What’s your secret weapon?

What’s your secret weapon?

By Will Sansbury Jan 02, 2010 6 Comments

I’ve been pouring through the results of the New Writers SIG interest survey. Besides being completely blown away at the number of responses, I’m surprised that the topics I’d suggested didn’t get about equal votes as I’d expected. There is a very clear front-runner in Tech Comm Toolbelt: Tools to Help You Do Your Job Better.

So I pose the question to the technical communication community: What’s your tech comm secret weapon? Is there a tool that you use frequently that helps you do your job more efficiently or effectively? If you started a new job tomorrow, what tools would you be downloading and installing right away?

Don’t be afraid to step outside of the technical communication box. Your favorite secret weapon might help you manage your time more efficiently, or deal with the low signal-to-noise ratio of most corporate inboxes, or any number of things that, while not be directly related to technical communication, nonetheless help you to be a better technical communicator.

So what is your secret weapon? Share it in the comments.

(Photo by MrPessimist)

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6 Comments

6 Responses to “What’s your secret weapon?”

  1. Milan Davidovic Reply Jan 15, 2010 at 12:48 pm

    My thought here:
    http://altmilan.blogspot.com/2010/01/content-out-there.html

  2. Karen Mulholland Reply Jan 15, 2010 at 1:17 pm

    I’d be toast without my spreadsheets. I use Excel to manage my projects from beginning to end – from gathering  requirements to tracking reviews and pre-publication checks.

  3. Rachel Peters Reply Jan 19, 2010 at 8:16 am

    I use Evernote to keep up with important HR stuff (especially at a new job when you’re constantly having to register for this and sign up for that). And I use a Google spreadsheet to keep up with my vacation days, because I can access it from anywhere (not just my work computer).

    The software I’ve used the most in the last year includes: Word, RoboHelp, Visio, Photoshop, Axure, Dreamweaver, Snagit, Paint Shop Pro. (That’s across 2 jobs.)

  4. Peggy Fenton Reply Jan 22, 2010 at 9:09 pm

    I love SmartDraw 2010!

  5. Kathleen Baine Reply Jan 28, 2010 at 2:00 pm

    I love FullShot for screen captures. It puts a little toolbar at the top of your application, and lets you click a button to capture a Window, Screen, button, region, etc. And it’s less than $100. I also heavily use RoboHelp, the MS Office Suite, and Visio. Have also used MadCap Flare.

  6. Ayana Glaze Reply Feb 15, 2010 at 11:23 am

    I use Snag It for screen grabs. MS Word works wonders for writing general content. My preference for process diagrams is Viso. For online help, I prefer Robo Help and Dreamweaver. My favorite content management system is Ektron.