This document contains the presentation slides for a talk given by Stefan Gentz at the CONGILITY 2014 conference. The presentation provides 10 stratagems or strategies for technical communicators to adapt to changes in technology and consumer behavior, such as the rise of mobile devices and consumption of content everywhere. The strategies include being communicative, self-aware, realistic about capabilities and needs, choosing the right authoring approach and tools, creating intelligent and global-ready content, managing change effectively, managing risks, being open-minded, and being creative with content. The presentation concludes by encouraging the audience to tweet about the event using the hashtag #CONGILITY.

1. www.tracom.de • @stefangentz • facebook.com/stefan.gentz
by Stefan Gentz, tracom.de • @StefanGentz
CONGILTIY 2014 • 19–20 June 2014 • Gatwick, UK • #CONGILITY
THE GREAT
ESCAPE
10 Stratagems to shoot your
#TechComm into the future
www.tracom.de • @stefangentz • facebook.com/stefan.gentz

2. twitter:
@stefangentz
facebook:
fb.com/stefan.gentz
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/in/stefangentz
Stefan Gentz

3. @stefangentz at
#CONGILITY:
Your voice matters!
Let's make this event trending!

4. THE WORLD HAS
CHANGED

5. +WLAN

6. CONSUMING CONTENT
EVERYWHERE

8. BUT WE STILL PRODUCE
AND STORE CONTENT
IN:

10. MOBILE
REVOLUTION

11. 156,000,000
GIGABYTES
(2012)
German IT Industry Association BITKOM
MOBILE WEB TRAFFIC DATA IN GERMANY

12. 267,000,000
GIGABYTES
(2013)
German IT Industry Association BITKOM
+71%
MOBILE WEB TRAFFIC DATA IN GERMANY

13. 2,670,000,000
GIGABYTES
(2018, ESTIMATED)
CISCO
MOBILE WEB TRAFFIC DATA IN GERMANY

14. 85% GO ONLINE WITH
SMARTPHONE, LAPTOP, TABLET
69% GO ONLINE STATIONARY
German IT Industry Association BITKOM
MOBILE WEB USAGE IN GERMANY

15. ESTIMATED SMARTPHONE
SALES IN 2014:
30,000,000
German IT Industry Association BITKOM
MOBILE WEB USAGE IN GERMANY

16. HTML5 VS. XML

17. EPUB

18. PDF

19. PESSIMIST: OH, THIS
CAN'T GET ANY WORSE!

20. OPTIMIST: YES, IT CAN!

21. 1.
BE COMMUNICATIVE

22. THE SITUATION ROOM

23. The TechWriter

24. The TechWriter
The Marketing Guy

25. The Marketing Guy
The TechWriter The IT guy

26. The TechWriter The IT guy
The Budget owner
The Marketing Guy

27. The TechWriter The IT guy
The Budget owner
The Consultant
The Marketing Guy

28. Your boss
The TechWriter The IT guy
The Budget owner
The Consultant
The Marketing Guy

29. Your boss
The TechWriter The IT guy
The Budget owner
The Consultant
The Marketing Guy
The Suppliers

31. WHERE IS THE NORTH POLE?

32. 2.
BE SELF-AWARE
(AND HONEST!)

