4 Points to Consider when Selecting a Style Guide

Q: I’m setting up a Technical Writing Dept. for a Financial Services company. What is the best style guide to start out with? We have no internal guidelines. This will need to be useful for both beginners and also more experienced tech writers

A: The benefit of adopting a style guide is that it puts guidelines in place to ensure consistency across all documents you deliver. While style guides don’t make poor writers better, they’re a step in the right direction if you want to improve the quality of your documentation!

IBM’s Handbook for Writers and Editors

How Style Guides Can Help Technical Writers

Style guides can improve the quality and presentation of documentation. They establish a layer of professionalism that may not have been there before. They also reduce arguments and loose cannons within the department, as the style guide becomes the acknowledged reference.

4 Points to Consider when Selecting a Style Guide

There are at least four points to consider when selecting a style guide..

1. The Reader

Consider who will read your documents and ask:

• What is their reading level?
• What is their expertise?
• What is their motivation to read your material?
• Where do they read, e.g. office, while commuting, at home?
• What style do they prefer, e.g. formal or informal?

If you have different groups of readers, explore which group requires the most attention, and which guide suits their needs the most.

2. The Publication

• If you re producing one publication for the same readership, your task should be easy. However, if you’re managing press releases, technical documents, web content and newsletters, one style guide may not meet all your needs… and using two could be confusing.
• Most Fortune 1000 companies (with a variety of publications and audiences) use an industry standard style guide as their basic guide and write exceptions for different divisions.
• For example, the Marketing Dept might use the standards in The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual, but use The Chicago Manual of Style for other sections.

3. The Users

• Editors value style guides. Difficulties arise when untrained staff members have to use the style guide when producing web content, reports, documents, etc. They find manuals hard to use and often simply ignore them.
• To resolve this, (for the non-trained writing staff) prepare a style booklet based on your main guide. Determine the most important style points and write examples in real-work sentences. Keep the booklet short and easy to read.

4. Your Preference

• If you don’t have a preference, test it. Check the most important style questions in the guides you’re considering, and then edit an article using each guide. Look at the results and once you have selected your primary guide, keep the rest for reference as each have their specialist areas.
• Then examine the site’s purpose and outline the main sections (e.g. words people use to navigate) and the links within those heads. Test it before it goes online.
• You can do this by writing the heads and links on Post-IT sticky notes and put them on a chart. Show the chart to sample users. Ask them how to get from one section to another.

IBM’s Style Guide for Developing Quality Technical Information

IBM’s documentation experts have prepared the definitive guide to developing outstanding technical documentation for the web and print.

Extensive before-and-after examples, illustrations, and checklists, the authors show exactly how to create documentation that’s easy to find, understand, and use.

Developing Quality Technical Information

 

 

Table of Contents

Part 1. Easy to use

Chapter 2. Task orientation

• Write for the intended audience
• Present information from the user’s point of view
• Indicate a practical reason for information
• Focus on real tasks, not product functions
• Use headings that reveal the tasks
• Divide tasks into discrete subtasks
• Provide clear, step-by-step instructions

Chapter 3. Accuracy

• Write information only when you understand it, and then verify it
• Keep up with technical changes
• Maintain consistency of all information about a subject
• Use tools that automate checking for accuracy
• Check the accuracy of references to related information

Chapter 4. Completeness

• Cover all topics that support users’ tasks, and only those topics
• Cover each topic in just as much detail as users need
• Use patterns of information to ensure proper coverage
• Repeat information only when users will benefit from it

Part 2. Easy to understand
Chapter 5. Clarity

• Focus on the meaning
• Avoid ambiguity
• Keep elements short
• Write cohesively
• Present similar information in a similar way
• Use technical terms only if they are necessary and appropriate
• Define each term that is new to the intended audience

