A draft lightning talk on content strategy.

1. What can content
strategists learn from
historical fighting manuals?
aka How to make your content last for hundreds of years
Ellis Pratt
@ellispratt
Clear and simple information your users will love
© Cherryleaf Ltd 2013

2. In 2012, we went to an
exhibition
Photo: Susan Hayward

3. There were the manuals of
Alferi, Rapisardi & others
These books are
used today to
recreate
Renaissance sword
fighting
by the School of the Sword & the
Sussex Sword Academy
Image: myarmoury.com

4. It also happens in aikido
Some aikikoka still
use“Budu Renshu”

5. The purpose of the
manuals
A memory aid, not as a
self-study guide
To maintain consistent
standards
You still had to practise

6. Who wrote them?
Students who were skilled
in explaining
With the content
approved by an expert

7. The audience
Focused on the target (!)
audience
For intermediate and
advanced students
Not for beginners

8. They were highly
structured
Because there are
thousands of techniques

9. How did they optimise
the content?
They were written after
years of study
Today, we can use
mediums other than
paper
Video:Yoshinkan Aikido

10. How were they
maintained?
They weren’t really
(but did they get out of
date?)
Video: ShimmerXXXX

11. Learning from how the
information was
written
We are Technical Authors after all!

12. The images can be
misinterpreted
without text to support them

13. The importance of
showing movement
They used
arrows &
numbered steps

14. 2D images used to
explain a 3D world
Less can be more
Changing perspective
can be very confusing

15. Accurate, authoritative,
trustworthy information
We can forgive their
other weaknesses

16. Did they have a content
strategy?

17. Did they have a content
strategy?
“Content strategy plans
for the creation, delivery
and governance of useful,
usable content”
Kristina Halverson
© Brain Traffic 2010

18. Did they have a content
strategy?
They knew what
the content would do
for the readers
They knew what their
audience needed, and why
The content was structured,
prioritised
and organised
© Brain Traffic 2010

19. Did they have a content
strategy?
Technology limited them
The content was governed
by experts
© Brain Traffic 2010

20. Why has the content
lasted?
It’s well written
The authority of the content
The usefulness of the content
The information design

21. End