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Perfecting the Technical Communicator’s Hat Trick: Why My Hair’s Messy
Liz Herman, PhD, PMP, CPTC
@dr_herman
lizherman.com
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hat trick. noun
Three successes in a series Hockey: three goal or points scored in one game by one player
Tech Comm: three+ roles played simultaneously by one person
A clever maneuver Practiced by technical communicators daily
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Sail Away with Me
Now sit right back and you’ll hear a tale
About grammar, and editing, and tech comm (oh my!)
Making your way in the world today (as technical communicators) takes everything you’ve got
I’ll be here for you demonstrating the many hats we wear as technical communicators
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Ship Shape
No, I’m not done with the sailor hat yet.
But am I done with lyrics from TV shows.
Look to your port side.
Look to your starboard side.
All of us wear different hats as technical communicators.
Let’s toss the anchors away and see about those hats.
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Out in the Cold
You’re the only one explaining why irregardless is not a word.
that DITA is not Dita Von Teese.
why you search and replace the second space after a period.
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Block and Tackle
We’re on the gridiron every day defending our profession.
There is no off-season. Technical communication is everywhere. See STC’s New Online Course: Project Management and the Technical Communicator. Starts
June 11!
This is a team sport. Everyne benefits from an editor.
Hash marks. Hash tags. Coincidence?
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Wild, Wild Westeros
We were born to know how to herd, rope, and ‘wrassle’ errant writers, commas, widows, and orphans.
Gallop. Gallup. Galapagos.
Googling ‘horse and technical communicator’ yields 8.6M results
#gameofthrones
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Married to our Work
Can you read something without editing it?
Do you get in trouble for correcting your mother-in-law’s grammar?
Wait. Did you hear that? Was that my iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry, Gmail, Hotmail, AOL? Must. Stay. Connected.
See also: Divas about our work.
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Fire Fighters
Deadlines.
People.
Procrastination.
Not for INTJs
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Cop to It
So many sub-roles to play: Good cop
Bad cop
Traffic cop
Detective cop
With handcuffs
Without handcuffs
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Searching
how-to answers about the tools we use
Information to include in your Summit presentation horse and technical communicator
different kinds of cops
how to change hyperlink text in PowerPoint
Lanyrd
find search history in Google Chrome
STC proceedings
From current location to Dunkin’ Donuts
Images of hot firemen
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The Big Easy
Tools can make our lives easier. Madcap
Adobe
SDL
Webworks
easyDITA
Net-Translators
Acrolinx
We are not tools. See also: I am Not a Tool blog on STC’s Notebook
Information Mapping
Kinetic
single-sourcing solutions
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Luck o’ the Irish
You take the good, you take the bad. You take them both. And there you have the Facts of Life. Last TV song. Promise.
Technical communicators are good researchers. Luck o’ the Irish is often misused to imply something good.
Tenacious drive to discern fact from fiction.
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Across the Sea
Worldwide Multi-national
Multi-cultural
Multi-AWESOME
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Green with Envy
Would most of you here today agree that technical communication is a pretty great profession? With a great annual conference – the SUMMIT –
With great fellow technical communicators
With great local chapters
With our house band The Rough Drafts (see #stc15)
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Mean People Suck
Our jobs are complex and complicated
Working with people isn’t always the big easy.
Sometimes we use wizardry to get the job done. Repurpose, reuse, recycle.
Ask for help.
Manage your content.
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Groovy
Overall, we’re a peaceful bunch
Minus head-exploding issues when people write car’s versus cars
Insert your grammar/technical communication pet peeve here
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Don’t Jest
We can’t all fit in a clown car
Responsibility to sustain the profession so that doesn’t happen
Continued involvement in STC
Networking
Share the story of the hat you’re wearing
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Let’s Talk Turkey
Missing glaring errors in your own work
Explaining what you do
Giving thanks to STC and you
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At the End of the Day
Congratulations on the perfecting the technical communicator’s hat trick.
Now kick back and relax!
See you at tonight’s Summit Tweetup! #stc14party
I will have extra hats to share!
