Best skill list/gallery format directed to nontechnical people?

[Smokey]

I think this is generally true but especially true for highly technical jobs.  Unless you do something people actually care about (popular entertainment for example), then they don't really care about the specifics of what you do.  People are mostly just being nice if they ask.  They don't really care.  If you spend too much time/effort going into the details then you are probably boring them to death.
I usually say something like "it's like robotics"... or "making consumer electronics widgets".  If they nod and smile, I move on.  If they ask for more information I'll go into it but only if they actually seem interested and aren't just doing polite small talk. 

[Someone]

My question is: is this for your benefit or their benefit?

Mine, absolutely.  I don't want to waste their time when they're not really interested, just want the information available if they happen to care.  If they don't, and they repeat the mistake, I can point out the mistake and go on and forget about it.  I don't need them to know, I need them to have a way to find out for themselves if they want to know, and a way for me to point to if their understanding of me does not match observable results.

You know, as in "Heh, that's not it.  If you really want to know, look here <showing website>" and then continue in good mood, no harm done.

Currently, that kind of mistakes stymie me, because I really don't know what is the appropriate social response/action, and leads to awkward pauses..

Still feels a bit pushy from what you describe.

A more common way to attempt a start at a relationship is with some common ground. A real world example from myself:
Someone walks into a cellar door shop at a winery
Bartender "hello are you interested in something in particular"
Someone "I'm buying some presents, something of XXX nature would probably do the trick"
Bartender "We have some things like that such as YYYY and ZZZ would you like some samples"
Someone "No thanks I'm driving but I'll have a dozen of YYY"
while bartender goes about collecting the order they make some small talk
Bartender "What do you do for a living"
Someone "I build the scientific instruments that do things like measure the sugar concentration in your wine"

.... common connection, relatable, they can choose to take it form there

[Nominal Animal]

Bartender "What do you do for a living"
Someone "I build the scientific instruments that do things like measure the sugar concentration in your wine"

I'm Finnish.  We don't do that sort of idle chat.

Think more about having coffee and talking about work and life and such with people you know the first and last names of.

[coppice]

Bartender "What do you do for a living"
Someone "I build the scientific instruments that do things like measure the sugar concentration in your wine"

I'm Finnish.  We don't do that sort of idle chat.

Think more about having coffee and talking about work and life and such with people you know the first and last names of.

Sounds like Sweden, where people work closely together for 20 years, and don't know if their colleagues are married, have children, how they spend their spare time, and so on. Then some foreigner comes to visit, starts a conversation, and they all open up.

[Someone]

Bartender "What do you do for a living"
Someone "I build the scientific instruments that do things like measure the sugar concentration in your wine"

I'm Finnish.  We don't do that sort of idle chat.

Think more about having coffee and talking about work and life and such with people you know the first and last names of.

The situation might be different but the point is that you start with some common ground between you and the other person, give them a little nugget that is relatable and they can choose to pursue/ask more if they want (given they have some understanding and language of that common topic).

[Nominal Animal]

Sounds like Sweden, where people work closely together for 20 years, and don't know if their colleagues are married, have children, how they spend their spare time, and so on.

Nah, I'm very curious, so I tend to find those out the first time we go out to lunch or after-work beer.  People do open up to me quite easily, and seem to enjoy talking with me, for some reason.  I think it is because I tend to be genuinely interested and curious, even moreso than I'm verbose –– believe or not, I love listening at least as much as I like talking!

For me, there just is no idle surface social chatting.  It's either technical (or related to interests, science, hobbies), or personal.  I don't do "surface social" at all.

[Nominal Animal]

The situation might be different but the point is that you start with some common ground between you and the other person, give them a little nugget that is relatable and they can choose to pursue/ask more if they want (given they have some understanding and language of that common topic).

Of course, that's exactly what I do, but it tends to lead to the half an hour of me talking –– often split into shorter parts, when the discussion varies from field or focus to another.

The one negative feeling I have about that is that it leaves them no way of verifying what I said, iff they are interested enough to find out.  I do realize that fewer than 1 in 20 ever is, but still, it bothers me.  Because of this, I do tend to go into too much detail, and waste their time.

I do tend to use my own experience as context, to pry into their views and experience.  Like how a technical person can form a team with a non-technical person, say an artist, to produce something neither could do alone, something more than the sum of the parts, and how that can be achieved.  Or how I see lack of leadership the single most important problem in Finnish work culture.  This leads to more mutually interesting discussions, and is thus more useful use of time.

[SteveThackery]

Of course, that's exactly what I do, but it tends to lead to the half an hour of me talking –– often split into shorter parts, when the discussion varies from field or focus to another.

The one negative feeling I have about that is that it leaves them no way of verifying what I said, iff they are interested enough to find out.  I do realize that fewer than 1 in 20 ever is, but still, it bothers me.  Because of this, I do tend to go into too much detail, and waste their time.

