A TABLE AT THE BACK

A TABLE AT THE BACK

By Branka Injac Misic and Laura LuckBusiness
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A TABLE AT THE BACK episodes

  • S3. E8. - Whatcha been up to? A casual chat.

    This is the last episode of season 3! 

    Pretend you're in a coffee shop, sitting down with us (remember sitting in a coffee shop?).. and having a casual chat about: 

    - Laura celebrating a milestone this week! 

    - Branka needing a drink (haha desperate times) 

    - Is the black hole of quarantine swallowing us up? 

    - Laura chats about current work projects and starting a new role

    - Branka dives deep into her concerns around superannuation and sole traders during COVID

    - How we're coping (or not coping) working from home with kids

    - What our work days actually look like at the moment (it’s not pretty) 

    - Why we haven’t been active on socials 

    - Yes, we both just need to chill the eff out


    Recs:

    - Normal People TV adaptation 

    - The Danish Way of Parenting


    Contact us:

    42 min
  • S3. E7. - Crisis Comms with Anna Rogan
    At the time of recording this episode, the world is experiencing a one in a hundred year event with the global pandemic that is COVID-19. Businesses all over the planet are struggling with many things – the most noticeable from the outside being their communication.
    So this week, we invited a crisis comms expert on the podcast to guide us all through approaching business comms when things get turned upside down.
    Anna Rogan is a foolhardy olive farmer and stubbornly creative copywriter who specialises in personality-driven website and email copy for small biz owners.
    Anna has a BA in psychology, a post-grad in writing and a decade-long career in comms and media roles for some pretty big brands under her belt. And though she hails from a background in crisis comms, these days she mainly writes for purpose-driven, heart-led, socially-conscious small business owners and entrepreneurs.
    In this episode we talked about:
    • The standard format to follow when crafting crisis comms.
    • Tapping into empathy to guide communication during a crisis – especially for businesses that tend to be more transactional.
    • Finding the balance in your comms between business as usual and ‘business unusual’.
    • Respecting brand tone of voice during a crisis.
    • Tips for communicating with teams and stakeholders when you’re working remotely.
    Find Anna here:
    • https://www.annarogan.com/
    • https://www.instagram.com/annaroganwriter/
    • https://au.linkedin.com/in/anna-rogan-a7349624
    51 min
  • S3. E6. - Conversion Design with Matt Hall
    With a decade of marketing experience for brands large and small, Matt applies user research and data to craft results-driven messaging combined with visual design and tech.
    By day, Matt works as a conversion copywriter for Kajabi. By night, Matt combines copy, visual design, and tech to deliver high-converting websites for his clients.
    No matter what he's working on, Matt obsessively asks how we can lead users on a journey that achieves business goals while making the world a little bit better.
    In this episode we talked with Matt about:
    • What it’s like to work for an amazing company that always puts the customer first
    • How UX, copywriting, and comms strategy fit into the current economic and ethical climate
    • How important will our type of work will be in the recovery from Covid-19
    Connect with Matt:
    • https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-hall-372b4645/
    • https://www.conversiondesign.org/
    • https://www.getanawesomejob.com/
    51 min
  • S3. E5. - Accessibility and Inclusivity with Veronica Camara
    As writers, we have a huge impact on making sure digital products are inclusive and accessible – and we spoke with Veronica Camara about how she does just that.
    She's is the founder and Principal at AVO Agency, a human-centred content company serving complex industries.
    We also spoke about:
    - How Avo Agency came about and what cool projects Veronica has been working on
    - How she works remotely with a team of freelancers, with people all over the world
    - Tips for swapping time for money, and how the Avo business has evolved
    - What does accessibility mean to writers and content strategists (and what are some examples)?
    - An insight into Veronica's workshops on accessibility and inclusivity 
    Recommendations:
    - Range by David Epstein
    - Chromatical Club: https://chromatical.com.au/
    - Content Design Podcast with Vanessa Barlow
    Find Veronica here:
    @veronica.avo on instagram
    Avoagency.com
    41 min
  • S3. E4. - Ethics in product design and UX writing
    Ethics in product design and UX writing.
    It's a pretty heavy topic today pals. But we make it fun ;) 
    We're talking:
    - the addictiveness of apps
    - moral dilemmas with projects or companies we’ve worked for and with 
    - where does the responsibility lie?
    - how we do things a little differently now that we have more experience under our belts
    - why traditional influence techniques are great to know, but it's how you use them
    Here are our recommendations:
    • How tech hijacks people's minds (the list we run through by Tristan Harris, design ethicist): https://medium.com/thrive-global/how-technology-hijacks-peoples-minds-from-a-magician-and-google-s-design-ethicist-56d62ef5edf3
    • “It’s all just a bunch of BS” (ep 6): https://podtail.com/en/podcast/it-s-all-just-a-bunch-of-bs/
    • Samuel Salzer: Humans Design Products...Or Products Design Humans
    http://nxhx.org/Choicemaking/
    • Matt Wallaert Salary or Equity: https://salaryorequity.com/
    • UX writer (Erik Wong) at Google: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfZCI-SOS2g
    • UXWC newsletter signup: thedash.uxwriterscollective.com/newsletter
    • 'Hooked' by Nir Eyal
    • Matrix for ethical and behavioural design: https://designli.co/blog/using-the-manipulation-matrix-for-ethical-behavioral-design/
    • Tristan Harris (again): https://humanetech.com/problem/
    58 min
  • S3. E3. - Closing the gender pay gap with Meggie Palmer and Peptalkher

