10-Minute Tech Comm

Neil Thompson, founder of Teach the Geek , reflects on how his own struggles with communication as an engineer gave him insight to help other technical professionals communicate better.  Find a transcript at Buzzsprout . Contact Ryan Weber at rw0019@uah.edu for more information about the show! 

Erin Lebacqz founded High-Value Writing to help professionals accomplish their goals and build relationships through their writing. She joins the podcast to offer advice about how to write more concisely and effectively. 

Josh Dorfman, co-founder of Supercool and Plantd , shares insights from decades of experience communicating about climate. Dorfman brings an optimistic spirit to an often depressing topic and argues that we should focus on creating a better future through currently available solutions, a better future that also solves climate change.  Find a transcript at Buzzsprout . Contact Ryan Weber at rw0019@...

Scott Abel of The Content Wrangler talks about how technical communicators are uniquely positioned to leverage the capabilities of generative AI to create better content.  Find a transcript and more information about 10-Minute Tech Comm at Buzzsprout . Contact Ryan Weber at rw0019@uah.edu for more information about the show! 

Dr. Kem-Laurin Lubin joins 10-Minute Tech Comm to explain why AI is rhetorical, how it defines humans, and how we can use ethotic heuristics to create more human-centered AI. This conversation is part of the 2025 The Big Rhetorical Podcast Carnival, built around the theme “(Un)tethering Surveillance: Power Dynamics, Emerging Technologies, Social Control.” Read Dr. Lubin on Medium and check out her...

Jennifer Blatz, Lead UX Researcher at BECU and founder of BlatzChat z, joins the podcast to discuss her newsletter, building community in UX, and whether it's worth getting into the UX field at all!  Find a transcript at Buzzsprout . Email ryan.weber@uah.edu for more information on the show!

Dr. Leslie Seawright discusses her new article, co-authored with Amy Hodges and Timothy Ponce, "' Is This Ethical?' New Data on the Ethical Principles and Practices of Document Design. " The study updates Sam Dragga's classic 1996 study by asking for participant evaluations of the ethics of hypothetical situations, some taken from the Dragga study and some added for contem...

Dr. Sarah Gunning of Towson University joins the podcast to discuss her recent article " How Do Nonprofit Proposal Writers Learn Their Jobs? Results of a Nationwide Survey and Interviews ." Visit Buzzsprout for a transcript of the episode. Email ryan.weber@uah.edu for more information on the show!

On this episode, we're joined by Joe Natoli, co-author (with Leah Buley) of second edition of The User Experience Team of One: A Research and Design Survival Guide . Natoli, who also runs the UX 365 Academy , argues that UX teams of one are more common than we think and offers strategies for success as the lone UX team member at your organization. Visit Buzzsprout for a transcript of the epis...

Father-daughter research team Lupe and Elena Garcia discuss their recent Technical Communication Quarterly article Considering the Factory Floor , which analyzes communication breakdowns between union workers and supervisors. This episode is part of the 2024 The Big Rhetorical Podcast Carnival on "Politics/Rhetorics: Navigating Crisis, Culture, and Civility." Check out all the podcast ca...

Irina Silyanova offers advice on how to write better UX microcopy, the small chunks of text that allow users to navigate an interface. Her advice comes from her recent Smashing Magazine article: How to Improve Your Microcopy: UX Writing Tips for Non-UX Writers . Visit Buzzsprout for a transcript of the episode. Email ryan.weber@uah.edu for more information on the show!

Karen Rempel (https://karenrempel.com/) joins the podcast to give advise on crafting better resumes and giving better interviews. Visit Buzzsprout for a transcript of the episode. Email ryan.weber@uah.edu for more information on the show!

Anjana Rahan shares insight from her career in knowledge management and information architecture. Visit Buzzsprout for a transcript of the episode. Email ryan.weber@uah.edu for more information on the show!

Julia Pond, information architect at Trilyon, Inc, joins the podcast to discuss her work using XML and DITA to collect, manage, and publish content. Visit Buzzsprout for a transcript of the episode. Email ryan.weber@uah.edu for more information on the show!

Dr. Jordan Frith discusses Barcode, his new book in the Object Lessons series. Though we take barcodes for granted now, Frith argues that "it's really hard to become mundane." He explains how barcodes shaped the global economy, how controversies nearly derailed them, and how the barcode has taken on so much symbolic weight. Visit Buzzsprout for a transcript of the episode. Email rya...

Sara Sánchez, a localization lead and technical writer at Onada, talks about her project of spreading the word about technical communication in her country of Spain. Check out https://meetcontent.github.io/ for more about her work! Visit Buzzsprout for a transcript of the episode. Email ryan.weber@uah.edu for more information on the show!

Summer Lopez from PEN America joins the podcast to discuss her organization's new report, Speech in the Machine: Generative AI's Implications for Free Expression. The report details ways that generative AI tools might disrupt free speech with threats that include increased disinformation, online abuse, censorship, and bias. Ms. Lopez also discusses some recommendations that might help ad...

Jasmyne Epps, Product Manager at Digital Services Georgia, joins the show to discuss the definition and goals of digital accessibility, plus the ways that digital accessibility contributes to the goals of a robust Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative. Visit Buzzsprout for a transcript or email Ryan Weber at ryan.weber@uah.edu for more information about the show.

Dr. Joy Robinson joins the podcast to discuss her work as a user experience researcher at Google. She discusses her research methods, how she advocates for users, and the trends she see in UX. Email Ryan Weber at ryan.weber@uah.edu for more information about the show. Transcript available at Buzzsprout . 

Justin McGill, founder of the AI content-generation company Content @ Scale (https://contentatscale.ai), joins the podcast to talk about what his company does, what AI means for the future of writing, and the ethical issues surrounding AI content generation. Email Ryan Weber at ryan.weber@uah.edu for more information about the show. Transcript available at Buzzsprout . 

Astrophysicist Dr. Katie Mack (https://www.astrokatie.com/) joins the show to talk about writing her book, The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking). Dr. Mack discusses her writing process, her moment of realization that the universe could end, and her strategies for making complex concepts accessible to a wide readership. Email Ryan Weber at ryan.weber@uah.edu for more information about th...

Part of The Big Rhetorical Podcast Carnival 2022! Dr. Emily Haozous researches Native American health care disparities and communication at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (https://southwest.pire.org/person/emily-a-haozous-ph-d-r-n-faan/). Dr. Haozous joins the podcast to talk about the challenges Native American and indigenous people face in health care, the limitations of the &...

David Nunez talks about his book Docs for Developers (https://docsfordevelopers.com/), coauthored with Jared Bhatti, Zachary Sarah Corleissen, Jen Lambourne, and Heidi Waterhouse. David talks about why developers need to write documents, how to understand your audience, the writing process, and ways to measure the success of documentation. Transcripts for many episodes are now available at Buzzspr...

Julio Vazquez is a Senior Digital Content Strategist at Cisco and a technical communicator with decades of experience. He joins the show to talk about his experience helping to create the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) standard and why he's a DITA evangelist. Follow @TechCommUAH or email Ryan Weber at ryan.weber@uah.edu for more information about the show.

This episode is part of the Big Rhetorical Podcast Carnival 2021 on Contending with Misinformation in the Community and Classroom. The episode features three experts who study how misinformation spreads and effective ways to thwart it. Dr. Sara Yeo (1:43) discusses our weaknesses in identifying misinformation and how emotion and humor affect receptions of scientific information. Dr. Leticia Bode (...