Chapter 6. Concreteness

• Choose examples that are appropriate for the audience and subject
• Use focused, realistic, accurate, up-to-date examples
• Make examples easy to find
• Make code examples easy to adapt
• Use scenarios to illustrate tasks and to provide overviews
• Set the context for examples and scenarios
• Relate unfamiliar information to familiar information
• Use general language appropriately

Chapter 7. Style

• Use correct grammar
• Use correct and consistent spelling
• Use consistent and appropriate punctuation
• Write with the appropriate tone
• Use an active style
• Use the appropriate mood
• Follow template designs and use boilerplate text
• Create and follow style guidelines

Part 3. Easy to find

Chapter 8. Organization

• Organize information into discrete topics by type
• Organize tasks by order of use
• Organize topics for quick retrieval
• Separate contextual information from other types of information
• Organize information consistently
• Provide an appropriate number of subentries for each branch
• Emphasize main points; subordinate secondary points
• Reveal how the pieces fit together

Chapter 9. Retrievability

• Facilitate navigation and search
• Provide a complete and consistent index
• Use an appropriate level of detail in the table of contents
• Provide helpful entry points
• Link appropriately
• Design helpful links
• Make linked-to information easy to find in the target topic

Chapter 10. Visual effectiveness

• Use graphics that are meaningful and appropriate
• Choose graphics that complement the text
• Use visual elements for emphasis
• Use visual elements logically and consistently
• Balance the number and placement of visual elements
• Use visual cues to help users find what they need
• Ensure that textual elements are legible
• Use color and shading discreetly and appropriately
• Ensure that all users can access the information

Part 4. Putting it all together

Chapter 11. Applying more than one quality characteristic

• Applying quality characteristics to task information
• Applying quality characteristics to conceptual information
• Applying quality characteristics to reference information
• Applying quality characteristics to information for an international audience
• Applying quality characteristics to information on the Web
• Revising technical information

Chapter 12. Reviewing, testing, & evaluating technical information

• Inspecting technical information
• Testing information for usability
• Testing technical information
• Editing and evaluating technical information
• Reviewing the visual elements

Other Style Guides For Technical Writing

I recommend the IBM style guide as I use it and believe it’s the best out there, especially for technical writers. But, for those starting out, maybe it’s too detailed.

Two other style guides are:

and

What style guide do you use?

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How Al Gore Got His Groove Back & The Fine Art of Creating Great Presentations

Do you like speaking in public? It’s the last thing most of us want do. So I was surprised to read how Al Gore, an experienced public speaker, reached out to Nancy Duarte to improve his public-speaking skills. Here are a few tips for the next time you have to give a presentation.

The Science of Great Presentations

Nancy Duarte knows how to make killer presentations. She founded Duarte Design, Inc., a firm that helps everyone from Google to Al Gore master public speaking. You can read her book slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations here. In an interview with Guy Kawasaki, she explained how to avoid the most common presentation pitfalls and how she helps her clients

How to Improve Your Presentations

When it comes to public-speaking, reach shows that:

1. You can always improve. If an accomplished US Senator can swallow his pride and sign up for lessons, then why not you?
2. It’s a number’s game. The more you practice, the better you get. This is one of the few things in life that’s guaranteed. Practice makes perfect. Is there anything you practiced (anything?) and became worse as a result?
3. Success in one area generates more success in others. The saying, “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer” applies here. If you become more successful in one area—any area—your development is echoed in other areas. Oddly enough, if you stop making efforts, instead of standing still, you slide backwards.

7 Steps to Captivating an Audience

Guy Kawasaki lists the key points:

1. Tailor you content to your audience.
2. Develop ideas first & your slides second. Use the PC when you have the idea ready.
3. Use non-digital sources for inspiration, such as objects, nature and hand sketches.
4. Make slides that the Audience can recall— not to help you remember the script.
5. Rehearse the presentation. Ask for feedback. How will the audience connect to the materials?
6. Refine, refine, refine.
7. Rehearse until you’ve NAILED it!

How Al Gore Got His Groove Back

Nancy Duarte says that they helped Al Gore with the visual story by “re-tapping into his passion and shaking the political persona was all his own work.”

