Communication Skills for Software Engineers

Most of the job is talking to people about the work. These episodes cover saying no without damage, speaking up when the room is senior to you, writing that people actually read, async and chat etiquette, and the conversations everyone puts off having.

30 episodes of Soft Skills Engineering, the weekly advice podcast where Dave Smith and Jamison Dance answer software engineers' questions. Every episode is free, and each page below has the listener's question in full.

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Every episode about communication at work

  1. Episode 442: Improving communication skills and how to break my job hopping habit
  2. Episode 393: Soft skills for interns and intern to QA
  3. Episode 383: In the trenches without writing code and how to close a social skill gap
  4. Episode 378: Too much leadership and awkward zoom silence
  5. Episode 363: Future impact of tech stacks and async communication
  6. Episode 359: Competition and awkward in person
  7. Episode 334: Personal brand and awkward silence
  8. Episode 324: Understanding accents and mega soft skills
  9. Episode 321: Politely, no and participation at scale
  10. Episode 302: Bad boss movies and well-written emails
  11. Episode 292: Haunted by former co-worker and awkward manager endorsement
  12. Episode 280: Async communication and how to quit not nicely
  13. Episode 273: Influencing people and getting a raise in a flat org
  14. Episode 266: Switching tech stacks and awkward zoom silence
  15. Episode 248: Non-private slack channels and expectations
  16. Episode 243: Saying no and conference
  17. Episode 225: Stuck on the ladder and can't say no
  18. Episode 199: Offshore team influence and time zone fun
  19. Episode 197: Rambling co-worker and awkward resume leak
  20. Episode 172: Contracting and American email etiquette
  21. Episode 141: A Rampant Rewriter and Dealing with an Overexplainer (rerun of episode 73)
  22. Episode 125: Brainstorming sessions and Slack Ettiquette
  23. Episode 118: Asking For Help and Speaking Up
  24. Episode 102: Correcting English and Tyranny of the Urgent
  25. Episode 73: A Rampant Rewriter and Overexplainers
  26. Episode 47: Speaking Up In A New Job and Personal Issues
  27. Episode 37: VC Funding and Internal Presentations
  28. Episode 30: Reaching Consensus and Code Editing Etiquette
  29. Episode 26: Communicate Your Efforts and I Told You So
  30. Episode 2: Influencing your team and dealing with anger

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Browse all 527 episodes or ask Dave and Jamison your own question.