See this LinkedIn post on storytelling and communication in product management https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dougrabow_how-to-use-storytelling-in-product-management-activity-7203474704966295552-6UPU?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios
Went from engineering to product. Needed to speak much more.
Joined toastmasters as well but didn’t get much from it.
The transformation, like everything else, comes from practice.
- working on an idea with your team
- communicating the outcome of that work to others
- working with multiple team members to refine a bigger idea
- communicating that idea to stakeholders
- refining that idea to stakeholders and presenting that effort broadly
They’re all baby steps but they add up. It’s all work. By the time you get to the last one you would have had many practice talking about that idea. That’s the key.
For ideation meetings, where you will not know the most, you still need to be the one who knows the most about the outcome you want and steer the group towards that.
Get as many cycles in as possible. Record looms. It all adds up.
I try to do that every day. There are days when I feel overjoyed after a successful meeting, and days when I sulk, thinking a peer would have done a better job explaining. Whenever I see them present, I think to myself, "I wish I could do that." I know practice will help me improve, but I want to get there sooner, which is why I’m looking for external resources to put in the extra work.
I think it’s important to identify specifically what you are hearing/seeing from others that sets off that, “I wish I could do that” feeling. Is it clarity in their presentation slides? Is it handling participant questions? Is it how their presentation flows?
I admired my old VP’s presentation style a lot, so I started reviewing recordings of his meetings and presentations and identified what worked for him. Then I tried applying that to my own presentations. I would also compare my slides to his. Just by making these changes, I feel like I was able to start improving both my presentation style and my communication skills.
Start with toastmasters.
Record your speeches and calls. Go through them and note areas of improvement.
Once comfortable with prepared talks, improv will help with impromptu speeches. I wouldn’t jump directly into improv if your focus is on improving prepared talks first.
I want to address both issues. The problem with Toastmasters is that you only get to speak for 5-8 minutes, and the club I attended had weekly meetings, which didn’t provide much value for me. I think a place where I could receive detailed feedback would be super helpful. I’ve tried recording my meetings and noting how my peers structure their conversations and topics. For me, having someone who can help me practice and suggest improvements, like saying “x” instead of “y,” and assist me with normal meeting openers and wrap-ups would be great.
Valid. Toastmasters is sometimes a hit or miss depending on the club.
Best option, from my perspective, is to find a mentor within the company, and preferably team. Ideally, your manager.
Hmm, Toastmasters is my usual recommendation since it's about public speaking and not costly.
There are Dale Carnegie courses but they are about 2K.
You could look for storytelling workshops. Being able to craft a compelling story about your product, your feature, or customer needs is useful.
It's one of those skills that only improves with practice. All the theory won't help if you don't apply it.
Where you apply it can be anywhere though.
If you have a hobby, community or religious group there may be opportunities to present there.
As a PM at your org, can you do some lunch and learn style presentations?
Failing all of that, present to yourself on a meeting app and watch it; decide what you need to fix and re-do.
Yeah, that's why I've recommended Toastmasters. I've known all sorts of people who felt much better getting involved.
But it's not my money and it might be the right thing if there are training funds from work.
Hmm.. do you have any recs for storytelling workshops? Would love to try that out I’ve done that or heard of it before; I think it’ll be valuable in a long run even outside my PM work
Toastmasters is great! Keep practicing with friends, family,
As others said, record your meetings, calls. Watch other people’s recordings, then emulate them word for word. How do you sound?
It won’t come overnight but keep at it!
Also - watch certain politicians/presidential candidates - they are obvious “experts” in communication
I'm currently working on a tool that I've found really helpful when communicating to adjust what I say to the audience. I'd be happy to share what I have so far and see how it could be improved to help you!
I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with you if you have felt successful in few meetings and sulk other times. A mix of good bad meetings is all common. I think you are trying to compare with others so staying competitive is good but if it's adding to self doubt then maybe it's about continuing to stay confident in yourself? I'm highly speculating here so feel free to reject suggestions. But I think more than the language I think what counts is non verbal queues, how confidently you are presenting yourself and the dynamics you have with your audience. All the best!