Note — the success of his presentation style is that he had ‘internalized all the key messages’.

Gore delivered the presentation over 1,000 times so he was comfortable with the content and didn’t over rely on his slides.

How do you prepare for presentations? What’s the best tip you have on overcoming stage fright?

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What Macaulay Culkin Can Teach You About XML-Based Technical Authoring Tools

Remember Macaulay Culkin? The child star of Home Alone peaked very early and, despite many attempts, never managed to make the same impact as an adult. Larry Kunz asks if a similar fate awaits DITA, the one-time golden child of the tech comms industry.

Larry says that last week another technical writer asserted that DITA has “jumped the shark.” “It’s not a new idea. I’ve heard other people say that DITA has already seen its best days, that it’s struggling to remain relevant in a world that’s passed it by. I was amused, I admit, because it was the first time I’d seen DITA compared to a TV show.”

What does the future hold for DITA?

Larry identifies four areas where DITA fits into the content creation lifecycle and also the benefits it offers technical writers.

1. Content + Community — content comes from all over the enterprise, not just from the technical writing department, and from outside the enterprise (customers and end users) as well.
2. Content + Structure— the next step is to organize & format this community-based content in usable way. DITA, based on XML, help tag content for the semantic Web.
3. Content + Collaboration — DITA-wiki tools will make it practical for everyone to “contribute content… and for the content to be formatted in a consistent fashion according to the enterprise’s requirements.”
4. Agile Software Development — DITA helps tech writers generate review drafts more easily as reviews are based on separate topics rather a single document.

Will DITA Become Adopted as a Standard?

Larry adds that “DITA is a standard. It can grow in whatever directions the community wants to take it.”

I have to admit, I’ve never got my teeth into DITA. It’s something I’ve read about but never had the opportunity to use. Why?

• Products - If DITA was developed by a company with a financial incentive (i.e. productized) to make it work, then there may be a greater adoption.
• Ownership - as it’s ‘just’ a standard, then no-one really owns it.
• Compelling reasons – the third is that I can’t see (and forgive my ignorance here!) a compelling reason for companies to adopt DITA. I can see the benefits but for a company to invest in training, tools etc there needs to be a strong business case – and with DITA, I don’t see it. Whereas with XML, I could see the business opportunities that it offered, which no doubt accelerated its adoption.

Industry Adoption

I asked Larry which companies have embraced DITA, for example, is it part of Adobe’s FrameMaker or Tech Comms suite?

Larry’s take on this is that “DITA will have greater adoption if it’s embraced by the software vendors. The good news is, this is already happening.”

FrameMaker has been DITA-compliant since version 8 and while Adobe might not have “embraced” DITA with a whole-hearted DITA-Frame integration, it’s at least shown a willingness to shake hands.

• Bluestream’s XDoc – DITA-compliant Content Management System
• Madcap –Blaze and Flare support DITA
• XMetal – DITA-based reviewing tool called Reviewer

Has DITA Jumped the Shark?

Last word to Larry: “the trend is clear. An increasing number of commercial vendors are seeing that there’s a market for DITA-compliant tools. And several of the tools are going way beyond simple DITA-compliance to full-blown integration with DITA.”

How do you use DITA?

Like I said, I haven’t used DITA on a live project.

• Where do you see its role in the technical writing community?
• What do we need to do to increase its adoption or raise its profile?
• What is the one thing it offers to technical writers that other tools don’t offer?

Let me know what you think. Please add your thoughts below and let’s get the ball rolling.

PS – What is shark jumping, anyway?

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Using Google Wave to Write Technical Documentation in Real Time

Maeve asks on LinkedIn how we can use Google Wave to write technical documents. Well, the first consideration is that Google Wave is not designed as a tech authoring tool but for collaboration and ‘almost’ real-time information exchange. Saying that, it does offer many benefits if you need to plan/coordinate/review documents in a networked environment. Here are some ideas.

