Pete as a Newspaper

You’re sitting at your desk, and you have a snazzy idea. You want to share this idea w/the guy next to you, and your excitement takes over. Too much information comes out. His eyes glaze over.

You have failed at sharing this nugget of excitement.

Next time, let’s wrangle that excitement into an easy-to-digest bundle, shall we? Here’s how:

Set the purpose

There’s a huge difference between jumping straight into technical details, and establishing a context before doing so. Start off with what’s going on. What problem have you solved? In one sentence, what is the big deal?

Deliver the package

OK, your audience has an idea about why you’re so giddy. Take it easy. It’s not over yet. At this point, there are two sets of details you should include:

1. The technical/interesting/whatever details that you feel the need to share
2. Details that are relevant to the ‘what’ (described in Set the purpose above)

You’re excited, and that’s great, but there’s a good chance that no one gives a damn about this particular nugget of information. Mix it up with some relevant information that your audience can take back to their cubicles.

Wrap it up, already

OK, okay, they were willing to listen to your story, hear about your amazing feat of OOP prowess, they’re done caring. Leave them with something to chew on, or at the very least, signal that you’re done spouting nonsense, and that they can resume their lives, richer in spirit, now that you’re done w/them.

< /tongueincheeck >