Clear communication is one of the most important soft skills a software engineer needs to thrive in their career. It’s not easy, especially as an introvert and depending on the environment you’re working in; though employers (and all of us) should strive to create safe teams & spaces for everyone to share ideas with ease, there are also practical things we can do as individuals to improve how we communicate.

This was originally posted on LinkedIn in January 2024 and on Medium in February 2024.

As a junior & even a senior engineer, I was terrified to speak during meetings about technical topics or to present my work in front of people. Overcoming that had a significant impact on my career and accelerated my growth.

It started with Toastmasters sessions at work (my ex-Next Jump colleagues will remember that!). After that, I took every opportunity to practice speaking in the tech community with groups like Women Who Code and at work. When it came to speaking up in meetings, I took advice from a mentor to try being the first to say something in every meeting, which really worked; facing the fear at the beginning of the meeting helped settle my nerves for the rest of it and made a big difference over time. Different tactics work for different people, and sometimes, you’ve got to try a few ideas and see what works for you.

Look for opportunities to practice in small steps and find someone you trust to give feedback on your communication. Some ideas: 💡 Daily stand-ups — be clear & concise, convey the important info 💡 Engineering knowledge-sharing sessions, brown bags, all-hands — share tech knowledge with technical people 💡 Sprint demos — present your work and explain technical topics to potentially non-technical people 💡 Code Pairing sessions — clearly explain your thought process whilst coding with another 💡 Community sessions & events — opportunities to present in front of different, bigger audiences 💡 Targeted communication training or meetups — does your company offer communication training, Toastmasters or similar? meetup.com is also a great place to browse

I still find it hard & it’s likely a forever journey, but building these skills over the years helps me face the fear and do it anyway!

What other tips have helped you?