Where Google Wave Can Help You Write Document

If you look at the lifecycle of a technical document, you can see that there are several phases where documents (and diagrams) get reviewed, approved, edited etc – nothing to do with the actual writing, but all related to getting the document over the finishing line.

Most of my work is spent on the web, coordinating projects, often in different time zones.

Google Wave helps me with the non-writing activities, such as planning, scheduling, reviews, brainstorming, sign-offs, usability testing, interface design, videos. Most project communications is done by email but why not do it with Google Wave instead? Why stick with email?

Let’s look at a few places in the document lifecycle where Google Wave might move things forward

1. Business Case – Getting the business case completed is one of the first things I do way before we start any writing. How do we justify the expense/resources involved in writing this document? Is there a real need for this material? Writing the business case s Google Wave or Email? Email is fine but slow. Everyone has to respond (one by one) until you get final consensus. With Google Wave you can all pitch in and do it in a single session. Or, you can start the discussion, save the wave, and then come back to it. Try doing this with Outlook.
2. Project Plan – we’ve started to use Google Wave when discussing resources, costs, and getting dates with Dev, HR, Testing Depts. Google Wave v Email v Intranet? I now use Google Docs to maintain the project plans (usually in Docs but also in spreadsheet format. It doesn’t always have to be in Excel.)
3. Information Development Plan – this is the ‘project plan’ for documentation deliverables, e.g. which documents are, what file format do we need, estimated page count, start/end dates, team, technical resources. Again, this can be run through with the team and the project manager is one or more waves. Think of the time this saves v endless emails back and forth.
4. Status Reports – you can link to the ‘active’ status report on the intranet/Google Docs and use Google Wave to provide more detailed information. For example, if risks are identified in the status report, other members of the wave can join in the conversation flow and explain the root cause, shedding further light when/where necessary.
5. SMEs – instead of holding several workshops (or conf calls) setup a wave, get everyone online and explore the subject matter. Upload charts, diagrams, videos and whatever gets this reviewed in one sitting.
6. Reviews – right now, most of these are done in Microsoft Word (and that’s fine up to a point). We’ve done some test runs with Google Wave and managed to get the docs reviewed, re-written, and signed off in, more or less, the same time as we’d do with Microsoft Word.

BUT, this was our first time using Google Wave. Once we get over the learning curve, we’ll be able to get the documents turned around faster.

Remember, you can add videos and graphics to the wave.

• “What do you think of this user interface?”
• “What’s wrong with the nav bar? I didn’t understand your email.”
• “How can we change the workflow of this process?”

You get the idea.

When you can present text, video and graphics at the same time, then you can change the way you manage projects.

It doesn’t always have to be email. Status reports don’t have to be in Word. Give Zoho a spin. Reviews don’t have to be in Microsoft Word. Use Google Docs and see how you can use track changes and version controls.

People making Google Waves

• How I came to love Google Wave http://www.chrisbrogan.com/how-i-came-to-love-google-wave/
• Why Google Wave Sucks, And Why You Will Use It Anyway http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/26/why-google-wave-sucks/
• Google Wave Add-on for Firefox 0.0.3 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/14973

<param name="movie" value="<a target='_blank' href='http://www.youtube.com/v/Itc4253kjhw&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=de_DE&feature=player_embedded&fs=1'>http://www.youtube.com/v/Itc4253kjhw&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=de_DE&feature=player_embedded&fs=1</a>” />

Robert Scoble put it this way: “This service is way overhyped and as people start to use it they will realize it brings the worst of email and IM together: unproductivity.”

<param name="movie" value="<a target='_blank' href='http://www.youtube.com/v/ZlZpH-CUkOo&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=de_DE&feature=player_embedded&fs=1'>http://www..youtube.com/v/ZlZpH-CUkOo&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=de_DE&feature=player_embedded&fs=1</a>” />Things to Consider

While Google Wave is not meant for technical writing it, try and see where/how it can speed up the overall documentation lifecycle, especially those areas where you need to connect with many people.

