Developer Evangelism

Developer Evangelism

Christian Heilmann, Bangalore, India, 21/10/2008

नम#$

Namaste

I’m Chris.

Today I was asked to tell you how to be an evangelist.

The issue is that I can’t do that.

Being an evangelist is something that can’t be

taught.

We’re not sales people.

However, I can listen, I can help and I can give you the

information you need.

I’ll do this by showing you how I approach it.

This might work for you, too.

However, you know your culture and what makes

people interested here much better than I do.

Which is where you need to find your own style to get the

messages across.

One thing every evangelist needs is enthusiasm.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/psd/2928474683/



If you don’t believe in it...

... if you don’t want to play with it...

... don’t pretend to.

Developers can smell lies really quickly.

You want people to get excited about what you

evangelise...

...not having to defend it.

Sometimes you also need to curb your enthusiasm a bit.

You want to come across as an expert telling people about something cool...

...not like a 12 year old on a sugar rush.

A concept that is really important is that of being an

independent voice.

Yes, we work for a certain company...

...but that doesn’t mean we need to love everything they

do.

It also doesn’t mean that anything other companies do is worse or not of interest to

us.

You got to know what other people do to learn from their

victories and mistakes.

If you present something, people will ask how this

compares to other products.

If you know about the other product, then you can tell

them.

If the other product is better, don’t claim it isn’t.

We should be confident enough to admit that

competitors do good things.

The most important thing is that people can trust your

judgement.

Which is where your presence comes in.

Be visible and be interested in what people are talking

about.

Mailing Lists

Forums

Social Bookmarking

Microblogging (yeah, twitter)

Blogging

Social Networks

IRC

Use the internet for your storage and distribution.

Flickr

Upcoming

Del.icio.us

Slideshare

Google reader

Facebook / Orkut / Hi5...

Mahalo

The more you spread, the more channels are there to

reach you.

Let’s talk a bit about communication.

Things to do before you communicate to developers

in any way:

1. Get your facts right

2. Know the audience and their needs

3. Have expert backup

4. Choose the right medium

5. Plan for failure

Make sure that you are up-to-date on the matter before you go and speak about it.





5. Plan for failure

Do not promise things that are not under your control.





5. Plan for failure

Your communication should be targeted to the audience.





5. Plan for failure

People came to talk to you with an agenda – if you fulfill that agenda you win.





5. Plan for failure

You cannot be the expert in everything.





5. Plan for failure

For the tricky questions have an expert at hand to answer them for you.





5. Plan for failure

If there is no expert available at the time note down the question and follow it up after consultation.





5. Plan for failure

Do not promise to come back to someone and forget it – that’ll make you look like you needed a fast way out!





5. Plan for failure

Your communication should be in the right format for the group.





5. Plan for failure

This can range from slides over videos and audio to live coding exercises or online step-by-step examples.





5. Plan for failure





5. Plan for failure

http://icanhaz.com/stickyevent



Things will go wrong.





5. Plan for failure

Be prepared: have your slides online, on a memory stick, plan to use a whiteboard...





5. Plan for failure

Don’t expect any fancy technology to be available.





5. Plan for failure

Secretly every communication hardware hates humans.





5. Plan for failure

You will not be online in 99% of the cases.





5. Plan for failure

Relying on audio and video is asking for trouble.





5. Plan for failure

Things to be aware of during communicating.

1. Be yourself

2. Invite communication

3. Prepare takeaways

4. Prepare to steer Q&A

5. Be honest and real

You will find dozens of books and videos on how to be a great presenter.

1. Be yourself





Nothing makes you a better presenter though than being who you are.

1. Be yourself





You should not have to play a role or dress up.

1. Be yourself





If you believe in what you do, you will be great.

1. Be yourself





The best asset is confidence.

1. Be yourself





1. Be yourself





Jason Calacanis at LeWeb3:http://blip.tv/file/536742

http://blip.tv/file/536742


...or being so honest and scared but competent that people just have to feel sympathy.

1. Be yourself





1. Be yourself





Jake Archibald at @media Ajaxhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/patolucas/2862381584/



It is all about communication.

1. Be yourself





So if you give a talk, tell people that it is OK to ask questions.

1. Be yourself





Make space in your presentations for that.

1. Be yourself





Ask the audience questions, make them participate.

1. Be yourself





People should have the chance to concentrate on what you are saying.

1. Be yourself





So don’t make them feel they have to jot things down.

1. Be yourself





Have a URL where they can download your information afterwards – say that this exists.

1. Be yourself





Have all the links in a presentation as a tag on – for example – delicious.

1. Be yourself





Say upfront what you will cover and what they will get out of it.

1. Be yourself





Have time for Questions and Answers.

1. Be yourself





Be in control of Q&A.

1. Be yourself





A lot of times you will have people who don’t ask questions but profile themselves instead.

1. Be yourself





Deal with that accordingly – and swiftly.

1. Be yourself





People will have real questions that need answering.

1. Be yourself





If you don’t know an answer – do *not* speculate.

1. Be yourself





Ask the audience if someone knows – if not, offer to investigate further and swap contact details. 1. Be yourself





There is no harm in not knowing something.

1. Be yourself





There is harm in lying though.

1. Be yourself





Following up communication.

Whatever you do – it is important to cuddle

afterwards.

In this case make sure you email everyone who gives

you a business card (this can become time consuming)

Make sure to blog, upload recordings and photos and

publish your slides immediately!

It shows respect to those who came to see you talk, and

invites those who missed it.

Have contact options available after your talk – emails, twitter and so on.

Do not use company mails or IM information though – protect your channels.

