Back to the future: Five future-proof skills for technical communicators

For a little over a decade, we’ve been hearing people talk about the future of technical communication. We’ve seen new technology change the way we interact with and use technology. What was once cutting-edge has now become commonplace. Companies are getting more and more addicted to innovation, and professional growth is increasingly linked to new and compelling initiatives. There is a proliferation of new kinds of tasks, deliverables and work profiles allover, leaving some with the sinking feeling that they are becoming vestigial organs in a rapidly evolving professional body.

Text by Edwin Skau

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Back to the future: Five future-proof skills for technical communicators

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Much of that apprehension is unwarranted. The new roles that have sprung up mostly serve to append, not replace, existing roles. All of them draw on existing skills, although they may differ in application.  Technical communicators with a firm footing in traditional skills are the best placed to grow into content strategists, information curators, content evangelists, media mashers, and just about any profile that’s going to come up in the next few years.

Here are five future-proof technical communication skills with immense potential to contribute to any content ecosystem.

1. Articulation

The lifeblood of any communication profession is the ability to express thought with the utmost clarity, conciseness, and purpose. Whether you use text, visuals, or sound; individually or in combination; as presentations, games, or in any other form; your communication must follow a clear line of ...