Use Google Wave to centralize these communications.

Emails tend to create information silos. Snippets you have to cut/paste into other documents (e.g. reports) so they have real value.

How will you use Google Wave?

We’ve touched the tip of the iceberg here. Where do you think it adds most value? How do you plan to use it to save time and speed up internal processes? And. what’s the real problem in getting people to start using it?

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Technical Writing Newsletter – Camtasia, Crystal Balls, Salaries, Metrics & Twitter

The first Technical Writing Newsletter of the year includes some interesting predictions on the future of technical communications, how to justify your role as a technical writer (i.e. metrics), news of Camtasia Relay’s UK Bootcamp and the results of the salary survey for technical writers in Israel.

Ten trends in technical communication for 2010 and beyond
Ellis “Let’s take the opportunity to look forward into 2010 and beyond. Here are, in no particular order, ten predictions to consider. 1. The battle between the “Engineering” and “Craft” schools of thought within technical communication will come to some sort of resolution…”

Technical communication trends in the 2010s

Larry Kunz, “The next ten years figure to be just as eventful. Here are a few trends that I see in technical communication in the 2010s:.. The rise of the content strategist: the person who can process information from all over the enterprise (and from its customers) and repackage it for different audiences. Audiences demand information that’s tailored to them and to the tasks they’re performing, and they look for it in all kinds of places. The stars of the 2010s will be the content strategists who can meet the demand.”

Documentation metrics: How do you prove you’re worth it?

Meanwhile over in Edinburgh (really great place!), Alistair Christie writes, “You know how sometimes you read something and it niggles away at you and you can’t quite get it out of your system? You might never be able to prove that customers are happier because of the work you do, but if you’re able to prove that customers are less annoyed with the products and increasingly able to get on with their business without calling support, then you might just be able to convince people that documentation is valuable.”

When to go with printed documentation

Who cares if they read it or not?

Gordon tells us to lighten up! “Seriously, do we spend too much time worrying about this? What do we get paid for after all, to write documentation, so that’s what we should concentrate on doing. So what if no-one reads it, as long as I’ve done my job I’ll get paid. And no, I don’t care if they don’t understand how to use the product properly, if they choose not to read the documentation then there isn’t much more I can do, is there? Yeah, they might get stuck but if I can learn it, so can they. If not then maybe they shouldn’t.”

Camtasia Relay UK Bootcamp

Reporting for the Salary and Rate Survey

From Israel, Svi Ben-Elya has the results of the recent salary survey, “The reporting period has started for the salary and rate surveys for technical writers, marcom writers and copy editors. This is the most accurate survey of salaries and freelance rates for technical writers, marcom writers and copy editors working in Israel.”

Interview with Dave O’Rourke – Lead Camtasia Studio Developer

Betsy Weber “Kelly Rush, TechSmith’s videographer and I have been roaming behind the scenes at TechSmith and filming as part of our ongoing series about the people at TechSmith who make the products you use. This time, we stormed Dave O’Rourke’s office. Dave is the Lead Developer for Camtasia Studio. As Lead Developer he’s not only involved in software engineering and design, but he’s also responsible for the code that makes Camtasia Studio work. Dave also steers the development of Camtasia Studio”.

5 Reasons to Write Procedures in Twitter

Julie Norris “Recently, I’ve been exploring the need for writing procedures in real-time, focusing on Twitter in particular. This is the fourth post in the series. In my last post, I was asked by Larry Kunz in a comment for thoughts on situations in which one might write procedures in Twitter. Five come to mind; I’ve described them below.”

Technical Writing Events

LinkedIn (I’m at http://www.linkedin.com/in/ivanwalsh) lists ten events that might interest those in the technical writing community.

eSeminar: PDF-based Documentation Reviews for Technical Communicators

With over 90% of all computers connected to the Internet already having the free Adobe PDF Reader installed, conducting PDF-based Reviews of Technical Documentation is one of the most intuitive and cost-effective solutions in the market.

