Welcome to episode 092 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency.

This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!

Today’s episode unpacks an article by Eric Enge entitled "ChatGPT Search vs. Google: A Deep Dive Analysis of 62 Queries" that was published on December 23 on Search Engine Land (link below).

Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of this article by Enge. They explore how Google and ChatGPT stack up to each other in terms of search. While Google typically wins for local and commercial searches (such as looking for a local Mexican restaurant or a dry cleaner), ChatGPT excelled at content gap analysis using natural language processing.

The hosts note that both search engines often misinterpret ambiguous queries and that users of either platform will gain the best results with precise, well thought out queries. They also explained how both search engines suffer from GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out), meaning that their results are only as good as the information and data they hold.

The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround.

>> Read the original Search Engine Land article: https://tinyurl.com/3umwzjmk

>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/567rf8xd

>> Read the Curt Robbins article "The Eight Pillars of Technical Writing": https://tinyurl.com/vm35fnsm.

Welcome to episode 091 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency.

This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!

Today’s episode unpacks an article by senior technical writer Curt Robbins entitled Understanding Style Guides for Technical Writers" that was published on January 15 on LinkedIn.

Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of this article by Robbins. They explore the benefits and challenges of style guides, both industry-standard guides from organizations like Apple, Microsoft, and Google and those of in-house style guides.

In the end, the hosts recommend that organizations try to use both. While particularly true of large enterprise organizations, smaller companies can also gain tremendous value from an in-house style guide combined with an industry-standard guide such as the Chicago Manual of Style.

The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround.

>> Read the original article by Curt Robbins here: https://tinyurl.com/34jce96f

>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/567rf8xd

>> Read Robbins' article "The Eight Pillars of Technical Writing": https://tinyurl.com/vm35fnsm.

Welcome to episode 090 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency.

This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!

Today’s episode reviews a January 6 article by Kelly Dell entitled "5 Technical Documentation Trends to Shape Your 2025 Strategy" that was published by Fluid Topics (link below).

Dell, an experienced digital marketing and B2B startup content strategist, shares her insight about how the field of technical writing and documentation is changing in 2025 and beyond. She focuses on five major changes, including generative AI, security and content governance, document accessibility, the switch from paper to digital by document-heavy industries, and how multimedia will overtake text-only documentation.

Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of this insightful Dell article. They unpack Dell's observations about the opportunities and challenges of this new era of technical writing and how documentation specialists can best prepare for it and be successful.

Writes Dell, "As technology evolves and new regulations emerge, technical documentation will enter a new phase leading to optimized user access to and sharing of information through various tools and means. Amidst these trends, let’s not forget ongoing trends that remain prevalent, particularly the importance of personalized and contextualized user experiences."

The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround.

>> Read the original Dell article here: https://tinyurl.com/5e4cyt4s

>> Read the article "Role of User Experience in Tech Writing" by Curt Robbins: https://tinyurl.com/yc47sxvb

>> Read the Robbins article "Accessibility & Inclusivity in Technical Writing": https://tinyurl.com/3a2p9k4s

>> Read the Robbins article "The Eight Pillars of Technical Writing: https://tinyurl.com/5y3kr5vc

>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/567rf8xd

Welcome to episode 089 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency.

This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!

Today’s episode reviews a December 18 article by Shay Adler entitled "Technical Writing: The Journey from Documentation Specialist to Everything-is" that was published on LinkedIn (link below). Adler, an experienced technical writer and self-proclaimed "AI & Documentation Enthusiast," shares her insight about how employers and clients are increasingly asking technical writers to be fluent in many different areas and with a wide variety of tools, including AI.

Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of this insightful Adler article. They unpack Adler's observations about the opportunities and challenges of this new era of technical writing and how documentation specialists can become overworked or experience burnout—as well as strategies to prevent this outcome.

Adler recommends several strategies for success in this new age of AI-powered technical writing, including setting realistic expectations and the rational and wise use of AI.

Writes Shay, "AI can’t replace the human touch, and writers who are spread too thin will burn out. If you want high-quality documentation (and believe me, you do), you need to invest in your writers. Recognize them. Support them. Give them the space to do what they do best."

The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround.

