7 Essential Tips for the Enlightened Tech Writer
summary
Seven concrete habits: just ask with examples of joining meetings and podcasts; listen for intent illustrated by a detailed MVP rant that gets solved with a few low‑cost changes; a build that integrates code headers and docs via native header reflection so headers now match docs; a docs.microsoft.com give documentation feedback button that opens GitHub issues and virtually eliminates spam; use Windows PowerShell for small automations; apply the Twitter test, ownership, opt‑in experiments, and storytelling — all claimed, implemented, and shown working.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (19)
- 0:00Introduction
- 0:58Teds Background
- 1:55Ask
- 4:29Teds favorite questions
- 8:01API documentation changes
- 9:44Listen for intent
- 10:32Listen for feedback
- 12:28Chunk your information
- 14:10Own your stuff
- 16:25Ask for input
- 16:45Own the output
- 18:30Lifelong learner
- 22:15Opt in
- 24:00Storytelling
- 24:49Documentation
- 26:36Stories
- 27:14Summary
- 28:37Bonus Tip
- 29:17Brian McDonald
related talks
38mSeven habits of increasingly technical technical writers
35mEngage or Die: Four Techniques for Writing Indispensible Docs
48mEnding Keynote: 7 Principles of Productive Software Developers
29mWhat I have taught developers about writing
52mKeynote: Steps to Wisdom
38mWelcome to the World of Technical Writing: A Guide for Newcomers
38mMyths, Mistakes, and Missed Opportunities
29mTen Tips For Teaching Technical Topics