Comment by eddieroger | Hacker News Reader

Comment by eddieroger | Hacker News Reader

Regarding verbal crutches, the best advice I've received is to just say nothing instead, and pauses never feel as long to the other parties as they do you. So when you feel yourself saying "umm" or "mmmaa", instead say nothing, take a breath, and move forward.

With English not being your first language, I think you can apply this plan to formulating your responses in general. Just take a moment, plan your reply, and say it. It doesn't feel that long to the other party, I promise.

Regarding flow, when asked specific questions about things, I remember the acronym CAR - Context, Action, Result. I form my answers in this framework to make a plan for how to get to the reply. Give a little context to set the stage/problem, say what you did, then say how it went - good or bad. Be concise. Fewer words get the job done and are easier on you.

Not sure that is what you're looking for regarding practical resources, but I hope it helps. It has helped me a lot, I think.

You're right about "C-A-R", although I find it jarring and difficult to think directly in those terms. It can be too daunting, much like in a game of billiards when someone announces what their shot is going to do in advance and then takes the shot and expects everything to unfold as it was pre-declared. It's wonderful when it works, but it can be really hard to recover from if things go sideways.

Many of us achieve the same end in an easier way by putting our experiences into a narrative-- like telling a story in a way that's relatable to the audience. That way it's possible to discuss problems both technical and non-technical, how they were solved, and how the project succeeded. Along the way it's totally OK to digress into interesting aspects of the story. Someone who is skilled enough can then even plant breadcrumbs that stimulate questions for which they've thought through a carefully considered answer.

I don't think these ideas disagree with each other, actually. Good stories have structure, and I'm just giving a name to one such structure. It also doesn't have to be so dogmatically used that one doesn't deviate from the structure. For sure, once you're comfortable presenting, deviate and modify as appropriate. But for someone struggling to organize their thoughts, let alone the words to use, I hoped it would be a helpful way of creating the narrative.

> I remember the acronym CAR - Context, Action, Result. I form my answers in this framework to make a plan for how to get to the reply

I was looking for something like that to organize my thoughts when I speak. Thanks!

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