Abstract: Most engineers may not think it to be so, but our careers require that we be “salespeople” of various sorts at different times. Job interviews, promotions, reports, professional recognition – all are forms of “sales”. Our career progression, even in technical fields, depends substantially on our “sales” skills. The anatomy of a successful “sale” consists of three essential components: strategic planning, resonance with the “buyer”, and convincing communication. This talk will highlight 5 rules that can help us become convincing communicators. 1) Be ready for elevator pitches/speeches,  2) Use three diagrams to simplify complexity, 3) Size up the audience and resonate with them , 4) Be careful of careless comments, 5) Use plain language

(These five rules are a subset of 9 rules listed in the book Fast Tracking Your Career: Soft Skills for Engineering and IT Professionals)

Short Bio: Dr. Wushow Chou (AKA Bill Chou) is the author of Fast Tracking Your Career: Soft Skills for Engineering and IT Professionals, John Willey, 2013. Dr. Chou has consulted for over 30 organizations, including US-based large corporations, foreign corporations, US Government (civilian agencies, military agencies, Congress), state governments and foreign governments. He is a professor emeritus at NCSU. He joined NCSU as the founding Director of the Computer Studies Program and established a graduate program that is the predecessor of NCSU’s Computer Science graduate program and Computer Engineering graduate program. While at NCSU, he took a leave from 1994 - 1997 to serve as the Deputy Assistant Secretary and the founding Chief Information Officer at the US Department of Treasury, where he oversaw 14 bureau level chief information officers, 11,000 staff and a $2 B annual budget. Prior to NCSU, he was the founding VP of Telecommunications at Network Analysis Corporation. Dr. Chou was the founding Editor-in-chief of the Journal of Telecommunication (Computer Science Press) and the founding Editor-in-chief of ITProfessional magazine (IEEE Computer Society). He is an IEEE Fellow. Students may RSVP in ePACK under workshops.