Writer River

Special mention to Writer River, a collaborative news site for the field of technical communication. Lots of great links and building up a nice following on Twitter.

I follow as many technical writers as I can on Twitter and with my Google Reader. That’s where these links come from. If I’ve overlooked you – or you know of a company/product I should follow, please let me know.

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How To Differentiate Yourself As A Technical Writer

Tom Peters says, “the value of services will continue to fall” and that the only way to survive is to differentiate yourself from the competition. Is this true? How do you as a technical writer make yourself stand out from the crowd? If you don’t, what impact could this have on your career?

How to Differentiate Yourself as a Technical Writer

Here are five suggestions to do this:

1. Video Blogging – use your Camtasia skills to create videos that show how products work. Cisco is doing a great job in this area. They gave flip cameras to the IT people and encouraged them to make short, snappy videos that show how to use their hardware, networks, and systems. Which would you prefer? To read 20 pages or watch a 3 minute video?

2. Screencasting Training – now that you know how to make the videos, why not use this to teach others to do this same. Position yourself as a screen-casting expert, setup the blog, get involved, and show others how this works. FWIW there is a very active video marketing group on LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/in/ivanwalsh) that you may want to join.

3. Web-based Training – if you’ve spent years writing guides, you must have developed an in-depth knowledge of 2 or 3 fields. See which of these are most in demand (Google searches and forums will be a starting point) and then develop training modules that you can present online. Lynda.com does a great job in offering training over the web. Sign up with them and see how it works.

4. Social Media Writing – you know how to write, right? Well, most people don’t. As Social Media continues to explode leverage your writing skills and show (“the benefit o f communicating well on Facebook is…”) others how to get their message across on these Social Network. Look at how Debbie Weil does it. http://www.debbieweil.com

5. Business English – the upside of all these jobs getting shipped to India, China, Brazil is that their Management teams want to do more business in the west. How can you help them write better reports, communicate more clearly, protect them from being misunderstood – you get the idea!

These are just five ways you can stand out from the crowd and position yourself as a specialist. My suggestion is to look at who is doing this right, e.g. Debbie Weil, and study them diligently. Then develop an action plan and start getting the rewards you deserve.

What other careers can you think of? Is it possible to differentiate yourself as a Technical Writer? How would you do it?

PS: Tom Peters is here: Thriving on Chaos: Handbook for a Management Revolution and Debbie Weil The Corporate Blogging Book: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know to Get It Right is here.

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4 Technical Writers I Love + Betsy at Techsmith

Who are the technical writers you respect most of the web? These four people helped me in 2009 and id like to share them with you. Some you may know, others you may not. The point is that while I’ve worked with many people in the last 12 months, these folks, have reached out and went the extra yard. And, for me, that’s the difference..

Tom Johnson – you probably know Tom from his http://www.idratherbewriting.com/ site. Not only are Tom’s articles helpful to me as a technical writer, they also help me consider areas that I usually tend to avoid. A simple example is his podcasts. I don’t care for these in general but have had second thoughts after seeing how he makes them (i.e. behind the scenes) and how much others value these. Expect to see podcasts on this site soon!

Scott Able – again, you may know Scott, who’s also a budding DK by the way, but it was a comment he made on the (old) site that got me re-thinking about the role of technical writers and their position in the industry. In many ways, it opened my eyes to what I’d overlooked. One of those ‘a-ha’ moments that makes you stop. Scott is here http://thecontentwrangler.com/about-2/ and http://twitter.com/scottabel

Eric Lin – a UK based technical writer who helped me in two ways. One was encouragement. I know that sounds simple but a kind word makes a lot of difference when you’re starting out. Next was criticism. What I mean is that I changed the site (a bit too much) and he wrote in to say why this didn’t work. It wasn’t a rant. What he said made sense and I changed the site back. Other suggestions have made their way into how this site is presented, i..e. offering more than just technical articles but career advice and life-hacking tips. Site under re-development.

