1.
Liz Herman STC SUMMIT 2015 Business Management Progression liz@lizherman.com http://www.lizherman.com @dr_herman #STC15
Communicating with Clout: Enhancing Your Organizational Power
Come for the Candy
Stay for the Clout
Positioning ourselves as valued members of our
organizations as technical communicators can
be complicated, frustrating, and overwhelming.
If you are feeling undervalued or are not sure
how to change the value people assign to you as
a technical communicator, this progression is for
you. It’s not just about the candy that I brought
for the table.
I hear you! You are not alone.
 Teaching STC Live Seminar
 15 Technical Communicators
o Years in the Industry
o STC meetings & networking
 Common themes:
o Raising profile
o Demonstrating value
o Getting engaged
o Increasing power
o Understanding contributions
o Performing as a team
o Integrating into the development
lifecycle
Use Tools of Our Trade
 Audience analysis
 Communications savvy
 Cultural attaché
 Decision mapping
 Networking verve
 Organizational awareness
 Organizational skills
 Personality styles
 SME extraction
 5 Ws plus H
ACDC
(Audience Analysis, Communications Savvy, Decision Mapping, Cultural Awareness)
Audience Analysis: Subject Matter Experts, Peers, Management, Upper/Executive Management; Internal/External Clients
Communications Savvy: Verbal/Written Skills, Tact and Diplomacy, On‐target Messaging, ROI
Decision Mapping:
Owner Evaluator Implementer
Ultimate decision maker Subject matter expert Doer
Source of power: Position Source of Power: Information Source of Power: Skill
Relationship based on: Trust Relationship based on: Credibility Relationship based on: Information
Thinks evaluators’ advice is accurate,
mitigates risks, but not decision makers
Thinks owners won’t use the data and take
unnecessary risks
Thinks owners force change, don’t
understand reality
Thinks implementers want support, want
things easier, but not visionaries
Thinks implementers won’t use the
resources and can’t change
Thinks evaluators are not in touch,
slow, create delays
Cultural Awareness: Who are the Owners, Evaluators, and Implementers in your organization?

2.
Liz Herman STC SUMMIT 2015 Business Management Progression liz@lizherman.com http://www.lizherman.com @dr_herman #STC15
Networking Verve
 Blogs
 Business cards
 Elevator speech
 MeetUps
 Professional organizations
 Others?
 For the introvert?
Organization
Use organizational skills to increase clout: plan,
do, check, act! Keep it simple.
Sometimes clout will need to come from
outside of your organization
o IEEE
o STC
o PMI
o NCMA
o Community
o Church
Personality Styles
 Color Profile/True Colors
 DiSC
 Enneagrams
 Five Factor Model
 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
 Myers Briggs
 Personality Assessment Inventory
 Rorschach
 Common sense
SME [Alien] Extraction
Taking tacit knowledge and making it
explicit
Think of SMEs as Evaluators (from
decision mapping)
Let’s brainstorm challenges and solutions.
What’s worked for you in your technical
communication career?
5 Ws + H
Technical communicators are naturally curious
people.
Ask questions.
Who?
What?
When?
Where?
Why?
How?
How does your work contribute to the value of the
project? Who is the true decision maker? What
opportunities could increase my clout?
About Liz Herman
STC Member since 1997
Transforms complex
information into accessible,
easy‐to‐understand, bite‐
sized pieces of business intelligence that drive
performance. Areas of interest: knowledge
management, strategic communications, health
policy, and talent management. PhD Business, MA
English, BA Journalism. Member of STC
Washington DC/Baltimore Chapter (First Vice
President). PMP and CPTC certified.