HNHacker News
TopNewBestAskShowJobs

lucidplot

103 karma · joined July 28, 2025

Communication coach
submissionscomments
lucidplot··on The Engineer to Executive Translation Layer
how hard could that really be to implement
lucidplot··on The Engineer to Executive Translation Layer
Non-paywalled version: https://www.annashipman.co.uk/jfdi/engineer-exec-translation...
lucidplot··on Getting into public speaking
if you don't fancy toastmasters, sign up for a beginner's improv class in your area.
lucidplot··on Google adds native HLS video playback to Chrome desktop
see also https://caniuse.com/http-live-streaming (Chrome desktop from v142)
lucidplot··on Active listening: the Swiss Army Knife of communication
author here. Exactly, “it sounds like” etc are training wheels. Use them while you figure out how to do the technique. And yes, when you’re learning, it can sound stilted. As you master it, you don’t need to use those exact phrases any more.
lucidplot··on Active listening: the Swiss Army Knife of communication
totally, it’s the worst
lucidplot··on Active listening: the Swiss Army Knife of communication
everybody has to learn to sing at some point. same goes for listening.
lucidplot··on Active listening: the Swiss Army Knife of communication
author here. Agree 100% - the idea of the examples is to get you to try out the technique. When we teach active listening, we start with “it sounds like” or “I’m hearing that” and the instruction to check that you got it right. As you get the hang of it, you don’t have to use these guard rails any more.

But really the difficult part for most people is the listening itself. Actually getting your head around what is going on for someone else.

lucidplot··on For senior engineers, imposter syndrome misses the point
I think "stop fretting over it" will work for some. For others--who find certain interactions difficult--I'm suggesting that there are other things that might make a newly minted senior engineer anxious. And that focusing on what people need from you might help.
lucidplot··on For senior engineers, imposter syndrome misses the point
Thank you for the feedback. If imposter syndrome means the fear that you'll be seen as unskilled by tech peers, how does that experience differ to what I mentioned in the article?

Doesn't it have the dynamic of needing to convince the other person that you know your stuff? When that might not be what the other person is thinking at all.