The most important skill of a tester.

So to spare spare you from click-centric headlines, I'll reveal the intrigue straight away. It was communication. Or at least most of the conference attendees thought so at the EuroSTAR video here.

What I’ve noticed however is that while testing professionals are good at bug centric communication, they easily forget the more important part. Testers should learn to tell a story of how the results came to be.

An easy way to experiment on your own skill would be to answer this.

What would you report if no bugs were found in the session today?

Stop now. Really think about it for 60 seconds.

The story could begin by letting others in on the activities we engaged during this round. We might want to tell them for example about the time allocated to activities like configuration, meetings, investigations, bug reporting and coverage.

But can you elaborate or even better, show which areas were covered and which were left out this time?

It’s obvious once we stop and think about it. But hard when we are engaged in the daily dealings with action points.

That’s why I’d invite you now to outline a new storyline for the moment the limelight hits you the next time.

A pen, a paper and a short bullet journal might just make the difference for you to make a difference. So. 5 minutes.

Shall we?