Rahul Prabhakar – introduced me to the technical writer’s group in India, though he’s based on Korea. We’ve swapped ideas on Facebook, some fairly active technical writing groups there, and now connect more regularity. I plan to travel to India sometime in late 2010. There is so much happening there that we (me, anyway!) need to see what we can offer, whether it’s strategic advice, training, consultancy or management skills. http://2brahulprabhakar.blogspot.com/

Betsy Weber – the voice of TechSmith! This is the person to connect with if you want to know or do anything with video recording, screen capturing or screen-casting. Betsy is always ‘out there’-as in on the road-so you should be able to link up with here if you’re in the US. She just came back from Europe and even made time for us in little ‘ol Ireland. http://visuallounge.techsmith.com/

Those are some people keeping me on track.

PS – Links to these technical writers’ website are here: http://www.ihearttechnicalwriting.com/2010/01/4-technical-writers-i-love-betsy/

Whom do you recommend?

Developing connections —and giving value to these connections —is an important part of developing your career. How do you go about making these connections and nurturing so that we don’t take them for granted?

How can I connect with you?

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7 Tips for Business Trips to Shanghai, China

Planning on doing business in China? Doing business in China is not the same as wherever you’re from. If you keep comparing China to your country, however wonderful it is, you won’t enjoy China very much. Take it on its own terms.

 

Here are some tips for doing business in Shanghai.

 

1. Be punctual – Shanghai people are known for their punctuality, so they’ll expect the same for you. While this is not true in most of Asia, here is to be observed. Try to arrive 10 minutes early.

 

2. Stay in Pudong – this is to east side of Shanghai and is where most of the high-tech business and government buildings are located. PuXi is the older, more traditional side of Shanghai. So, unless you have business on the west side of the river, stay over here.

 

Tip – you can take a fantastic underwater train from PuDong to PuXi for around 5 USD. It is an amazing trip with a wonderful light show. You will see ads for it along the Bund.

 

3. Take care on the Bund – avoid people who come up to you looking for assistance (you’re the tourist right?) or who want to take their photo with you. I know this sounds flattering but it’s just a ruse. Be careful.

 

4. Business-men Smoke – unlike other countries, many people still smoke in business environments, though it is getting phased out. If you arrange a meeting with a Chinese businessman, don’t take him to a Western restaurant/hotel where he can’t smoke. Find somewhere that he is more comfortable in. otherwise the deal is off before you start.

 

Also:Global Awareness and Cultural Sensitivity Strategies for Western Technical Communicators

 

5.. Xrays in the Metro – most all metro stations have xray machines to check luggage. Just be careful that your laptop is not damaged going through or that your film etc gets ruined. It’s unlikely but be careful.

 

6. Wifi – you can get wifi in many coffee shops, especially near Pudong, but you often have to ask for the password to access the network.

 

7. Travel Card – if you’re staying for more than a week, get a network card. You can use this on the metro, bus and in most taxis. This means you have to carry less cash with you and spend less time standing in queues.

 

8. Metro City – this is the IT shopping centre (PuXi) and has Best Buy and other western shops on the same street.

 

9. Learn to Haggle – in most of Asia, it’s expected to do some haggling so don’t take it personal. If they ask for 100, I offer 30. They look horrified, we haggle a bit, and finally settle on about 60.

 

10. Chop sticks – unless you’re staying at the Hyatt etc, learn to use chop-sticks. Most places don’t have knives and forks. It takes 30 min to learn how to use chopsticks. Ask a local; practise with peanuts. It’s the only way.

 

11. Expo 2010 – road works are everywhere, so try to stay away from the Bund (PuXi side especially) as this is under heavy re-development.

 

Remember Shanghai is not Beijing and Beijing is not Hong Kong…

 

What have I missed?

 

If you’re travelling to Shanghai soon and have a question, add it below.