Let’s talk about writing (f.e. for a blog) a bit.

1. Simple is not stupid

2. Say what it is – don’t sugar-coat it

3. Size matters

4. Media can make a difference

5. Structure is good

6. Date your content

7. Cite to prove

Simple is not easy. It is also not stupid.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

Simple takes a lot of work and thorough understanding of the subject. 1. Simple is not stupid


3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

If you explain things in as easy as possible terms you will reach the most you can reach.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

Read and re-read what you’ve written (take breaks in between) and make it as easy as possible.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

Avoid being condescending – you can oversimplify, too.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

Comparisons with real life objects work very well to simplify complex matters. 1. Simple is not stupid


3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

Your heading and introductory text are the most important things of a blog post. 1. Simple is not stupid


3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

Both determine how easy it will be to find the post in the future.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

Newspapers have conditioned us to write clever, witty and interesting headlines with pop references.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

These don’t translate well to other cultures.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

So do we want to be creative and witty for a minute or do we want to provide valid information for several months?



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

At the start of any post state what happened, where and how. 1. Simple is not stupid


3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

Continue to explain what is coming in the post.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

This’ll prevent any confusion and get interested people on the way to find out more.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

Does that stifle creativity?



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

Maybe, but let’s not forget the environment you publish in: 1. Simple is not stupid


3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

Technical online writing is about keeping things short and to the point. 1. Simple is not stupid


3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

People are busy, and want the facts.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

So in order to write great posts, write them, read them, delete what is not needed, read again, delete more and so on.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

If you cannot take anything away any longer, you’ve reached the point of publication.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

If you have a lot to cover, why not split it up into several posts?



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

If you can, add relevant media to the post.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

An introductory photo invites the eye and lures the brain into reading what happened.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

We’re lucky that these days embedding video, audio and slides is as easy as copy+paste.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

Embedding ties our information together in a nice, easy to digest bundle. 1. Simple is not stupid


3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

It also allows visitors to skim over the post the first time and come back to take in the rest (watch the video, download the podcast) later.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

This also helps people who have a hard time reading but are very much capable of listening or seeing.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

Structure is very important – give readers landmarks to take in your information one chunk at a time.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

This means a clever hierarchical heading structure.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

It also means short sentences.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

It means paragraphs dealing with one thing at a time.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

It means using lists to explain step-by-step processes or give an overview of what is available.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

For large documents it also means providing a table of contents which allows for bookmarking sections.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

If you eat food past the “best before” date you get sick.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

If you don’t time stamp your publications they will be considered great forever.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

They’ll be quoted – sometimes badly – and re-iterated over and over again. 1. Simple is not stupid


3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

Our technical environment moves at breakneck speed though. 1. Simple is not stupid


3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

What was “best practice” half a year ago might very well be “considered harmful” now.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

So let’s make sure that readers know when a certain document was written and choose to follow its advice even now.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

The last, very important point is to cite other sources and link to content you have built upon.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

By citing other sources (and reading them of course) you validate your thoughts and facts.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

Readers don’t have to trust you blindly – they can make up their mind by comparison.



3. Size matters




7. Cite to prove

What about presenting?

This is very much dependent on your style and what you

are comfortable with.

Things that work for me:

1. Introduce yourself

2. Use humour

3. Build bridges to the real world

4. Pace yourself

5. Avoid “hello world”

6. Be fresh

Introducing yourself, however briefly breaks down an initial barrier.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

You are not any longer this unreachable person on stage or at the head of the table – you are a normal person.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

Explain why you are competent to talk about the matter at hand.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

Then put the ego away – people came for information, not to see you sing and dance.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

Humour is important to keep a long presentation interesting.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

I like to put in things that people just don’t expect – to keep both me and them on the ball.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

Humour also makes things more approachable. We tend to use humour to deal with things that scare us.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

Humour also allows for a memorable moment – it is a different kind of structuring and providing landmarks.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

I like to bring up real world examples and comparisons.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

The rationale is that they make very theoretical and hard to grasp data more easy to consume for humans.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

Real world comparisons also allow for emotion – and emotional responses are very powerful and make us remember.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

Speaking at the right pace makes you easy to understand.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

If you appear rushed, listeners will feel uneasy.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

Trying to keep up is a terrible feeling and makes us feel inadequate.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

So speak slowly, with meaning and concentrate on pronouncing things thoroughly.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

Pauses are good. They allow listeners to take information in and digest it in the way they know best.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

I am so bad at this!

:)


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

“Hello World” examples are easy to show.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

They are also useless, as they teach a syntax, but not the concept of a language or solution.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

There is no personal value in “Hello World”.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

We should teach how to solve issues and fulfill tasks.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

I yet have to be asked in a professional product to produce “Hello World”.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

It is *much* better to have a real production example to build upon.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

“This is what we had to create – here are the specs”


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

“This is the final outcome”


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

“Here’s what we used to deliver this job”


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

“... and here is how you can do it yourself!”


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

Build on top of what people are asked to do, not what you expect them to do for you.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

I always try to deliver fresh material.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

I hate re-using presentations and training material.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

The least I do is to bring some new, fresh angle.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

Check what is hot at the moment, research it and add it to the talk.


2. Use humour


4. Pace yourself


6. Be fresh

Last but not least – know your arsenal.

You should know where to find information about the

products you advocate.

Including the communication channels (internal and

external) to reach those in charge.

So, let’s stop this presentation and go through them.

Christian Heilmann | http://wait-till-i.com | twitter: codepo8

THANKS!

http://wait-till-i.com

http://wait-till-i.com

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Developer Evangelism