technical storytelling influential communicationbuilding my app” “i thought it would take me a...

Technical Storytelling &

Influential Communication

Karen Catlin @kecatlinPoornima Vijayashanker @poornima

https://femgineer.com/ghc/ghc19.pdf#GHC19

@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19

You’ll take an idea andcraft a story to engage & persuade • Create interest and intrigue• Give others something to relate to• Make your idea memorable


Our asks for you• Try each storytelling technique• Got a personal question?

Save it for the “5 minute favor”• Have fun!


Turn ideas into strategic visions

@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19Photo credit Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

1. What do you want to champion?E.g., project, feature, process,

goal2. Introduce yourself to your neighbor3. Take turns sharing your ideas

5

MINUTES


“My goal is to work as a back-end engineer when I graduate.”

“I want to roll out a new process for bug triaging.”

“My vision is to reduce our carbon footprint by encouraging users to delete old photos.”

Share a personal story

Photo by Danielle MacInnes on Unsplash @poornima @kecatlin #GHC19

You are the decision maker at a company that creates online courses.

I’m proposing a course on iPhone app development.



All my friends were doing it…building an iPhone app!

A personal story• Is relatable• Evokes empathy• Builds connections


Uncovering a personal story

What you wish you knew before

“10 things I wish I’d known when

I started building my app”

“I thought it would take me a couple of

months, but it actually took me

18 months”

“I built my app to compete with one

that had the largest number of

downloads ever. The odds were not in

my favor.”

A mistake you made

A long-shot goal you’re aiming for

1 32

Outline a personal story to get support for your idea

• What you wish you knew before• A mistake you made• A long-shot goal you’re aiming for


5

MINUTES

Craft a hypothetical story

Photo by Max Felner on Unsplash @poornima @kecatlin #GHC19

A hypothetical story is good when• Confidential information is involved• No personal experience to share


You are a reviewer for proposals for GHC 2020.

I want to lead a workshop for GitHub newbies.


photo credits #WOCinTech @poornima @kecatlin #GHC19

Imagine applying for your first

tech internship...

Crafting a hypothetical story

Think of a common problem

“Imagine applying for an internship & needing to provide

your GitHub”

“You’re meeting with the recruiter in less than an hour”

“If you don’t get the internship, you’ll be washing dishes all

summer”

Introduce urgency or necessity

Identify worst-case scenario

1 32

Learning a framework,

Securing applications,

Finding effective ways

to retire technical debt

Need to cut budget,

Fix a gnarly bug,

Ship releases more

predictably

A security bug causes a

national banking disaster,

Entire team quits because

of all-nighters

“Imagine waking up one morning, checking social media, and seeing a viral post about a whopper of a bug in your product. Plus thousands of angry comments.

Welcome to your worst day ever.

Fortunately, I have a new idea for preventing bugs like this from ever happening.”


Outline a hypothetical story to get support for your idea

• Think of a common problem• Introduce urgency or necessity• Identify a worst-case scenario

Hint: Start with the word “Imagine”


5

MINUTES

Uncover the story behind the data

Photo by Marc Sendra Martorell on Unsplash @poornima @kecatlin #GHC19

Use a data-driven story when• Lots of data• Topic is otherwise “dry”

Uncover the story BEHIND the data


You are the head of Finance at your company.

I have an idea for a new process to track revenue dips.



Earlier this year, I was asked to look into what was causing

a slump in profits...

Think about how your data impacts

Revenue or expenses

“We were losing a million dollars

each week”

“We tracked down the top drivers of customer calls”

“We saved days of work by automating

a manual report”

Quality Productivity

1 32

Helped close a big customer deal,

Led to more renewals,Identified unused software licenses

Cut down on injecting

bugs during sprints,

Minimizing downtime

for maintenance

Sped up our

development process,

Improved decision

making

Outline a data-driven story to get support for your idea

• Revenue or expenses?• Quality?• Productivity?


5

MINUTES

about memy agenda

story to hook your audienceoverview to your talkX


Before

“Hi I’m so-and-so. I’ve worked as a network security

engineer at Company X, Y, and Z.

In my talk today, I’ll share why network security is

important, what network security will look like over

the next 3-5 years, and three best practices you can

implement in your organization.”


Start with a hook

@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19Photo credit Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash

● Past experience● Relatable● Memorable● Succinct


After

“Six months ago, we were under attack...



7

MINUTES

Create a hook for your story

Take one of your stories: personal, hypothetical, data

What is THE most interesting part of that experience

you can start your talk with to hook your audience?

And how can you segue from it to share an overview

of your talk? Dramatic, interesting, and memorable.

Build credibility with a story


● Share the problem● Challenges to your expertise● Impact and outcome


“Even though I was the lead network security engineer

and I had studied all the best practices in graduate

school, I wasn’t prepared to handle my company’s first

Distributed Denial of Service attack, a DDoS.”


“My knowledge was outdated because I’d gone to grad

school before mobile phones and the internet of

things. Because of that, I had to get outside support to

fend off the attack. It took an entire week. So by the

time we were done, we’d lost ⅓ of our customers.”


“Over the past ten years of my career, I’ve used three

approaches to help startups and Fortune 500

companies resist attacks, be resilient in the midst of

one, and bounce back within hours or days.”



5

MINUTES

Add credibility to your hook

Be specific in showcasing your credibility

How did the problem challenge your expertise?

How did you overcome the problem?

What was the impact and the outcome ?

Photo credit JJ Ying on Unsplash

Weave your story throughout your talk


“It was 3am, we had raided the kitchen of all the

snacks, and that’s when it dawned on us to try this

next strategy to stop the flood of incoming requests…”



“Be proactive! At your next all-hands meeting, start a

discussion around each of these techniques, and which

could help your company avoid a DDoS.”

Review• Use storytelling to gain support• 3 kinds of stories:

Personal, Hypothetical, Data-driven• Start with a hook • Build credibility with a story• Weave your story throughout your talk


https://gum.co/present-ebook/ghc

https://gum.co/present-ebook/ghc

5 Minute Favor• Go around your table• Ask a favor that’ll take < 5 minutes


10

MINUTES

“Can you send me that article you mentioned? Here’s my card.”

“Who wants to connect on LinkedIn? Put your badges on the table so I can take a photo.”

Please remember to complete the session survey in the mobile app.

https://femgineer.com/ghc/ghc19.pdf

THANK YOUYOU CAN FOLLOW US

@poornima @kecatlin

#GHC19

https://femgineer.com/ghc/ghc19.pdf

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