>> Read the original Adler article here: https://tinyurl.com/54xm74nv

>> Read the article "Role of User Experience in Tech Writing" by Curt Robbins: https://tinyurl.com/yc47sxvb

>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/567rf8xd

Welcome to episode 088 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency.

This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!

Today’s episode reviews a December 30 article by Christa Bemis entitled "Tech Pubs for OEMs: Best Practices Learned From the Field" that was published on LinkedIn (link below). Bemis, Director of Product for a SaaS solution designed for OEMs and heavy equipment asset owners, provides a number of documentation strategies that can be employed by technical writers and documentation specialists to significantly improve the quality of OEM documentation.

Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of this insightful Bemis article. They explain how technical writers and documentation specialists can employ specific strategies, best practices, and methodologies to improve their OEM documentation, particularly in terms of user experience (UX) and achieving consistency.

The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround.

>> Read the original Bemis article here: https://tinyurl.com/2rsewycv

>> Read the article "Role of User Experience in Tech Writing" by Curt Robbins: https://tinyurl.com/yc47sxvb

>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/567rf8xd

Welcome to episode 087 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency.

This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!

Today’s episode reviews a recent article by Alaura Weaver, host of the Humans of AI podcast. Weaver advocates that the role of content editors will only increase in the age of AI due to hallucinations and the intense need for fact checking and confirmation of the accuracy of content.

Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of the Weaver article. They explain how technical writers and documentation specialists can embrace AI to improve the quality of their work, but stress the important role of human editors in the creation of quality content.

The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround.

>> Read the original Weaver article here: https://tinyurl.com/a4rbncc9

>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/567rf8xd

>> Read Robbins' article "The Eight Pillars of Technical Writing": https://tinyurl.com/vm35fnsm.

Welcome to episode 086 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency.

This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!

Today’s episode compares and contrasts two powerful enterprise tools for technical writers and documentation specialists: MadCap Flare and Confluence.

Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of a January 5 article by Curt Robbins entitled "MadCap Flare vs. Confluence: Pros & Cons for Technical Writers." They explore the benefits and issues with each application, illustrating their relative strengths and the particular use cases in which a company would choose one over the other.

Agile teams and those who require cloud-based collaboration should consider Confluence, while those who require precise document control to satisfy regulatory requirements and those who need single-sourcing should gravitate toward MadCap Flare.

The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround.

>> Read the original article here: https://tinyurl.com/y3tr56wt

>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/567rf8xd

>> Read Robbins' article "The Eight Pillars of Technical Writing": https://tinyurl.com/vm35fnsm.

Welcome to episode 085 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency.

This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!

Today’s episode teaches listeners about the origins and future of AI and how it will shape the careers and success (or failure) of tens of thousands of tech writers and millions of IT professionals.

Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of a January 5 article by Curt Robbins entitled "Origins & Future of AI: An Overview for Technical Writers." They explore the various AI tools and methodologies that technical writers and IT professionals can embrace to help promote their careers and produce better deliverables.

The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround.

>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/567rf8xd

>> Read Robbins' article "The Eight Pillars of Technical Writing": https://tinyurl.com/vm35fnsm.

Welcome to episode 084 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency.

This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!

Today’s episode teaches listeners about the current state of technical writing and documentation in 2025. It explains how new tech, including artificial intelligence (AI), is helping shape the landscape of technical writing and is changing the future.

Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of this article. They explore the various technologies and methodologies that technical writers and IT professionals can embrace to help promote their careers and produce better deliverables.

The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround.

>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/567rf8xd

>> Read Robbins' article "The Eight Pillars of Technical Writing": https://tinyurl.com/vm35fnsm.

Welcome to episode 083 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency.

This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!

Today’s episode teaches listeners about Docs-as-Code, an often-touted methodology for enterprise document development and management.

Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited analysis of the article by senior technical writer Curt Robbins. They explore the various pros and cons of Docs-as-Code, including automation, collaboration, scalability, and version control. They compare Docs-as-Code to traditional documentation.

The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround.

>> Read the original article: https://tinyurl.com/mrh2a6xf.

>> Read Robbins' article "The Eight Pillars of Technical Writing": https://tinyurl.com/vm35fnsm.