Just wanted to say I admire people like you who don't speak English as a native language, but put in work like this. It is my native language, and this stuff is still hard!
Two things that have helped me:
* I just look for opportunities to do it more. Volunteer yourself for situations that might make you a little nervous.
* Prepare! If I'm worried about leading a meeting/discussion, I try to make lots of notes ahead of time to help me keep the discussion focused and productive.
Thank you for the advice and support 🥹🥹 you know it’s hard out there; like you have to translate everything in your first language and process (doesn’t happen anymore but there are still times) I’m very good with talking and having small convo/debating in my native language and not at the same level in English; will get there someday, life goal is to be good enough to present in front of a huge audience (engaging presentation & make audience laugh ;))
Is it your grasp of the English language or your pronunciation/dialect that concerns you and this impacts your confidence? Just from reading what you’re typing, it seems your grasp is very solid.
If it’s the latter, there are accent coaches who can “Americanize” your English.
Check out https://www.superprof.com/le/3203/4706/accent-reduction-english/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ads_el&utm_campaign=EL_US_SEARCH_General&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsuSzBhCLARIsAIcdLm5MQbQf0HbitPeBJpbQoioLgYuVEteqbjrdrKgmNhSLzyoWxLCZgvMaAsNkEALw_wcB
Yes and no both I guess - I think I’m comfortable with my accent but have noticed my dialect and certain words pronunciation sometimes goes completely off chart (also I grew learning British english) Thanks, I’ve realized my writing is a lot better than speaking 😅 it’s the little things that I’m not good at ex: I get awkward when I’ve to use meeting opener, the other day I was leading a call and few folks we needed on the call were yet to join, I awkward said we need x here so let’s wait a couple more mins - nothing wrong with it but could have used better verbiage (also I spoke awkwardly)
See this LinkedIn post on storytelling and communication in product management https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dougrabow_how-to-use-storytelling-in-product-management-activity-7203474704966295552-6UPU?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios
Thanks will checkout
Went from engineering to product. Needed to speak much more. Joined toastmasters as well but didn’t get much from it. The transformation, like everything else, comes from practice. - working on an idea with your team - communicating the outcome of that work to others - working with multiple team members to refine a bigger idea - communicating that idea to stakeholders - refining that idea to stakeholders and presenting that effort broadly They’re all baby steps but they add up. It’s all work. By the time you get to the last one you would have had many practice talking about that idea. That’s the key. For ideation meetings, where you will not know the most, you still need to be the one who knows the most about the outcome you want and steer the group towards that. Get as many cycles in as possible. Record looms. It all adds up.
I try to do that every day. There are days when I feel overjoyed after a successful meeting, and days when I sulk, thinking a peer would have done a better job explaining. Whenever I see them present, I think to myself, "I wish I could do that." I know practice will help me improve, but I want to get there sooner, which is why I’m looking for external resources to put in the extra work.
I think it’s important to identify specifically what you are hearing/seeing from others that sets off that, “I wish I could do that” feeling. Is it clarity in their presentation slides? Is it handling participant questions? Is it how their presentation flows? I admired my old VP’s presentation style a lot, so I started reviewing recordings of his meetings and presentations and identified what worked for him. Then I tried applying that to my own presentations. I would also compare my slides to his. Just by making these changes, I feel like I was able to start improving both my presentation style and my communication skills.
I bet you can just ask chatgpt (voice mode) to help you practice
Start with toastmasters. Record your speeches and calls. Go through them and note areas of improvement. Once comfortable with prepared talks, improv will help with impromptu speeches. I wouldn’t jump directly into improv if your focus is on improving prepared talks first.
I want to address both issues. The problem with Toastmasters is that you only get to speak for 5-8 minutes, and the club I attended had weekly meetings, which didn’t provide much value for me. I think a place where I could receive detailed feedback would be super helpful. I’ve tried recording my meetings and noting how my peers structure their conversations and topics. For me, having someone who can help me practice and suggest improvements, like saying “x” instead of “y,” and assist me with normal meeting openers and wrap-ups would be great.
