Make a project understandable in five minutes

Choose the problem your listener needs

Use three sentences for whom the project served, the question it addressed and your role. You do not need the entire product history. If no success measure was set initially, do not present it as though it was; explain your later assessment separately.

Go deeper into one decision

Describe two possible approaches, the one selected and a constraint known at that time. Separate your suggestion from a team decision. Instead of calling it the best solution, explain the need, time or available information that informed the choice.

Separate output from outcome

Completing a file is an output; someone using it or a problem changing is a separate observation. Share only information you can support. If you cannot show real customer data, check what you are permitted to share and use an explicitly fictional example when necessary.

Adjust time through rehearsal

Try one minute of context, two on decisions and work, one on output and one on learning. This is not a required interview format. If you run over, remove details that do not help the listener understand your decision rather than speaking faster.

Turn reading into an output

1. Write the project problem and your role separately.
2. Explain one decision using two alternatives.
3. Separate output, observation and unknowns into three lines.
4. Rehearse for five minutes and remove one unnecessary detail.