel Discussion -- Write the Docs San Francisco

22 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

The following is a recording of a panel discussion at a Write the Docs San Francisco meetup held Dec 17, 2015. The topic is on creating documentation ...

Recording of Version Control, Writers, and Worfklows by Richard Mateosian

17 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

You can watch the recording of Richard Mateosian's November 2015 presentation to the STC Silicon Valley about version control, writers, and workfl...

Podcast: Spec-driven Development of REST APIs, with a focus on RAML -- interview with Michael Stowe

12 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Spec-driven development is an approach to developing REST APIs by first describing and prototyping the API through a specification file (such as RAML ...

Udemy podcast (with me) and infographic on technical writing

06 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Recently I was interviewed by Alex Bankoff from Udemy for a podcast on the field of technical writing. The Udemy team also created an infographic abou...

Podcast: The divide between academics and practitioners -- Interview with Lisa Meloncon

10 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

In this podcast, I talk with Lisa Meloncon, an associate professor at the University of Cincinnatti, about the academic-practitioner divide.

Podcast: How do design, length, and relevance affect how people use API reference docs -- interview with Bob Watson

30 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Bob Watson recently finished a PhD with research that examined how the design and content of API reference docs affects the user's performance. In...

The key to writing good documentation: Testing your instructions

07 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Writing good documentation requires you to set up a test environment and test all of your instructions -- testing the instructions yourself and agains...

Introduction to technical writing -- slides and audio recording

16 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

API Documentation presentation to East Bay STC chapter -- slides and recording

16 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

The other week I gave a introductory presentation on API documentation to the East Bay STC chapter in Silicon Valley. Here are the slides and recordin...

Recording and slides from "Jekyll vs. DITA: Bridging the Gap Between Tech Comm and the Web" presentation

15 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Recording of API documentation workshop (REST and Javadoc) at tcworld India 2015

20 Mar 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Recording of Innovation in Technical Communication keynote at tcworld India 2015

18 Mar 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast: The upcoming tcworld India conference on March 12-13, with Akash Dubey

09 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Best practices for API documentation -- podcast with Andrya Feinberg

04 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Survival strategies for API documentation -- slides and recording

03 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

API workshop video + audio + slides + workshop files from TC Camp

27 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Moving from passive to reactive documentation -- recording of presentation by Greg Koberger, ReadMe.com founder

19 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast: Unifying the API doc publishing toolchain, with Mark Baker

08 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast: Automating REST API documentation, with Peter Gruenbaum

06 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Learning how developers think, and other API doc insights: Podcast with Joe Malin

22 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Getting a job in API documentation: Podcast with Andrew Davis

17 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

The Author Experience -- Interview with Rick Yagodich

05 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Slides and recording for "Perfecting the audio narration in instructional video" at Info Dev World

23 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

API Doc presentation slides and recording (San Francisco STC chapter)

16 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Information Development World and the Customer Experience -- A Podcast with Scott Abel and Val Swisher

19 Jun 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Introduction to API documentation: Interview with Scot Marvin

16 Jun 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Lessons learned as a novice API technical writer -- Interview with Mary Linderman (podcast)

08 Jun 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Creating code samples for API/SDK documentation (webinar recording, slides, and audio)

30 May 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Recording of my STC Sacramento presentation -- Why users can't find answers in help material

18 May 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Videos and reflections from the 2014 Intelligent Content Conference

04 Mar 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Tobi Crabtree on Virtual Agents (Intelligent Content 2014)

04 Mar 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Val Swisher on Translation Without Borders at Intelligent Content 2014

04 Mar 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Noz Urbina on The Biological Imperative for Intelligent Content (Intelligent Content 2014)

04 Mar 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Baker on Every Page Is Page One (Intelligent Content 2014)

04 Mar 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Rahel Bailie on the Language of Content Strategy (Intelligent Content 2014)

04 Mar 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Don Day on Connecting Intelligent Content with Micropublishing (Intelligent Content 2014)

04 Mar 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Theresa Putkey on Diagnosing and Solving Content Problems (Intelligent Content 2014)

04 Mar 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Kyle Wiens on gamification and iFixit / Dozuki at Intelligent Content 2014

04 Mar 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah O'Keefe on The Many Facets of Content Strategy (Intelligent Content 2014)

04 Mar 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Marcia Riefer Johnston on Writing (Intelligent Content 2014)

04 Mar 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Tom Johnson on Blogging (Intelligent Content 2014)

04 Mar 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Recording of STC Berkeley presentation on why users can't find answers in help

08 Jan 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Recording and slides for "Why users can't find answers in help" presentation to STC Silicon Valley

23 Oct 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Recording of "Video Tutorials for User Assistance" (UA Europe Presentation)

24 Jun 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Recording of "Making Content More Findable When Users Browse and Search" (UA Europe Presentation)

24 Jun 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast: Include It All, Filter It Afterwards -- Interview with Mark Baker

12 Dec 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Webinar Recording: Designing Quick Reference Guides

18 Feb 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Webinar Recording -- Organizing Help Content: Breaking Out of Topic-Based Hierarchies

18 Feb 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast: Organizing Help Content: Breaking Out of Topic-based Hierarchies

18 May 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast: Content Strategy and Agility, with Noz Urbina

06 Apr 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast: A Practical Guide to Information Architecture, with Donna Spencer

18 Mar 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast -- Visual Composing: Document Design for Print and Digital Media, with Jo Mackiewicz

14 Mar 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast with Alan Houser -- Candidate for STC Vice President

07 Mar 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast with Victoria Koster-Lenhardt -- Candidate for STC Vice President

07 Mar 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast: Educational Programs and Workplace Practices

24 Nov 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Why Help Content Fails and #contentstrategy

22 Oct 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Technical Writing Is More Than "Click This, Select That" [Podcast]

22 Oct 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast: Finding and Creating Relevant Content -- Strategies for Social Media

08 Oct 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast: Developing a Personal Voice in Audio (Intermountain-STC event)

06 Oct 2010

Contributed by Lukas

More Students Questions about Technical Writing

08 Sep 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Answers About the Field of Technical Writing for Students

06 Sep 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast: From Overlooked to Center Stage (Overlooked)

28 Apr 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast: “Anyone Can Write”: Changing Roles for Technical Communicators

26 Apr 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast: Trends in Technical Communication

26 Apr 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast: Ten Voiceover Techniques (PodcampSLC)

11 Apr 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast: What's New in Flare 6 — Interview with Mike Hamilton

02 Mar 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast: Documentation in the Cloud

01 Mar 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast: Riding the Tide of Technical Communications Consulting

21 Jan 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast on getting a job in technical writing (TW Job)

26 Dec 2009

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast: The Myth of Single Sourcing

22 Dec 2009

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast about the Podcast Poll

18 Nov 2009

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast on the seven deadly sins of blogging

05 Nov 2009

Contributed by Lukas