    In the lead up to International Women's Day 8 March), we spoke to Meggie Palmer, founder of PepTalkHer.  PepTalkHer's mission is to close the gender pay gap. The PepTalkHer app helps you track your career successes through artificial intelligence: building confidence, negotiation skills and through giving you a pep talk when you need it most. We spoke about: - Meggie's background as a Walkley-winning journo and what led her down the entrepreneurial track  - The inspiration behind PepTalkHer (and some frightening stats about the gender pay gap...) - Our own money stories and how they can hold us back from a young age - How freelancers can use the PepTalkHer app to increase their rates and fight imposter syndrome - The PepTalkHer app launch process – the importance of testing and iterating - Salary surveys and why women with 10+ years experience tend to get less $$ Our recommendations: - The Loudest Voice (TV show on Stan in Aus or Showtime overseas) - Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez - The Crown on Netflix - Girl, Stop Apologising by Rachel Hollis Find Meggie and PepTalkHer: @Peptalkher www.peptalkher.com @MeggiePalmer

    56 min
  • S3. E2. - Employee Experience with Kerrie Brown
    Talk about a ripper topic — Employee Experience (EX) is all the rage this year. 
    BUT it shouldn’t be mistaken as another business buzzword. 
    It’s actually one of the elements that businesses of all sizes can use to differentiate themselves in an age where standing out is getting harder and harder to do. That’s why we called in EX expert! Kerrie Brown is a seasoned Employee Experience professional who has spent the last decade (and some!) of her career helping companies build inspiring workplace cultures. She knows how to play strategically and tactically, and is most happy when challenging the status quo in organisations. 
    She’s worked her EX magic in big complex organisations like Colgate-Palmolive and GWF, fast-paced fin-tech startups, and an award-winning employee experience company. 
    Kerrie blends her commercial smarts with a human-centred approach to deliver engaging people solutions for all things people, performance, safety, leadership and communication. 
    In this episode we chatted to Kerrie about: 
    • What is Employee Experience (is it basically CX for employees)? 
    • How EX is linked to CX? 
    • Why do businesses need to pay attention to EX metrics? 
    • Does belong to any one department? 
    • What part does EX play in the hiring process? 
    • How does EX work for remote workers? 
    • Tips on setting up solid EX foundations within an organisation. 
    Connect with Kerrie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerrie-brown
    Recs:
    How it feels to float by Helena Fox
    Rowan of Rin by Jennifer Rowe
    Bossypants by Tina Fey
    Writers of Silicon Valley podcast (episode with Tamara Hilmes from Spotify) by Patrick Stafford
    56 min
  • S3. E1. - Welcome to 2020!
    This is season 3! 
    Today we're having a casual chat about what we've been up to, we dissect our favourite eps from season 2 and what we've got planned for this season (and 2020).
    Of course, in Australia we've been facing some horrific natural disasters. We'll also talk about how we reacted to this news over the festive season and the different approaches by small business following it.
    31 min
  • S2. E7. Give and get good feedback with Susan Reoch
    Well what fun we had talking to Susan Reoch! Some kindred spirits for sure.
    Today's episode is ALL about giving and getting good feedback. In our opinion, both are critical to the role of UX writer.
    Basically, get comfy getting uncomfy is the moral of the story. 
    Susan is a seasoned UX writer with loads of good info to share. 
    We talked to Sue about:
    How she honed her UX writing skills
    What working in a team of writers and other collaborators looks like in the wild
    The different ways we each like to get and give feedback (very different opinions here!)
    What constitutes as constructive vs destructive feedback
    Why it’s just as much about mindset as it is about process
    How you can adopt super strategies to give better feedback
    And how to do it well even when you’re remote
    Here are the things we mentioned in the podcast:
    Books:
    - Bossypants by Tina Fey. 
    - Hey Ladies! by Michelle Markowitz and Caroline Moss
    Podcasts:
    StartUp podcast by Gimlet Media (https://gimletmedia.com/shows/startup)
    UX writing at Booking.com (https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/booking-people-podcast/e/64364687)
    Resources: https://jacobmcmillen.com/website-copywriting/
    58 min
  • S2. E6. - What is Content Design? With Sarah Stanford
    Hello friends! 
    Have you heard of 'content design'? It's different to content strategy and UX writing... but it's probably not spoken about nearly as much. 
    Until today!
    We're chatting with Sarah Stanford from Novelise, and this is what we cover:
    - What is 'Content Design'?
    - The beauty of model-first web projects (Sarah is probably the most passionate person everrrr about this, we love it)
    - How is content design different to content strategy and UX writing?
    - What kind of clients need this kinda work (hint: the kind with $$)?
    - What the eff is headless content?
    Podcasts mentioned in this episode:
    You’re Dead to Me
    History is Sexy
    Rex Factor
    Resources: 
    Article group newsletter: https://articlegroup.com/
    Guerrilla research for Air BnB by Gary V’s content guy: https://medium.com/interactive-mind/airbnb-guerilla-usability-testing-548b4676d06c
    https://www.uxframeworks.design
    https://uxwriterscollective.com/
    Books:
    On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous - Ocean Vuong
    Ordinary People - Diana Evans
    Sarah’s contact info:
    www.Novelise.com.au
    @noveliseco on insta
    1 hr 6 min

About A TABLE AT THE BACK

From the publisher's feed

More of a chat than a podcast, we share our experiences, learnings, laughs and *cough* wisdom as we recount stories from our lives as comms specialists, UX and CX advocates, marketing tragics… and our quest to finding a flow between our titles as ‘mum’ and ‘business owner’.