33. SWOT

34. STRENGHTS
OPPORTUNITIES
WEAKNESSES
THREATS
SWOT

35. 3.
BE REALISTIC

36. 4 QUESTIONS

37. HOW MUCH CONTENT
DO YOU PRODUCE?

38. HOW MUCH CONTENT
DO YOU TRANSLATE?

39. WHICH OUTPUT
CHANNELS DO YOU
SERVE?

40. HOW MUCH CAPACITY
DO YOU HAVE?

41. HOW MUCH BUDGET DO
YOU HAVE?

42. 4.
KNOW WHAT YOU WANT

43. DO YOU NEED A
»CLASSIC« FULL-
SCALE AUTHORING
ENVIRONMENT?

44. OR

45. DO YOU NEED A
»LEAN« AUTHORING
ENVIRONMENT?

46. DO YOU WANT
TO AUTHOR
»UNSTRUCTURED«?

47. OR

48. DO YOU WANT
TO AUTHOR
»STRUCTURED«?

49. IT'S YOUR CHOICE!

50. DO YOU #WriteRight?

51. 5.
BE INTELLIGENT

52. INTELLIGENT
CONTENT
WHAT IS
?

53. INTELLIGENT
CONTENT IS BUILD
ON A POWERFUL AND
FLEXIBLE INFORMATION
ARCHITECTURE.

54. INTELLIGENT
CONTENTIS
STRUCTURED
TAGGED
ADAPTIVE
RESPONSIVE
SEMANTICALLY
DISCOVERABLE

55. 6.
BE GLOBAL

56. GLOBAL READY
CONTENT

57. GLOBAL READY
DESIGN

58. GLOBAL READY
TOOLS

59. TRANSLATION

60. TERMINOLGY

61. SO, NOW YOU'RE
READY TO GO?

62. 7.
MANAGE THE CHANGE

63. PhotocourtesybyScottAremanPhotographywithpermissionofKotterInternational
Prof. John Paul Kotter, Harvard Business School (*1947)
PROF. KOTTER'S 8 STAGES

64. Prof. John Paul Kotter, Harvard Business School (*1947)
Establish a Sense of Urgency1

65. Prof. John Paul Kotter, Harvard Business School (*1947)
Establish a Sense of Urgency1
Create the Guiding Coalition2

66. Prof. John Paul Kotter, Harvard Business School (*1947)
Establish a Sense of Urgency1
Create the Guiding Coalition2
Develop Change Vision & Strategy3

67. Prof. John Paul Kotter, Harvard Business School (*1947)
Establish a Sense of Urgency1
Create the Guiding Coalition2
Develop Change Vision & Strategy3
Communicate the Change Vision4

68. Prof. John Paul Kotter, Harvard Business School (*1947)
Establish a Sense of Urgency1
Create the Guiding Coalition2
Develop Change Vision & Strategy3
Communicate the Change Vision4
Empower Employees for Action5

69. Prof. John Paul Kotter, Harvard Business School (*1947)
Establish a Sense of Urgency1
Create the Guiding Coalition2
Develop Change Vision & Strategy3
Communicate the Change Vision4
Empower Employees for Action5
Generate Short-Term Wins6

70. Prof. John Paul Kotter, Harvard Business School (*1947)
Establish a Sense of Urgency1
Create the Guiding Coalition2
Develop Change Vision & Strategy3
Communicate the Change Vision4
Empower Employees for Action5
Generate Short-Term Wins6
Institutionalize Change7

71. Prof. John Paul Kotter, Harvard Business School (*1947)
Establish a Sense of Urgency1
Create the Guiding Coalition2
Develop Change Vision & Strategy3
Communicate the Change Vision4
Empower Employees for Action5
Generate Short-Term Wins6
Institutionalize Change7
Create a new Culture8

72. 8.
MANAGE THE RISK

73. ISO 31000
RISK MANAGEMENT

74. RISK MANAGEMENT PROCESS
Establishing Context
Risk Identification
Risk Analysis
Risk Evaluation
Risk Treatment
Identify Risk (causes and effects)
Understand the Risk
Evaluate the Risk: Risk Acceptability
How to respond to Risks
Develop Risk Criteria

75. RISK MANAGEMENT PROCESS
Establishing Context
Risk Identification
Risk Analysis
Risk Evaluation
Risk Treatment
CommunicateandConsult
MonitoringandReview
Implement

76. RISK QUADRANT
Low likelihood
High magnitude
LIKELIHOOD
MAGNITUDE
Low likelihood
Low magnitude
High likelihood
High magnitude
High likelihood
Low magnitude

77. 9.
BE OPEN

78. BERTRAND PICCARD – CIRCUMNAVIGATED THE
WORLD IN 19 DAYS IN A HOT AIR BALLOON
Bertrand Piccard (@bertrandpiccard)

79. HOW DOES A HOT AIR BOLLOON CLIMB?

80. »YOU NEED TO DROP BALLAST TO CLIMB.«
Bertrand Piccard (@bertrandpiccard)

81. 10.
BE CREATIVE

82. DO MORE WITH YOUR
CONTENT.

83. FINAL
QUOTE

84. Rob Thomas
IBM Vice President, Business Development
»Perspective. Aspiration. Ambition. These are the attributes that
separate those who come to work for a paycheck versus those
who come to work to change the world.
PERSPECTIVE.
ASPIRATION.
AMBITION.

85. @stefangentz at
#CONGILITY:
Your voice matters!
Did you tweet?

86. THANK YOU
FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!

87. twitter:
@stefangentz
facebook:
fb.com/stefan.gentz
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/in/stefangentz
Stefan Gentz