Storytelling in a technical world

Our technical world is governed by facts. In this world Excel files and technical diagrams are everywhere, and too often this way of looking at the world makes us forget that the goal of our job is to produce value, not to fulfill specifications.

Feedback is the central source of agile value. The most effective way to obtain feedback from stakeholders is a demo. Good demos engage. They materialize your ideas and put energies in motion. They spark the imagination and uncover hidden assumptions. They make feedback flow.

But, if a demo is the means to value, shouldn’t preparing the demo be a significant concern? Should it not be part of the definition of done?

That is not even all. A good demo tells a story about the system. This means that you have to make the system tell that story. Not a user story full of facts. A story that makes users want to use the system. That tiny concern can change the way you build your system. Many things go well when demos come out right.

Demoing is a skill, and like any skill, it can be trained. Regardless of the subject, there always is an exciting demo lurking underneath. It just takes you to find it. And to do it.

In this session we will get to exercise that skill.