A simple public speaking template for developers
3 ways comms skills can make you a better dev — Part III
I do as much — maybe more — public speaking in my role as a software developer as I did in my communications roles.
This partly stems from the nature of my current role as a team lead, but it’s also typically part of being a developer.
Most devs have to regularly speak in front of peers during events like stand-ups, kick-off meetings, and retros.
As I’ve worked on more structured talks, like presentations and even short-form ‘lightning’ talks, I’ve found myself thinking back to a public speaking course I took as a comms major that taught me to apply a specific formula when preparing a speech.
There are lots of ways to approach prepared talks. But for me, having a starting structure removes the daunting feeling of staring at a blank page. When I have a presentation coming up, I usually set up a doc with the following sections, and then start filling them in:
Introduction:
- What are you going to talk about and why is it relevant to the audience?
- Preview the main points / thesis
Main points:
- Headline the main idea followed by supporting details
- Add a transition between each main sections (simple format — we just talked about X, now we’ll explore Y)
Conclusion:
- Recap the thesis, review the main points + relevance to listeners
- Wrap with a memorable ending (tying back to intro is often a decent way to wrap up)
I used this general format to prepare the outline for a talk I gave at RubyConf in 2022. At 30 minutes, it was longer than any presentation I’d worked on for a while. The template provided a foundation to get started and resources like this post on breaking up longer talks into smaller chunks helped me fine tune the flow.
Spending less time thinking about the overall flow and structure for each presentation frees me up to spend more time on the part that does change significantly with each presentation — the content.
Pick up more communication tips for devs:
- Intro: 3 ways comms skills can make you a better developer
- Part I: Write pull requests that invite reviews
- Part II: Think like a copy editor to move faster as a developer
- Part III: A simple public speaking template for developers
