Tips to improve technical status presentations

As the clock struck four pm on a Friday, Carlos sat back in his chair with a relieved sigh. He worked tirelessly for the past two weeks on a micro-service that is part of a more extensive feature.

Despite the long hours and intense pressure, he completed the micro-service on time and, more importantly, before the bi-weekly status update meeting with the stakeholders. After decompressing, he spent 30 minutes rehearsing what he would say during the status update meeting and then home.

It is Monday at the 11 am status update meeting. Carlos started his presentation. A few minutes into the meeting, he noticed many people were on their phones and not paying attention. Then after he finished, nobody asked him questions or gave any feedback, which made him irritated and discouraged. He thought this micro-service is critical to the new feature, why didn’t they pay attention? He felt unrecognized for his effort.

You can empathize with Carlos if you work in a technical field. Technical status updates are challenging because it is hard to balance explaining what you have accomplished and how you accomplished it, especially when the output is code, data, or numbers.

However, these updates are critical for keeping stakeholders informed and aligned with your progress. Here are some tips to help you improve your technical status updates and keep your audience engaged.

1. Know your audience 🧠

The first key to a good presentation is knowing your audience. If you understand the backgrounds, interests, and knowledge level, you can tailor your presentation to meet their needs and make it more engaging. You can’t be everything to everyone, but understanding your audience will help you effectively communicate your message and provide value to a majority audience.

2. Start with a brief overview 👁️

Before diving into the details, start with a brief overview of your accomplishments. The summary can include progress, significant milestones, and critical challenges or obstacles. Be mindful of overly technical jargon, and do not overwhelm your audience with your technical expertise. This overview will help set the stage for the rest of the update and gives your audience a high-level understanding of where things stand.

3. Use visuals aids 📈

Technical updates can be full of numbers, data, or code, which can be difficult for some people to understand and retain. Consider using visual aids like flow charts, graphs, and diagrams to illustrate progress and key metrics to make your presentations more engaging. Visuals can help your audience better understand the data and see the project’s progress at a glance.

4. Highlight key accomplishments and challenges 🏆

In your update, highlight accomplishments or challenges you have encountered since the last report. Include the successful completion of significant tasks or overcoming technical hurdles. These updates will help your audience understand the challenges and opportunities of the project and give them a sense of the team’s progress and success.

5. Explain the value to the end user 🤑

When providing a technical status update, it is crucial to understand and explain how your contribution provides value to the end user. Whether building a new user interface or adding a new column to a database table, every change should be valuable to the end user. Explaining the value will help your stakeholders understand the impact of your changes as it relates to the end user or customer.

6. Provide next steps 🔜

Keep your audience anticipating more by including the project’s next steps. The following steps can consist of the planned timeline for upcoming tasks, upcoming milestones, and any potential challenges or obstacles. These updates give your audience a sense of what to expect in the coming weeks and help them stay informed and involved in the project.

7. Leave time for questions and feedback ❓

Finally, leave time at the end of your update for questions and feedback from your audience. This can help clarify any ambiguity or provide valuable insights and suggestions for the project. It also shows that you value your audience’s input and feedback and helps foster a collaborative and engaged team.

These tips can improve your technical status updates and keep your audience engaged and informed. By starting with an overview, using visuals, highlighting key accomplishments and challenges, providing a roadmap, and leaving time for questions, you can deliver informative, engaging, and helpful updates to your audience.