Add New Tricks to Your Performance

One of the things I noticed about circus performers was that they are always practicing and always learning. Why? Because audiences demand acts that delight them. Therefore, to keep their routines fresh and interesting to themselves as well as to the audience, performers are always learning something new, something more difficult, or something fresh. You, as a technical communicator, need to have the same passion for adding new tricks to your performance. A great place to start is with usability: design, testing, and analysis. Why? If you make sure that your documents are well written, doesn’t that automatically make them usable? Of course not. Well-written documents are simply that—well written. Your prose may be technically accurate, clear, and succinct, but if people can’t find it, or don’t know about it, or if it documents a hard-to-use product, then no one will use it. As Judy Glick-Smith says: 'It’s communication, not literature.'

Wise, Mary. Usability Interface (2000). Articles>Usability

Juggling Projects: Managing Multiple Technical Communication Projects  

Managing multiple projects can seem like juggling eggs in front of a crowd of people—sometimes you wonder if you’re going to catch everything! Many managers have difficulty maintaining the progress of multiple projects without focusing on one project while the others fall by the wayside. In this workshop, we’ll discuss the most common mistakes managers make and suggest techniques for staying on top of multiple technical communication projects. Before you know it, you’ll be juggling like a professional… juggler, that is.

Wise, Mary and Molly Hammar. STC Proceedings (1998). Careers>Management>TC