Show Yourself
Hey!
Welcome back to another week of musings. Another week of raining the Bay!
I haven't been able to go out for walks every day, but on the other hand, we're getting more sunlight now, and that makes me very happy!
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Over the last few months, I've been thinking about ways to help people show themselves across the organization. They might be looking for opportunities in other teams, a promotion, or the goal of public speaking.
Use topics that interest you
The easiest way to start is with topics you're already interested in or invested in.
For example, recently, I had to upgrade an old node.js application and saw some tweets about using JSDoc as a thinner layer for type checking, especially as the Typescript compiler understands the comments. I wrote and shared my thoughts with the team on a wiki page after adding type checks via JSDocs to the app.
You might be learning a new programming language or encountering an interesting bug that took you some time to fix.
Perfect is the enemy of good
I think about this often because having a newsletter that you send and is available online is an exercise in overthinking for me.
Instead, I try not to think too much about whether the newsletter is perfect, and instead, I focus on writing my current thoughts or feelings about the topic. You can always create part two, or write a new version, etc.
Focus on sharing what you've learned or found interesting instead of worrying about whether it's the best format, enough information, or if everyone else already knows it.
Nothing is too small
Another thing that took me too long to understand was that, for some reason, at the beginning, I always thought I had to do a presentation, a video recording, or a big wiki page. Instead, I focus mainly on sharing, even if it's just a Slack message in an engineering channel: "Hey, I learned this today."
In general, as with the previous point, don't overthink it. If you post about it, you'll get feedback that might inform your ideas and that can help create a more extensive presentation.
Practice makes perfect
As with any other skill, consistent practice makes you better over time.
Focus on sharing sustainably for you, gather feedback, and improve over time. Also, remember to let your manager know and keep gathering reactions and input from the people you're engaging with.
Over time, you'll not only build your skills but also a record of being able to demonstrate these skills.
Make sure you're enjoying it
During this journey, ensure you check in with yourself if you're actually enjoying it. Otherwise, it will be just another aspect of work that you need to "check," but public speaking is also helpful outside of work.
Don't force yourself to do something you might not enjoy. In my case, I had to work myself to do video recordings of demos. I started writing about it, screenshots, etc; after a while, it was much more challenging to write it down than recording myself.
At first, I didn't record myself in a "formal" way. I created a call, joined it, and recorded it as with any other meeting I attended. That made me feel more at ease as if I was lowering the stakes.
Conclusion
Public speaking is such a useful skill not only at work but also outside of it. It can help you connect with like-minded people, look for other opportunities, or even as part of your promotion packet.
As always, the world needs your voice and your opinion. Practice makes perfect, and remember to enjoy the journey!
Your turn!
Let me know if you've tried demoing or presenting ideas to your organization. Also, let me know if you've done something in a conference or other public setting. You can reply to this email!
Happy coding!
Things I discovered in the past week
- I've been getting really into cozy vlogs. Those two are good examples. It also makes me wonder why they're so popular now. Maybe now that many of us work from home, we don't have that clear separation of work/home as we did when we commuted somewhere.
- The Node.js Documentary is out. I'm halfway through the video, but it is interesting to see the interviews. I have met some of the interviewees at conferences over the years.
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