Weekly Update, March 22nd

Hi everyone, how's it going?

In case you're new here... welcome to our Faraday fam and weekly newsletter! This is where I stop by once a week to chat with you about some interesting tech topic. For this week's newsletter, let's talk about some of the soft skills I constantly work on as a developer (and maybe you should too :B )

With my talk at the Python Web Conference approaching this Thursday, it becomes more and more evident the importance that these skills can play in our daily lives (specially when they can often be overlooked as "not as important" in our field of work). Public speaking is one of these skills that I have pushed myself to work on and become better at, and looking back at my first conference talks to where I am today, I'm so glad I did!

Okay, but why sort of soft skills are important to * you *? A while back, I created a soft skills YouTube series and got to interview some incredible tech content creators about it. Their conversations were SO fascinating that I even decided to turn it into a podcast! So grad your headphones and some snacks, and let's dive into which soft skills you should be spending some proper time on as a developer:

• Episode 2.1 | Soft Skills for Software Developers with Danny Thompson
• Episode 2.2 | Jessica Chan Interview: What soft skills are important for software developers?
• Episode 2.3 | Developer and Designer Relationships in Software Teams with Faith Miller

Alright, now since you know my passion for books... I obviously couldn't end this soft skills' newsletter without mentioning some! Here are my go-to readings to practice soft skills as a software dev:

• How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie
• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck
• Building a Story Brand: Clarify Your Message so Customers Will Listen, by Donald Miller

Here's also a great Ted Talk on empathy, shame, and vulnerability:

Let me know on Discord if you have read any of the books!

Talk to you later,

-Gwen