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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
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
Our asks for you• Try each storytelling technique• Got a personal question?
Save it for the “5 minute favor”• Have fun!
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
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
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
“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.
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
All my friends were doing it…building an iPhone app!
A personal story• Is relatable• Evokes empathy• Builds connections
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
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
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
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
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
You are a reviewer for proposals for GHC 2020.
I want to lead a workshop for GitHub newbies.
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
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.”
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
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”
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
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
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
You are the head of Finance at your company.
I have an idea for a new process to track revenue dips.
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
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?
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
5
MINUTES
about memy agenda
story to hook your audienceoverview to your talkX
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
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.”
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
Start with a hook
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19Photo credit Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash
● Past experience● Relatable● Memorable● Succinct
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
After
“Six months ago, we were under attack...
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
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
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
● Share the problem● Challenges to your expertise● Impact and outcome
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
“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.”
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
“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.”
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
“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.”
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
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
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
“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…”
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
“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
5 Minute Favor• Go around your table• Ask a favor that’ll take < 5 minutes
@poornima @kecatlin #GHC19
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