Articles

This page provides articles of general interest to technical communicators. These are available in PDF format.

About Technical Communicators

Who are technical communicators?
Article describing what technical communicators do and different routes into this profession. Includes personal accounts from technical writers across the globe.
Technical communicators in Cambridge NEW!
Describes technical writing in Cambridge, UK: industries where technical writers are employed in Cambridge and opportunities for technical writers in Cambridge. This article was published in the Summer 2008 edition of ISTC's Communicator.

Interviewing Skills for technical writers
Excellent communication skills is often listed as a prerequisite for a position as a technical writer. This article provides tips for interviewing subject matter experts (SMEs), to gather information on a project or subject. The article was published in 2008 in the STC's Intercom.
Tips for Obtaining Effective Reviews NEW!
Encouraging reviewers to respond to review requests can seem a daunting task. This article discusses useful techniques for obtaining the review you need. This article was published in the Spring 2008 edition of ISTC's Communicator.
Putting together a training course NEW!
This article describes how to put together the documentation for a training course — including presentations, workbooks, demos and tests. This article was published in the Spring 2009 edition of ISTC's Communicator.
Marcom for the Technical Communicator
Many technical communicator play a key role in presenting a company’s information to the public. This article describes ways in which technical communicators can contribute to Marcom activities in a company.
Writing Effective Brochures
Writing effective brochures is an art as well as a science.This article provides some guidelines and tips for writing effective brochures.
Planning for external printing services
Provides guidelines and useful information on the process of printing documentation through an external printing service.

Documentation for a Data Centre Migration NEW!
This article describes some of the strategies and methods for collecting and managing the information required for a complex data centre migration. This article was published in the Winter 2008 edition of ISTC's Communicator.
The Zachman Enterprise Architecture Framework NEW!
A framework for describing an organisation's structure. This article was published in the Autumn 2008 edition of ISTC's Communicator.
Critical Incident Management Communications.
This article provides some insight into incident management procedures and best practise in determining policy for incident management communications. This article was published in the Autumn 2008 edition of ISTC's Communicator.

Planning your career
In order to work towards long-term career goals, it is important that you plan ahead. This article provides suggestions for planning your future career, by preparing a Road Map document.
Surviving the Ups and Downs
What can we do to enhance our feeling of security in the workplace and survive the ups and downs of a changing economy? This article provides some suggestions.

Technical communications and the art of doodles NEW!
WIKIPEDIA defines the doodle as 'an informal scribble or sketch- - in short, scribbling without intent and little thought. Technical communicators are ideally suited to doodles, with their eye for detail and ability to creativity combine words and images.

Don't be a writer's writer NEW!
A discussion on the unnecessary complexity that tends to creep into writing style guides and how to avoid this.
Stress management for technical writers Part 1
This article is based on a combination of job ratings, research findings and stress ratings from a survey conducted on a broad range of international technical writers. The article was published in 2002 on TECHWR-L.
Stress management for technical writers Part 2
This follow-on article explores strategies technical writers use to cope with stress, including personal annecdotes from a range of international writers. The article was published in 2002 on TECHWR-L.
Guidelines For Producing Effective Documentation
This article is intended for subject matter experts who need to work on documentation projects with a technical or marketing writer. The guidelines are intended to help both you and the writer in producing clear and easy to read documentation.
Tips for Effectively Managing your Time
Inadequate organization of your time can lead to backlogs and delays, and affect the quality of your work. This article describes some strategies technical writers can use for effectively managing their time.
How to Keep Your Employees Happy
A good manager realises that their writers are valuable assets. The following suggestions may help to make your technical writers happier in their jobs and keep them on longer.