Massimo Curatella

Tag: communication

  • Write about what interests people you know

    Instead of thinking about what I should write I should think about something else.

    Vision

    Where do I imagine myself to be in the future?

    What is the future I imagine for me, my loved ones, the Universe?

    Mission

    By virtue of this vision that I strongly feel, then, I will have a mission to accomplish.

    How will I make my vision come true?

    Goals

    In order for my mission to be fulfilled, then, I will need to identify objectives that will make it true.

    Personas as a role model for my audience

    Rather than imagining a generic and indistinct audience, it is better for me to identify real people. When I work and communicate, I should refer to each of those existing people I know who allow me to have a direct, dedicated dialogue aimed at understanding and acting on that specific person. This can help me focus my work as if I were actually having a conversation with them. Talking with a specific person involves certain communicative, emotional, psychological contexts, etc. and therefore activates the important principle of reducing abstraction  from a hypothetical shapeless mass of people to a specific face that I know and with whom I interact spontaneously.

    Know your Personas are real persons

    It becomes essential to have a collection of real people corresponding to the conversations I like to have and would like to develop.

  • How to prepare and run a software demo: prompts

    In this post no. 344 I am publishing my notes on Software Presentation.

    Presenting a piece of software is a [[presentation]] so anything applicable to the art and craft of presenting can be applied to software as well.

    [[Presentation]] is a [[communication]] activity so the basics are to be found in this wider field.

    What are the most important things to do and to know to create and deliver an effective and efficient software presentation?

    1. Define who your audience is

    2. Define your audience’s background and their goal. What’s the most important thing they need to get from your presentation?

    3. Define the delivery context: where, when and how is your presentation going to be delivered?

    4. Define the presenters: is it you or a group of presenters? What’s their relationship? How are they sharing tasks and responsibilities?

    5. How much time do you have available for the presentation? Is there going to be a Q&A session?

    6. What media are suitable, accepted, required, requested for the presentation?

    7. What’s the presentation outline?

    8. What’s your final goal you want to achieve with this presentation?

    The software to be presented

    1. What’s the nature of the software to be presented?

    2. What’s the design and development level?

    3. If there are data-based features to demonstrate, what’s the nature of the data? What’s the data model? Is there a database involved? What about the data: is it fake, real or custom made for this presentation?

    Real data vs fake data.

    1. If the data is real, do you have permission to show it outside the scope of the inner workings of the software?

    2. Is there any sensitive information included in the data?

    3. What’s the best data configuration to support the storytelling in the presentation?

    4. Do you have a local backup of the data in case the live server is not working?

    Simulating a user flow vs doing it for real in the software.

    1. Do you have a clearly defined set of stories to show?

    2. Are you using real or test users?

    3. Can you show a prototype, a mockup or a simulation instead of the real software? What are the implications of choosing a development version versus a live one?

    4. Is it required to give access to the software for the attendees? Is there a dedicated and set-up environment for this controlled audience? Is there a developer following the operations and able to intervene in case of urgent needs?

    Covering for features not yet implemented.

    1. Can you show a mocked up user story instead of a prototype?

    2. Do you have clearly identified the prerequisites, the running context, and the outcome of the stories related to the feature you are presenting?

    3. Are you ready to collect feedback by accurately recording all suggestions and critiques?

    4. Do you need to show multiple versions to pick one? How have you organized the sequence and the comparison? Do you need to give handouts or material illustrating complex scenarios or minute details?

  • Precision of Language

    What do you mean by what you say? It’s a powerful and ambiguous question that could bring you more clarity or rejection. We have evolved to who we are today thanks to our communication skills. Our ancestors, the best ones, survived because they were precise when describing food location or where predators were wandering. The precision of language allowed us to be the powerful living being we are. When food or safety is not our primary goal it’s easy for us to be superficial and approximative. It can become part of our culture to speak fast and easy without giving too much attention to the words we are using and how we are using them. That makes us lazy and sloppy. Imprecision in communication makes us prone to error, to waste and inefficiencies. Asking “what do you mean?” or “Can you elaborate that?” or “Can you provide an example?” is usually seen as being on the defense, or even annoying if not insulting. It’s the precise role of who wants to be an effective listener to ask those questions. Designers, for instance, need to understand deeply and carefully the people involved with their design. They cannot be superficial or approximative or imprecise, unless there is a specific attitude to elicit knowledge with that behavior. Asking clarifying questions is a skill, to be used carefully. It can lead to rejection, failure or making you appear weird and annoying but it’s an important tool to become an effective communicator.