 

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7 Ideas to Inspire Your Blog & Laser Focus Your Business

Denise Wakeman asks, “How am I going to come up with fresh content for my blog three times a week?” She lists some excellent ideas designed to help save you time and stimulate some new ideas. Here are some others you might want to consider.

7 Ideas to Inspire Your Business

1.       Track Comments On Other Sites – When I comment on a blog, I make sure that I get updated by email. This lets me keep track of the sites worth commenting on rather than searching thru bookmarks. I have 3 PCs, so the bookmarks are everywhere. But all the emails are in one place. Just saves times.

2.       Read books outside my comfort zone – I try to read one book every week outside my comfort zone. For example, this week I’m reading Stephen King’s Duma Key (disappointment) and a biography of Genghis Khan by John Man. Some of the ideas/concepts in these books often influence me later on down the line, often weeks later. It takes time to digest new ideas and weave them into your thought processes.

3.       Study Tai Chi – I’ve started with this 3 months ago. Some of my quietest moments come after these sessions. When you work long hours – often 6am to 11pm – having a mental break can be a great refresher.

4.       See New Places – we live in China so it’s not hard to get new ideas & influences every day. It’s hard to explain unless you’ve been to Asia and/or a 3^rd world country. Very demanding and very challenging.

5.       Learn to Stop– I try to intentionally slow down during the day and if possible to stop. Running a small business takes up every waking moment – the golden rule is that I can’t take the laptop into the WC, but I would if I could – so having a break is essential. I’ve started photography as a way of relaxing.. You can see some photos here.

6.       Reaching out – Chris Brogan make the point that if you try to ‘equip’ people (his words), then you’ll see the rewards coming back. Instead of using your site for broadcasting, you it as a HUB to distribute info and send people on their way – better equipped! I find this approach also helps with idea generation. Mixing with new people keeps me alert.

7.       Twitter Alerts – I’ve setup Hootsuite to flag certain keywords that I track on Twitter. This works like Google Alerts – http://www.google.com/alerts – except that it flags words in the twitter stream. I follow people who have an interest in these areas and see how I can connect/reach out to them.

It’s not the number of twitter followers that matters, it’s how you personally help them that matters. Otherwise, they are ‘passive’ followers but there is no real interaction going on.

What other ways do you use to generate fresh ideas and stay alert?

Let me know below and we can talk about it. What’s the most interesting things you’ve read this week and how will it change the way you do business.

PS - Denise is here http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/13-ideas-to-inspire-your-blog-content/ and Chris is here http://www.chrisbrogan.com/make-some-money/

 

 

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Getting Things Done: How I Set Priorities

Ross Kimbarovsky asks: “How do you decide what to do next? Should you write a blog post? Answer emails in your inbox? Make several sales calls? Spend time on Twitter? Or should you call a team meeting to discuss a customer problem?

Ross adds that successful people are successful in part “because they are good at setting priorities. And while there are many different ways to set priorities, I wanted to share how I set my own priorities.”

Getting Things Done – How I Set Priorities from Ross Kimbarovsky on Vimeo.

For me, it’s all about planning. And planning, by extension, is decision-making.

1. At the end of every business day, I review what I’ve done. Takes 5 min. What did I forget to do? This goes to the top of next day’s schedule.
2. I get up around 6am to get a head start and beat the kids getting up.
3. I ignore the emails for 1 hour. Nothing is that urgent.
4. I plan my day – what is critical goes first, then what I need to do and the rest can wait
5. When all of this is done, I check emails, watch cats doing ninja tricks and what not
6. I have a super quick review at 11.45 before lunch
7. I have a super quick review at 2.45 to make sure I’m still on track.

All this is done on my pad. Writing it down seems to make it more permanent. I like to cross things off when I’ve conquered a task!

Small rewards as we go along. Nothing fancy.

Closing my inbox during the work day was/is the biggest way to save time. And, of course, turn off the phone.

How do you organize your day?

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