Author: TechCommGeekMom

Danielle M. Villegas is a technical communicator who currently employed at Cox Automotive, Inc., and freelances as her own technical communications consultancy, Dair Communications. She has worked at the International Refugee Committee, MetLife, Novo Nordisk, BASF North America, Merck, and Deloitte, with a background in content strategy, web content management, social media, project management, e-learning, and client services. Danielle is best known in the technical communications world for her blog, TechCommGeekMom.com, which has continued to flourish since it was launched during her graduate studies at NJIT in 2012. She has presented webinars and seminars for Adobe, the Society for Technical Communication (STC), the IEEE ProComm, TCUK (ISTC) and at Drexel University’s eLearning Conference. She has written articles for the STC Intercom, STC Notebook, the Content Rules blog, and The Content Wrangler as well. She was very active in the STC, as a former chapter president for the STC-Philadelphia Metro Chapter, serving and chairing on several STC Board committees, and most recently was the STC Board Vice-President before the organization closed.. You can learn more about Danielle on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/daniellemvillegas, on Twitter @techcommgeekmom, or through her blog. All content is the owner's opinions, and does not reflect those of her employers past or present.

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10 Speaking and Writing Errors That Erode Your Credibility

Posted on May 22, 2015 by TechCommGeekMom

Want people to perceive you as intelligent and well educated? Don’t get caught using these improper expressions.

Source: www.inc.com

Thanks to Craig Cardimon for finding this one. I agree with all of these, especially the last three which are the most common mistakes, EXCEPT for #5. It IS pronounced "for-tay" because it’s for the Italian word that means strong or strength. It’s used in music all the time! So, it’s being prounounced correctly in Italian when it’s said as "for-tay". It’s similar to the use of French word, passé (pronounced pass-ay). The problem that word is that accent marks on the final "e" of each word is often not used since American/English QWERTY keyboards don’t have that letter readily available. .

So guess what, author? Your co-worker was WRONG. I even looked it up to be sure. It’s right in Bing Translator and the dictionary, for pity’s sake. Maybe next time you can look it up, too.

–techcommgeekmom

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The Counterpoint of Content Flow | The Content Wrangler

Posted on May 21, 2015 by TechCommGeekMom

Source: thecontentwrangler.com

Compliments of The Content Wrangler– this article by Karl Montevergen is interesting because of how Karl talks about what content flow is, and how it works. I like his analogy quite a bit, and I think he generally explains it well. Take a good look at this article. It’s worth the read!

–techcommgeekmom

See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications

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The Power of Social Media: Batkid

Posted on May 21, 2015May 21, 2015 by TechCommGeekMom

I received an email today promoting a new movie that’s coming out at the end of June. It’s a feel-good story in the end, and you might have read about it in the news several months back, like I did.

It’s about the story of a little boy with leukemia, and how the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted his wish for him to be Batman for a day. Being the big comic book hero fan that I am (I’m still trying to become Batgirl myself, if not Wonder Woman), I thought this was great when it happened at the time, and it’s great that they captured the preparations and the day on film. What impressed me in watching this trailer was the HUGE part that social media played in how the day came together. As much as people complain about social media, I still hold firm to the idea that social media is for making connections, and this movie is yet another example that proves that point. That day’s overwhelming success is due to the power of social media.

I want see this movie, but I think I shouldn’t because just watching the trailer alone made me cry! I’d be crying through the whole movie (Mom/sad tears for how sick the little boy is, and joy tears of how wonderful a day this must have been and the power of community to support him).

Check out the trailer:

**This is a personal endorsement–no one asked me to promote this film. I just think it looks like an awesome film, and demonstrates how powerful social media can be! **

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How To Build A Successful Blog While You Have A Full Time Job

Posted on May 20, 2015 by TechCommGeekMom

Most people who start a blog dream about making it a full time job, with full time income- but worry that they won’t be able to build a successful blog while juggling a 40+ hour a week position. Can you do both? Should you do both? Most successful bloggers had to start their labor of love while still holding down a job and in fact, I highly recommend that you start building your blog as a serious side hustle before it becomes a full time gig. You can, you should, you will!So, wondering how to

Source: www.linkedin.com

There are great strategies in this article, some of which I’m still learning how to do myself! Some of these I have done, but I had to learn it organically (aka "the hard way"). Still, I do believe this is possible. I’d like to think that TechCommGeekmom is a successful blog, and I’ve made it work so far.

Check it out, as there are some good tips in here.

–techcommgeekmom

See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications

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5 Ways to Ensure You Are Writing Intelligent Content

Posted on May 20, 2015 by TechCommGeekMom

It’s one thing to write content for your content marketing efforts, and it’s another to write intelligent content.

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

The STC posted this in their newsletter, having curated it from the Huffington Post (and I, in turn, am curating this content myself now). Intelligent content seems self-explanatory, but it isn’t always as obvious as it seems. The author of this article lays down some great basic guidelines here that are truly the crux of writing for an intelligent content strategy.

Do you agree with these 5 guidelines, or do you think there are more? Include your comments below.

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