---
title: "Podcast: Make Your Help Indispensable, Safeguard Your Job"
date: 2009-01-31
description: "$( document ).ready(function() { // Handler for .ready() called. $("
canonical_url: https://idratherbewriting.com/2009/01/31/podcast-make-your-help-indispensable-safeguard-your-job/
---
# Podcast: Make Your Help Indispensable, Safeguard Your Job
**Listen here:**

[![](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/apple_podcasts.png)](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id-rather-be-writing-podcast/id277365275)

[![](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/watchonyoutubeblack.png)](https://www.youtube.com/@idratherbewriting)

[![](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/spotify.png)](https://open.spotify.com/show/4HeOZfPGMMfViOhVS40QBD)

In this podcast, I talk with Mike Hughes, second vice president of the STC, about his latest UXMatters article, "[Straight Talk: Surviving Tough Times as a User Assistance Writer.](http://uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2009/01/straight-talk-surviving-tough-times-as-a-user-assistance-writer.php)" We talk about how to make help more valuable, more worthwhile and user-focused, so you don't lose your job when companies begin laying off employees based on lack of value.

Here are a few other topics we cover in this podcast:

- Where help must appear to be used, and how to pitch it to the user

- Why documenting everything is sometimes the worst thing you can do

- What it means to make your help "a mile wide and thirty seconds deep"

- How identifying points of pain and information gaps can help you avoid writing obvious instructions

- Why tools and technologies can distract you from the content

### About Mike Hughes

Mike is a seasoned technical communicator with 20 plus years of experience. He currently works for IBM Internet Security Systems as a user assistance architect. He holds a PhD in Instructional Technology from the University of Georgia and a Masters in Technical and Professional Communication from Southern Polytechnic State University. Mike also contributes regular columns to [UX Matters](http://uxmatters.com) and writes a blog at [http://user-assistance.blogspot.com](https://user-assistance.blogspot.com).