  • Communication without context is meaningless

    Communication without context is meaningless

    Don’t take the context of your message for granted. Or you will do a supercazzola.

    I experiment a lot. I subscribe to many products and services under development, in the alpha, or beta phase. Some of them promote their projects and ask to leave your email to be contacted in the future to send you development news.

    Many of them are enthusiastic that they are growing or releasing a new version and invite you to visit their website to try it.

    Problem: communicating your enthusiasm without an introduction

    They talk a lot about the day’s news, but they do not say who they are. The message they sent is from some cool names, and they abstractly communicate their joy of being alive missing badly to give context to the communication.

    Problem: your name is not descriptive

    Your name, your business name, or your product is not explaining the value I should find in following your communication. So I am confused.

    So you find yourself with an enthusiastic message by people probably working hard to polish their jewels shooting in the darkness of unpopularity.

    Problem: failure in anticipating the value

    What will I see if I click your link?

    See also the usability heuristics: “Visibility of system status” and “Recognition rather than recall .”We could paraphrase it as “Who are you? Would you please remind me what is your product?”

    Result: indifference

    Once per day, I celebrate in my inbox with perfect strangers their business achievements. From time to time, I don’t remember who they are or what their product is about. And they get ignored. That is the sad truth.

    Set the context for effective communication

    Communication needs to be designed. And communication design can help you in creating a message well-formed and well received.

    To capture your audience’s attention, you need to establish the right context to prepare the communication you want to send. Clarify the receiver’s mind about the message you want to convey. Then communicate your content.

  • Practice transcribing your thoughts to become an effective communicator

    Practice transcribing your thoughts to become an effective communicator

    Writing every day for 365 days, I’ve learned to be a confident communicator.

    I am more fluid and a better cold starter. I used to be doubtful, redundant, and sometimes slow in starting to write. Now I can get to the point faster and easier.

    While reading my drafts I can sense evolution in my communication style. The first writings were longer, denser, and containing a lot of different concepts, not always related and meaningfully connected.

    Although free-flowing writing has the exact purpose of letting the brain going free in the flow, doing a lot of practice, you will discover that flow to change.

    Garbled mumbling accompanied by gibberish, slowly but steadily, evolves into better structured and expressed thoughts.

    I’m now better at improvising, speaking in public, sustaining conversations, and most of all in writing down a draft, decently good, on the first try.

    I can connect better multiple concepts without passing through drafts. Making connections on-the-fly renders your communication richer and more effective.

    Transcribe your thoughts, frequently and intensely. You will become a better thinker and a better communicator.

    This is Essay 23 of 30 in the my challenge One Year Writing: 30 Lessons Learned in 30 Days

    1. The Journey is the Purpose (16 Nov 2020)
    2. Writing is Thinking (17 Nov 2020)
    3. Write a Lot to Write Well (18 Nov 2020)
    4. Creative Loneliness (19 Nov 2020)
    5. Be Less Ambitious, Be More Consistent (20 Nov 2020)
    6. Writing builds your networks (21 Nov 2020)
    7. Connect ideas now (22 Nov 2020)
    8. Writing improves your memory (23 Nov 2020)
    9. Writing makes you a better observer (24 Nov 2020)
    10. Writing sets the focus on yourself (25 Nov 2020)
    11. Dissolve your distractions (26 Nov 2020)
    12. Writing reduces your jargon and slang (27 Nov 2020)
    13. Walking generates ideas (28 Nov 2020)
    14. Writing is like drinking coffee (29 Nov 2020)
    15. Creativity makes you happy (30 Nov 2020)
    16. Be smart, let it go (1 Dec 2020)
    17. Writing is a process (2 Dec 2020)
    18. Automate repetitive tasks (3 Dec 2020)
    19. Publish text as digital text, not images (4 Dec 2020)
    20. Why asking questions? (5 Dec 2020)
    21. Facilitate growth by tracking habits (6 Dec 2020)
    22. Type more, type faster, type better (7 Dec 2020)
    23. Transcribe your thoughts to become an effective communicator (8 Dec 2020)
    24. Write daily to become a better manager (9 Dec 2020)
    25. Do it small to do it better (10 Dec 2020)
    26. Don’t lose your mind. Back it up (11 Dec 2020)
    27. Write daily to enhance your reality (12 Dec 2020)
    28. If only I could be ten, again (13 Dec 2020)
    29. Writing compounds despite everything (14 Dec 2020)
    30. The habit of building habits (15 Dec 2020)