Promote Your Project!

Each of us is working on awesome projects every day, but who actually knows about it? Even inside your company, do the people down the hall know the amazing things your team is working on? Do you know about theirs?

Promoting your projects effectively can make the difference between making a huge splash, or being completely ignored. We want our code to speak for itself, but, well, it doesn't have a mouth. That means that *we* are on the hook for spreading information and excitement about our projects within our organizations (and perhaps outside too).

I will talk about ways to optimize your writing style to get people excited about your project. Please bring your laptops! Part of our time will be interactive as we improve our writing skills together.

Transcript

1. WITHIN YOUR ORGANIZATION PROMOTE YOUR PROJECT CHRIS POWERS @CHRISJPOWERS CHRISJPOWERS@GMAIL.COM HTTP://CHRISJPOWERS.COM
2. Where we are headed…
3. Why is “self promotion” important? Why does our writing matter? Workshop: Audience Workshop: Brevity Workshop: Call to Action Closing Q&A with Groupon Editorial 01. WHERE WE ARE HEADED 02. 03. 04. 05. 06.
4. IS THAT NECESSARY? WHY SELF PROMOTION?
8. Acknowledgement
9. Benefitting others
10. Organizations are big, communication is hard.
11. Which is more engaging, this…
12. …or this?
13. MY PROJECT SPEAKS FOR ITSELF WHY DOES WRITING MATTER?
14. Cutting through the noise
15. Quality of communication == quality of the project
16. You are asking for something.
17. Persuasion is hard!
18. GET OUT YOUR LAPTOPS! WRITING WORKSHOP
19. EXERCISE #1 ROUGH DRAFT
20. CONSIDER YOUR AUDIENCE “A” IS FOR AUDIENCE
21. Identify your audience, focus on their needs.
22. Divide your audience into distinct groups.
23. Find the right granularity.
24. EXERCISE #2 NAME: JOHN DOE ROLE: IT EXECUTIVE PROBLEM: SPENDS TOO MUCH MONEY ON DIGITAL SIGNAGE. CARES ABOUT: BUDGET, EASE OF USE. USER PROFILES
25. KEEP IT SHORT, CONCISE “B” IS FOR BREVITY
26. Focus on the solution. Boil it down.
27. Inverse Pyramid: Say the important stuff first.
28. Edit yourself.
29. If you would be so kind as to consider possibly clicking the below link so as to have the opportunity of installing this application on your mobile device of your choosing… ! Click here to install the app. BAD: PASSIVE LANGUAGE GOOD:
30. I just wanted to check in with you to see if you wouldn’t mind installing my app when you have a chance, maybe? ! Click here to install the app. BAD: WIMPY LANGUAGE GOOD:
31. If you leave a word or phrase out of a sentence, does it change the meaning of the sentence negatively? If not, yank it out! OMISSION TEST
32. EXERCISE #3 TIGHTEN IT UP
33. Focus on the solution Say the important stuff first Avoid passive language Squash wimpy language Use the “omission test” 01. TIGHTEN IT UP 02. 03. 04. 05.
34. CALL TO ACTION! “C” IS FOR CALL…
35. Make an explicit call to action.
36. Use formatting to call out the important parts.
37. Don’t make me read everything.
38. Build trust for next time.
39. EXERCISE #4 CALL TO ACTION
40. Make a clear call to action Use formatting to call out the important stuff Don’t make me read everything Build up trust for next time 01. CALL TO ACTION 02. 03. 04.
41. TIME FOR Q&A ASK THE EDITORS
42. THANK YOU. CHRIS POWERS @CHRISJPOWERS CHRISJPOWERS@GMAIL.COM HTTP://CHRISJPOWERS.COM