Tag: content development

GenAI in Professional Settings: Adoption Trends and Use Cases

GenAI in Professional Settings: Adoption Trends and Use Cases

Debra W Kahn (@debrawk.bsky.social)

Some content and project professionals are making their GenAI wishes come true, some are still contemplating their first wish, and some feel trapped in the genie’s bottle. Such is the current state of GenAI use within organizational boundaries.

In the past few weeks, I have been engaging with practitioners through events and private discussions on the application of GenAI to everyday work. Most notably, I recently delivered a recorded presentation on Human-in-the-Loop for IPM Day 2025, set for release on November 6; led a virtual session for the PMI Chapter of Baton Rouge on September 17, 2025, titled “GenAI: The Attractive Nuisance in Your Project”; and participated in an October 2 webcast, “An Imperfect Dance: Responsible GenAI Use.”

What folks told me didn’t always surprise me.

What they told me matched, for the most part, some of the GenAI adoption patterns I’ve been researching. I’ll share those trends, as well as common and emerging use cases and persistent drawbacks, in this month’s blog post.

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Content Creation in the Time of Disinformation: A Pathway to Trust

Content Creation in the Time of Disinformation: A Pathway to Trust

Debra W Kahn (@debrawk.bsky.social)

“Easy to process equates to easy to believe.” These words leaped off the page as I was rereading David Dylan Thomas’ book Design for Cognitive Bias recently. They apply to the gamut of modern deliberative information-making (short- and long-form) from ad slogans to instruction manuals. They also inform deliberately deceptive content—manipulative and fact-free social media posts, press releases, and political speeches—or disinformation.

As my mind began to grasp the far-reaching implications of this quotation, I realized that it also speaks indirectly to the central construct in successful product communication: trust.

As professional communicators, how can we earn our audience’s trust? How can we appeal to readers who are potentially adrift in a disinformation-polluted social environment?

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Thistle-Tomes

Thistle-Tomes

Debra W Kahn (@debrawk.bsky.social)

The following are my 2024 short takes on all things content in life and work:

  1. No one is an expert on AI yet. Take everything with a grain of salt.
  2. Sustainability should be part of every content strategy and content project.
  3. Lack of specificity on websites can be both a friend and an enemy. Vagueness can leave room for negotiation but also misinterpretation.
  4. Jargon in customer-facing content can be a significant barrier to understanding and engagement.
  5. Something I like to call “name theory” says that what you call something matters. And it doesn’t have to rhyme with “oom.”
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A Guide to Storytelling for Online Content

A Guide to Storytelling for Online Content

Debra W Kahn (@debrawk.bsky.social)

In today’s saturated digital landscape, standing out as a brand or subject matter expert requires more than just presenting facts and data. It demands capturing the attention and emotions of your audience through the age-old art of storytelling.

Whether you’re a business writer crafting marketing collateral or a technical writer documenting complex processes, incorporating storytelling into your online content can significantly enhance its impact and resonance with readers.

The Magic of Storytelling

Stories, the oldest and most powerful form of communication, have a unique ability to captivate and engage. As Cynthia Lockrey highlighted in her presentation “5 Tips for Impactful Storytelling” (American Migraine Foundation, June 29, 2023), stories are more than just a sequence of events. They are a vehicle for knowledge retention. Research suggests that they can boost retention by 2 to 10 times better than facts alone. But what makes stories so potent?

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Step One in Component Content: Common Modules

Step One in Component Content: Common Modules

Debra W Kahn (@debrawk.bsky.social)

No one likes to reinvent the wheel. And in the era of AI, none of us like to create content when we can leverage something that’s already out there. (Copyrights respected, of course.)

Actually, irrespective of AI, an aversion to unnecessary writing effort has always been a thing, especially among those of us who develop product-related content. Why rewrite a product-line description or a disclaimer when you can leverage what others (or you) have already written?

When I had my Eureka moment about this, near the turn of the millennium, I tried to create a content reuse process within an existing product documentation system. Seemed like common sense at the time. So, I set out to convince my colleagues to join me on that plain.

Today, of course, we have many options to componentize content, from WordPress to sophisticated CCMS tools. But where do you start if you’re not ready to make a giant leap to an expensive tool?

I believe the basics of my original process still apply. So, I will share it with you here.

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