Michel Bolton presents Keynote talk: The Rapid Software Testing Guide to What You Meant to Say
A one-day, single-track conference in Zurich. I’ll be delighted to see Alex Schladebeck and Alexandre Bauduin again, and I’m looking forward to meeting Dirk Hohnsträter, Evelina Rimkute, and Sophie Küster.
You may register for the conference here.
Keynote Abstract: The Rapid Software Testing Guide to What You Meant to Say
If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. —Confucius
“I break the software.” “Cannot reproduce.” “We need a week to regress the new build.” “We have to do automation.” “It works!” From time to time, testers say things that they don’t mean and fail to say things they do mean. Sometimes that happens as a slip, and sometimes as a habit. Usually there’s no malice or intention to confuse or mislead deceive, but our clients may be misled nonetheless. Worse, we can even deceive ourselves Words are powerful tools for understanding and clarifying and communicating ideas. Like all tools, words must be used skillfully to achieve their purposes and to avoid trouble. Our words and our thoughts are closely linked. The bad news, as George Orwell pointed out, is that sloppy language and sloppy thinking can reinforce one another. The good news, as Orwell also pointed out, is that the process is reversible. If we want to be respected as experts, it helps to look and sound like experts–and that starts with thinking and talking like experts. In the Rapid Software Testing Guide to What You Meant to Say, Michael Bolton will report on some common expressions and patterns of speech that he considers risky, strange, or silly and he’ll offer ideas for talking about testing more carefully, precisely, and respectably.