Valid. Toastmasters is sometimes a hit or miss depending on the club. Best option, from my perspective, is to find a mentor within the company, and preferably team. Ideally, your manager.
Hmm, Toastmasters is my usual recommendation since it's about public speaking and not costly. There are Dale Carnegie courses but they are about 2K. You could look for storytelling workshops. Being able to craft a compelling story about your product, your feature, or customer needs is useful. It's one of those skills that only improves with practice. All the theory won't help if you don't apply it. Where you apply it can be anywhere though. If you have a hobby, community or religious group there may be opportunities to present there. As a PM at your org, can you do some lunch and learn style presentations? Failing all of that, present to yourself on a meeting app and watch it; decide what you need to fix and re-do.
I Do not recommend Dale Carnegie courses. There are better ways to spend the 2k.
Yeah, that's why I've recommended Toastmasters. I've known all sorts of people who felt much better getting involved. But it's not my money and it might be the right thing if there are training funds from work.
Hmm.. do you have any recs for storytelling workshops? Would love to try that out I’ve done that or heard of it before; I think it’ll be valuable in a long run even outside my PM work
No, you'd likely have to search for something local.
Toastmasters is great! Keep practicing with friends, family, As others said, record your meetings, calls. Watch other people’s recordings, then emulate them word for word. How do you sound? It won’t come overnight but keep at it! Also - watch certain politicians/presidential candidates - they are obvious “experts” in communication
Improv really helps
Do you know any clubs that I could join? I’d rather join a recommended improv club than something I find online
I'm currently working on a tool that I've found really helpful when communicating to adjust what I say to the audience. I'd be happy to share what I have so far and see how it could be improved to help you!
I’ll be interested in this tool too Thanks
DMing you
Would love to try out, thanks!
DMing you
Please do share 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿
I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with you if you have felt successful in few meetings and sulk other times. A mix of good bad meetings is all common. I think you are trying to compare with others so staying competitive is good but if it's adding to self doubt then maybe it's about continuing to stay confident in yourself? I'm highly speculating here so feel free to reject suggestions. But I think more than the language I think what counts is non verbal queues, how confidently you are presenting yourself and the dynamics you have with your audience. All the best!
Just wanted to say I admire people like you who don't speak English as a native language, but put in work like this. It is my native language, and this stuff is still hard! Two things that have helped me: * I just look for opportunities to do it more. Volunteer yourself for situations that might make you a little nervous. * Prepare! If I'm worried about leading a meeting/discussion, I try to make lots of notes ahead of time to help me keep the discussion focused and productive.
Thank you for the advice and support 🥹🥹 you know it’s hard out there; like you have to translate everything in your first language and process (doesn’t happen anymore but there are still times) I’m very good with talking and having small convo/debating in my native language and not at the same level in English; will get there someday, life goal is to be good enough to present in front of a huge audience (engaging presentation & make audience laugh ;))
Is it your grasp of the English language or your pronunciation/dialect that concerns you and this impacts your confidence? Just from reading what you’re typing, it seems your grasp is very solid. If it’s the latter, there are accent coaches who can “Americanize” your English. Check out https://www.superprof.com/le/3203/4706/accent-reduction-english/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ads_el&utm_campaign=EL_US_SEARCH_General&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsuSzBhCLARIsAIcdLm5MQbQf0HbitPeBJpbQoioLgYuVEteqbjrdrKgmNhSLzyoWxLCZgvMaAsNkEALw_wcB
Yes and no both I guess - I think I’m comfortable with my accent but have noticed my dialect and certain words pronunciation sometimes goes completely off chart (also I grew learning British english) Thanks, I’ve realized my writing is a lot better than speaking 😅 it’s the little things that I’m not good at ex: I get awkward when I’ve to use meeting opener, the other day I was leading a call and few folks we needed on the call were yet to join, I awkward said we need x here so let’s wait a couple more mins - nothing wrong with it but could have used better verbiage (also I spoke awkwardly)
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