Post #1185592

2023-05-23 09:07 UTC

Tech speakers, it&#39;s 2023. Stop using moms as your example of a non-technical audience. It&#39;s wrong, its not funny, and whatever you were saying, now most of your audience is not thinking about it. Just use the exec team as an example instead and get on with your life.

Replies (18)

@dymaxion@infosec.exchange 2023-05-23 09:11

(Yes, of course I'm saying this because I just heard another one today, from someone who should — and did — know better)

Open ##2120066
@zenlan@mstdn.social 2023-05-23 09:12

@dymaxion One of my pet hates!! And women speakers do it too! Remember kids, replace the words "my mother", "my mom" etc. in your talk with "my boss", "my CEO" etc..

Open ##2120089
@twobiscuits@graz.social 2023-05-23 09:51

@dymaxion the suits are probably the most important technically clueless audience the nerds have to deal with. they should *always* be thinking "how can i translate this for the bosses"? just to keep their brains in practice.

Open ##2120092
@deirdres@aus.social 2023-05-23 10:02

@dymaxion https://www.beginningwithi.com/2021/09/02/openstack-summit-2014/

Open ##2120097
@bsdphk@fosstodon.org 2023-05-23 10:11

@dymaxion I use "The C-team" and if people ask, I say "You know, CEO, CFO and so on..."

Open ##2120099
@proactiveservices@fosstodon.org 2023-05-23 10:35

@dymaxion Same goes for the elderly. So many of my older customers are scared of their devices because we keep holding them up as examples of being tech-illiterate which serves to reinforce their fear. @kim

Open ##2120101
@FreePietje@x0f.org 2023-05-23 10:40

@dymaxion or “congressperson” https://hachyderm.io/@rmondello/109777888249522982 ;-)

Open ##2120110
@paezha@mastodon.online 2023-05-23 10:44

@dymaxion @artcollisions Start using bosses for that example

Open ##2120112
@jzb@mastodon.social 2023-05-23 11:21

@dymaxion ugh. I wrote about this many years ago (2007). It’s disappointing as hell that it’s still in use. https://www.linux.com/news/its-time-retire-mom-test/

Open ##2120113
@scolbath@mastodon.social 2023-05-23 11:28

@dymaxion Agreed. In the DoD space, we use "the Colonel" :-)

Open ##2120115
@ginapieters@econtwitter.net 2023-05-23 12:02

@dymaxion Teaching side here: A long time ago someone told me the "trick" of making the prompt be "Explain it to a reporter of a major, public interest news-outlet. You have only a few sentences. " instead of "Explain it to your mother/ grandparents/etc." Seems like it may work here as well? ("Can you explain to a reporter why they would need this/ how this works/etc).

Open ##2120116
@3rz@freiburg.social 2023-05-23 12:20

@dymaxion (Now) Elderly women co-invented the internet. Invented higher level languages. Wrote the software to go to the moon. And … Don‘t assume old people can not do something. They may have invented the stuff you‘re working with. And whether they had or raised children doesn‘t matter, again, when talking about technical achievements.

Open ##2120127
@womble@infosec.exchange 2023-05-23 23:35

@InayaShujaat @3rz @dymaxion or perhaps they have a cognitive model that doesn't map well to the interface of a computer or smartphone?

Open ##2120128
@hye@glammr.us 2023-05-23 13:23

@dymaxion "Explain your start-up's tech stack to Elon Musk..." hasn't caught on yet?

Open ##2120129
@jake4480@c.im 2023-05-23 13:48

@dymaxion 🤣🤣 love it

Open ##2120130
@apgarcia@fosstodon.org 2023-05-23 14:18

@dymaxion i've honestly never given this any thought. it never occurred to me that it might annoy people, but i'll make it a point not to do that in the future. in the past i've used "my mom", "my dad", or "my parents" as examples, cuz neither is tech savvy. my dad has a copy of "windows 10 for dummies"...

Open ##2120131
@dbauer@social.caserio.de 2023-05-23 14:36

@dymaxion I simply use "Manager" or "politician" Is probably future proof for the next 10 years

Open ##2120137
@donmelton@mstdn.social 2023-05-23 15:01

@dymaxion This. 💯

Open ##2120138