# Technical content brief template

The Content Catapult | Blank working copy | Free to copy and adapt

Complete this brief before assigning the draft. Replace the bracketed prompts, add evidence rows as needed, and keep unresolved claims on hold. A completed brief authorizes drafting; publication requires review of the finished article.

## Assignment and responsibility

Working title: [A specific buyer question or decision]

Content owner: [Name and role]

Writer: [Name]

Technical reviewer and backup: [Names, expertise and agreed availability]

Editor and publication approver: [Names; identify where one person covers multiple roles]

Draft due / technical review due / publication target: [Dates]

Review deadline missed: [Who reassigns, narrows or holds the article; silence never counts as approval]

## Reader and buying decision

Primary reader: [Role, company context, existing technical knowledge]

Situation: [What happened that makes this question worth answering now?]

Buying question: [One question in the reader's language]

Question evidence: [Sales note, customer interview, support ticket or public discussion, with date and permission status. Label a brainstormed question as a hypothesis.]

Decision after reading: [What can the reader compare, specify, rule out or test?]

Commercial relevance: [How the question relates to the product without assuming the product wins]

Next step: [A suitable checklist, documentation page, conversation or other action]

## Scope and search intent

Article format: [Explanation, comparison, checklist or other]

Primary keyword / market: [Keyword and intended country/language]

Supporting terms: [Only terms that fit the assignment; mark volumes unverified if not researched]

Existing page overlap: [URLs checked; why a new article is needed or which page to refresh]

Included: [Specific concepts and questions]

Excluded: [Adjacent topics, unsupported comparisons, product claims and operational instructions]

Length and effort allowance: [Editorial length target; hours by role; exclusions and rework allowance. These are planning assumptions.]

## Claim and evidence ledger

Copy a record for every material claim. For product facts, capture version and scope. For a calculation, capture all inputs and units. For original tests, preserve the method and observations.

| Exact proposed claim | Source URL or internal artifact | Date/version and scope | Evidence limit | Reviewer and verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Statement to publish] | [Direct source and relevant section] | [When checked; product/version; conditions] | [What this does not establish] | [Name; verified / narrow / remove / hold] |
| [Statement to publish] | [Direct source and relevant section] | [When checked; product/version; conditions] | [What this does not establish] | [Name; verified / narrow / remove / hold] |

Claim boundary to give the writer: [Write a sentence specifying what the evidence permits and what must not be inferred.]

Illustrative material: [Identify every invented company, scenario or number. State that these are examples, not client results.]

## Expert session

Session date and duration: [Booked time]

Questions to resolve:

1. What would a novice misunderstand about this decision?
2. Which conditions or product versions change the answer?
3. What evidence would show the proposed claim is wrong?
4. Which source, demonstration or test supports the answer?
5. What must the article avoid promising?

Internal material permissions: [What may be published, anonymized or used only as background?]

Unresolved questions and owner: [Question, named resolver, due date]

## Outline and reader tools

Opening situation: [Concrete event, failure or choice]

Sections in decision order: [Heading; reader question answered; evidence needed]

Worked example: [Inputs, assumptions, steps, expected decision; label any invented inputs]

Reader tool: [Checklist, table or template; what it enables]

Internal links: [Anchor, destination and reason]

## Publication acceptance

- [ ] The article answers the stated buying question.
- [ ] Every factual claim has a source that supports its exact scope.
- [ ] Numbers have been independently recalculated and assumptions labelled.
- [ ] Technical reviewer has checked the final wording and examples.
- [ ] Illustrations are labelled; no invented experience, outcomes or product capabilities.
- [ ] A second reader has checked structure and clarity.
- [ ] Links, tables, downloads and the next step work on desktop and mobile.
- [ ] Material unresolved claims have been removed, narrowed and rechecked, or publication is held.

Final verdict: [Approve / revise / hold]

Approver / date / version approved: [Record actual review; never prefill approval]

## Distribution, measurement and maintenance

Distribution: [Channel, intended reader, owner, date and permission/community rules]

Measurement: [Signal; definition; system; baseline; review date. Separate observed contribution from caused revenue.]

Tracking check: [How internal tests are labelled and excluded]

Continue / revise / pause rule: [Evidence needed for each decision; how to handle sparse data]

Maintenance owner and trigger: [Name; product/source changes or review date]

Authority to pause: [Who can stop publication or request correction when evidence changes]