Writing for Designers with Siobhan Özege

Applying the principles of effective writing to sell your (great) ideas.

Transcript

2. Hi! Hello!
3. I’m Siobhan. And I have been writing for a long, long, time. • Improving your communication skills can solve a lot of problems • It isn’t as scary as you might think • Better communication boosts your self esteem
4. How to Make Friends and Influence Non-Technical Stakeholders
5. What’s this talk all about? 1. Owning your expertise 2. Learning how to assess your audience 3. Breaking down (departmental/technical) barriers 4. Using UX principles to be a better communicator and...
6. Teaching you how to better sell yourself & your work!
7. But first! An icebreaker.
8. Yeah, f*ck that.
9. It’s easier to sell your work when you’re speaking the same language.
11. Most importantly: be yourself. You’re great!
12. Understand Your Expertise
13. How to Be An Expert Without Being a Jerk About It 1. Be empathetic 2. Be patient 3. Use your powers for good 4. Limit your jargon (technical or otherwise) 5. Turn your expertise into enthusiasm
15. Learn to Read the Damn Room
16. How can we assess (and serve) our audience? 1. Research who you’re talking to 2. Remember that you aren’t the user / audience 3. Adapt to meet your audience’s needs 4. Keep things simple & consistent
18. Break Down Some Barriers
19. You are your best creative product 1. Embrace 1st person narrative 2. It’s okay to get a little personal! 3. ...but don’t make it all about you 4. Write / present like you talk 5. You have the power to get your audience stoked
20. When you’ve built something smart, you don’t need to “sound” smart.
22. Use UX to Improve Your Communication
24. Communication is a Wicked Problem 1. Be accessible 2. Be useful 3. Be credible (there’s that expertise thing again!) 4. Be valuable 5. Be usable 6. Be desirable (get them stoked!) 7. Be findable
25. Communication is Design.
26. How to Communicate Good
27. How to Communicate Good Well
28. The average North American has a 7th or 8th grade reading level.
30. It’s the job of the communicator to be understood, and the receiver’s job to understand it.
31. So make it easier for them to understand you 1. Be consistent 2. Read it out loud 3. Writing is not the same as editing 4. Write less 5. Read it out loud 6. Spellung & grimmar actually mattors
32. But seriously: read it out loud.
34. Sell Yourself. Sell Your work.
35. @sigh__oh @siobhanozege Want to keep talking, or work together on a project? HMU: siobhanozege@gmail.com
36. Thanks for coming!