Introducing WeTalkIT
Where we learn, inspire, and overcome challenges together.
Hello World! “In our generation, the struggle of whether we achieve our biggest opportunities, comes down to the ability to build communities that give us the strength to expand our horizons.” — Mark Zuckerberg
I am so excited to get to welcome you to WeTalkIT! Our aim is to build a community that will empower tech enthusiast to speak up and be heard. We want a free corner where we can talk about everything that excites us, educate each other and make a difference.
Want to join us? Great! Read on for some tips on how to make your stories interesting and helpful for our community.
Inspire people with your own experience.
Write stories based on your own experience. Have you finished a project or learnt something new? Or, even better, have you failed? Great time to frame it into a compelling story that will help others.
Well written “How to” articles are helpful, but Medium users don’t appreciate them much. Disguise those into a story on your personal experience, or find an innovative way to present them. If you can’t relate to the story, try framing it around well-known companies or people. Such association will give your story more credibility.
Some examples of stories that grab attention:
a. Hard concept explained differently
b. Excellent “How to” addressing a hot topic
c. Interesting topic, framed around a well-known person
Great story on the radar?
Here are some signs that you have a great story on hand:
- You attend a conference, seminar or other event.
- You have a strong opinion on some topic, especially if it’s trending (see the Oscars example above).
- You finish a challenging project using a tech that is not well documented.
- You play around with something and want to share the outcome.
Your biggest assets? Visuals and Structure!
In the Medium feed, the headline and image you choose identify your story. That’s where people decide if it’s worth their time, so make sure they attract attention. Bold statements, associations, and opposing opinions to trending topics always go well. This tool will help you analyse and improve your headline.
Next, your content.
- Write short paragraphs and sentences that are easy to read.
This app will grade the readability of your story and help you optimize it. The grade shows how many years of education the person reading it should have to understand it. Aim for lower number. - Add visuals whenever possible.
Some great sources for images are Pexels and Unsplash. There are a ton of photos to choose from. Attribution is not needed, but showing appreciation is always good so make sure to add it in the caption. - Use code samples.
If you want to support your story with a code sample, make sure to add it as text, not an image. Use markdown syntax to start a code block (```) and Medium will format it for you.
Share.
Now that you crafted your story, it’s time to share it so people can benefit from it. It can feel daunting, I know, because let’s face it: we’re all afraid of negative feedback. When I struggle with this, I follow Todd Brison’s advice and ask myself: “Could a single other person use this?” If the answer was no, I probably wouldn’t have written it in the first place.
You can’t avoid negative feedback, but you can learn from it. Share your story on Facebook and LinkedIn groups, or other places where people with similar interests are. Tweet about it, so more people can hear your thoughts. Then, get some feedback, learn, adapt and improve. Happy writing!
