How to Improve Your Communication Skills as a Software Engineer

While we Software Engineers often focus on mastering technical details and new technologies for career growth, it's effective communication that truly unlocks our full career potential. In this video, I share my learnings about the art of communication, inspired by Professor Patrick Winston's talk "How to Speak" at MIT. I will make a point about why just coding is not enough and go through 7 tips to get better at communicating complex ideas.
If you've ever wondered how to transition from a good engineer to an invaluable team asset, this is my best advice!
✅ Tailoring messages based on your audience.
✅ Ensuring you're addressing the right people.
✅ Simplification in your explanations.
✅ Why active listening is so important.
✅ The impact of humility in professional discourse.
...and more! Plus, don't miss out on the bonus tip about using humour in the workplace.
Watch Professor Patrick Winston's talk (Seriously, it's incredibly good):
• How to Speak
Or read his book (Don't do both. It's largely overlapping):
mitpress.mit.edu/978026253938...
And if you want to learn how to be funnier at work:
• The Skill of Humor | A...
👉🏻 If you liked this video, you can help me put "KZbinr" in my CV by subscribing to my channel.
🙋🏻‍♂️ Or say hello on LinkedIn: / leonard-thiele
Coding skills get you started in the tech world, but effective communication skills bring you to the next level and eventually more seniority! #SoftwareEngineering #CareerGrowth #CommunicationSkills
Chapters in this video
00:00 Intro
00:32 Why Communication?
03:02 #1 Know your...
04:21 #2 Speak to...
04:57 #3 Focus on...
06:01 #4 Simplify...
08:10 #5 Active...
11:03 #6 Show...
12:42 #7 Conclude...
13:37 # Bonus
14:33 Outro

[@naxxim]

Whate a great video.. one of the best videos on communication I've ever watched

[@leonardthiele]

Thank you very much for the kind words 🙏🏻

[@agha-mou]

I was thinking about it just some days ago. I think there is one thing that is holding me back right now in my career which is my communication skills. So I started digging more into it and now you come with this video! Awesome work! Thanks for sharing.

[@leonardthiele]

Happy to read. What a coincidence! Thanks and I hope it helps you in your career.

[@andresromero25]

Your content is gold!! Thank you :)

[@huwfulcher]

A hidden gem of a video, thanks Leonard! I was pleased to find that I already do some of the 7 things in meetings but can definitely work on my active listening and simplification!

[@leonardthiele]

Thank you for the kind words, Huw. Happy that it could provide value! All the best

[@thomastomtom2010]

Great video! I've been really trying to improve my communication skills, and this video makes communication a lot less abstract. Going to keep this in mind next time I have to communicate a more complex topic.

[@leonardthiele]

That was my goal. I also always thought that a lot of advice was not really that practical. I can highly recommend watching Winston’s talk I’ve linked. I still can’t believe it’s available for free. All the best.

[@mohibquadri4053]

Uncompromisingly forthright analysis !! Bro it is said that 'Writing' is the most important yet Underrated skill of the century so i want to know how to learn it effectively ? How it impacts our career & any mentors or books that could shed some light on it ??

[@leonardthiele]

Thank you! Writing is indeed important but I don’t have good resources to learn it. I think reading a lot and practicing to write gets you far already!

[@ayong_ID]

Really helpful to me. I'm struggling improve my communication skills. Wish you a good life sir.

[@leonardthiele]

Glad to hear that it was helpful! Keep it up and I’m sure you’ll get better over time!

[@bigbangriders7177]

It was very helpful. Content quality was very good as well. Nice work. Want to see more.🤍🙂

[@leonardthiele]

Thank you! 🙏🏻 I’m already working on the next videos. If you are interested in a particular topic, let me know!