What skills will technical communicators need in the coming years?

The days when technical writers were mere designers of instruction manuals are long gone. Today, TC is an essential part of the customer journey. Time to hone and promote our skills accordingly.

Text by Ellis Pratt

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As a year – or a decade – draws to a close, many institutions and organizations make predictions about future trends to expect in the following years. But do these predictions really help us prepare for the future? Perhaps asking about trends in skills is a better question. It’s a question that encourages us to take action – to plan and prepare and be ready for when those changes happen.

Scott Abel asked a number of people from the industry this question at the end of 2019. He recorded their thoughts on video, and published the clips on YouTube. I’d like to look at this as well.

Can competency frameworks help?

So what skills are needed today for the role of a technical communicator? To answer this, let’s take a look at some of the competency frameworks that are around.

Through conversations with some of the academic bodies in Germany, tekom has developed a competency framework that ...