The #1 threat to technical work at scale is poor communication. Many engineers, data scientists, and other technical professionals I’ve worked with are brilliant when it comes to solving hard problems, but they often struggle with the softer side of their work–the people skills—which are critical to their success. Especially since it’s only a matter of time before co-pilots take over the captain’s seat of technical tasks.
Communication: Catalyst or Ceiling
A study conducted by Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation, and Stanford Research Center found that 85% of job success comes from soft skills (such as people skills), whereas only 15% stems from hard skills (such as technical capabilities). Soft skills can distinguish you to help preserve or even further your career, but if they’re not developed, they can create a ceiling over your growth. When you lack people skills, especially interpersonal communication, your projects suffer. This is especially true for cross-functional technical work that requires support from stakeholders. Whether sharing status updates on a virtual standup meeting or delivering a keynote tech talk at an in-person conference, how you communicate your work can either fuel its growth or snuff out its success.
Gloria Meeks offers an example of such a limited individual in her abstract, “Critical Soft Skills in the Workplace,” for Walden University: “Participant P08 emphasized that a person can be an exceptional scientist, but if that individual is not able to communicate effectively with others and put his or her findings in plain and simple language, the success of that individual will be very limited. Moreover, it will be very difficult for that individual to be a good team member due to the lack of communication skills.”
The Pain of Presenting
Soft skills such as communication are important, but they can also be challenging. My team and I have had the privilege of spending 10k-plus hours coaching and training some of the most prominent minds in tech, from Fortune 50s to startups. Most of them can talk shop with their fellow domain experts, but when it comes to sharing about their work outside their team, they’re a fish out of water ready to be filleted by confused listeners. It breaks my heart to watch tech talks that back up the dump truck of technical details without utilizing the most important tool for effective communication: storytelling.
Whether working with CTOs or ICs, storytelling is the common denominator to effective communication. The key is to figure out what to say about your work (the story) and how to say it (the telling). Like good code, there’s both art and science to writing a compelling story and deploying it successfully. The same is true for public speaking. Good presenters develop engaging stories before delivering them with both verbal and nonverbal techniques.
A Guide to Technical Storytelling
I wrote Luminary: Master the Art and Science of Storytelling for Technical Professionals to solve for the pain points of communication by guiding technical professionals on how to create and deliver effective stories in all settings, from product demos to backend deep dives. The book is based on our proven coaching and training curriculum, which has helped participants achieve the following average improvement ratings:
Public speaking confidence by 9%
Presentation delivery skills by 12%
Content development competence by 14%
3 Hacks to Increase Impact and Confidence
Here are the top three hacks from our curriculum and Luminary to help you avoid threats to your technical work:
1. Lay a Firm Foundation: The Rule of Three
Audiences are lazy. When speaking to them, your goal is to make it easier for them to follow you, not harder. So avoid lengthy monologues of jargony laundry lists. Focus on no more than three key messages in your talks, because that’s the smallest number of datapoints our brains can recognize as a pattern. Any time you’re communicating about your work, distill all of the information you want to share into three overarching topics that you can then build out with sub-bullets for additional depth about each main topic.
2. Build on the Foundation: The Story Formula
Our brains are hardwired for stories.They are sense-making mechanisms for processing information that would otherwise be perceived as random. If you build on your three core messages by leveraging LUV’s Story Formula to craft a compelling narrative about your work, you’re much more likely to engage your audience than by showing them dense slide decks full of unorganized details.
To achieve your objectives with your audience, use the Story Formula to sequence your content: a beginning (30% of your presentation), middle (50%), and end (20%). When developing those three main sections, utilize Aristotle’s Modes of Persuasion to appeal to your audience with clarity (logos), credibility (ethos) and conviction (pathos). Underlying the story sequence should be a strong technical narrative that shows the honest and humble progression of your work from hypothesis through iteration and ultimate success, with logical transitions linking the sections to help it all flow seamlessly.
The three-part content sequence, expanded:
Beginning (logos): Establish clarity at the start by building up the “why” of your work with a succinct problem statement; then hook the audience with a personal, work-related anecdote followed by just enough past context about the work to set up the middle of your talk.
Middle (ethos): Fill the meat of your presentation—composed of three subsections—with what audiences are most interested in: the necessity, complexity, and novelty of your innovative efforts.
End: Close with inspiration (not hype!) by sharing the results of the work you highlighted in the middle and summarizing the key takeaways. Then inspire your audience by closing with a glimpse into your future work to build forward momentum.
3. Deliver Deliberately: Nonverbal Techniques
After you craft your story, make sure to deliver it authentically and confidently. No one likes a hand-waving, overly charismatic fluff ball who sounds like a car salesperson. Remain authentic by speaking in a conversational tone, and project confidence by maintaining a composed demeanor, strong and upright posture, and purposeful gestures. Last, to avoid using distracting filler words (um, ugh, like, etc), be conscious of your pacing. Technical speakers have a tendency to fly through the details of their work in a manner that causes them to stumble. Slow your roll with occasional pauses to allow your audience to keep up and allow you to think about what you’re going to say next.
I hope these hacks help, because that’s what we’re all about at LUV. Helping others is our passion, which is why we donate 100% of the profits of Luminary to people in Haiti. To help their story and yours, check out the book!
About Author: This article is expertly written and contributed by Jack Griffin, author of “Luminary” and founder/CEO of Light Up Ventures, a leadership development firm that has coached over 2,400 tech leaders from Fortune 50s to startups. With a background in enhancing the performance of technical professionals, Jack brings insights from his extensive work and personal passion for empowering individuals. He resides in the Sierra Foothills of Northern California, where he supports global philanthropic causes by donating 20% of his company’s profits.
Jack Griffin — Founder and CEO at Light Up Ventures
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