That is the problem you need to fix - not inventing a way of getting that information across differently. You said fewer than 1 in 20 are interested enough in you as a person to pursue further inquiry; I put it to you that nobody is.

You seem motivated by your need to impress people. Nobody likes that and most people consider it tedious and boring. Trust me, after the 30 minutes you mention they'll be bored out of their brains, stifling yawns, and making a lot of effort to remain polite whilst plotting their escape.

I repeat: NOBODY CARES. You are tackling the wrong problem. Instead of inventing ways to impress people in writing, you should be addressing your obvious need for adulation.  Fix that and both you and your friends and family will be MUCH happier.

Sorry for the bluntness, but it seems appropriate.

[ebastler]

I repeat: NOBODY CARES.

I would take a more differentiated view here:

• Indeed, probably nobody cares to learn about my skills and achievements -- in a private context; applying for a job or consulting contract is different of course. Doesn't matter whether it's an oral presentation or a website for self-study; there is no demand for this.
  

• Some people may care about specific projects I have done, because they want to replicate them or take some parts and build upon them. Mostly a more technical audience, but depending on the project maybe non-technical people as well. Probably best served by a website with sufficient in-depth information and documentation.
  

• Some people care about me as a person (hopefully...), and may be interested to learn about things that I currently enjoy, that I currently struggle with etc. Superficial and non-technical dialog, focused more on why I find something exciting than on how it works and how I did it. Typically focused on current projects rather than a complete portfolio. I might happen to have some photos on my phone which I can show if someone is interested -- but those were likely taken for my own documentation or troubleshooting purposes, not to show them around.
  

In my understanding Nominal Animal's interest has at least some overlap with the second and third point?

[Nominal Animal]

I had gotten the impression that it was a room full of relatives, at holiday get togethers.
Question for you, when they ask;  "So what is you do, in computers,...uncle...?"

That is it exactly – except my nephews and nieces do know it much better than their parents!

Up north, when visiting my mom, there are a lot of folks who knew me as a kid, and want to know what I do.  I'm deliberately vague with them, because I know they're not interested in the details, only whether I'm happy doing what I do and so on, so I tend to just say "computer stuff" or "I solve all kinds of computer-related problems except those involving Windows", and maybe tell about a funny project/experience that the asker can relate to, and can counter-ask the same thing.  (Except I'm genuinely curious; I could easily do nothing but ask people about their work and worldview and approaches to problem-solving.)

The more detailed discussions typically emerge because either someone has done something related to computers and my family/friends/acquintances say I'm "in the same line of work", or because they need something fixed or implemented or have some other related problem.  They ask; I do not volunteer it.

It is not like I inject my background or know-how into discussions!  I'm much more interested in other peoples' experiences and viewpoints, and prefer to talk about that stuff –– I'm always keen to understand how others see and understand things and problems, and how they approach solving them.  It is only when they do start asking that it ends up taking too long for me to explain, especially since I do not have a single focus or job title or other label that could describe what I do.

So, you could say that I'm looking for a more efficient way to satisfy non-technical askers wanting to know what I do and know about; with the focus on avoiding misunderstanding rather than to impress them.

You seem motivated by your need to impress people.

I needed to think hard about that, and I must say, I truly believe it is not the case.  The reason is, I would not be bothered at all if they didn't ask.  What does bother me, is that they seem to mis-assume a lot; to get things wrong –– especially second-hand from my family and friends.

I said it before: I do need validation from other technical people, and perhaps it is something I need to work on.  But it definitely does not extend to non-technical people, and even less to "people" in general.

In general, rather than "impressive", I'd rather prefer to be "interesting"; that applies to the kind of exposition about my technical aspects I'm trying to achieve, and am asking about here.

In particular, I often mention when discussions veer that way that I personally don't know anything about Windows anymore; my Windows know-how is well over a decade out of date!  I have zero need to describe my actual technical know-how, I just want them to know that regardless of what they might have heard, that facet of computing I'm completely dummy at.

I repeat: NOBODY CARES. You are tackling the wrong problem.

Quite possible.  Although I'm not convinced of this yet, I'll consider it thoroughly.

Sorry for the bluntness, but it seems appropriate.

It is, and I do appreciate it.  Thoroughly honest bluntness is in my book.  Yes, it stings, but it's like disinfectant: no harm done, quite the opposite.

[shabaz]

I know in some countries people can't call themselves engineers unless they are formally qualified, I don't know the situation in your country, but maybe you can find a word or two to describe the types of things you have done in a very condensed manner (like sub-three-words).

If anyone asks, I just say two words, Engineering slash IT, and that's usually enough.

Circuits, hardware, firmware, is information that would leave 99% of people uncomfortable because most cannot relate to it. But everyone knows what IT is at a high level, there are TV shows about it, and even if it's not directly what I do, it's good enough, and no accuracy is needed in the couple of words. I might add a word to that depending on the person asking.

Within family/friends, we have various Signal/WhatsApp groups, so there's one for tech stuff, and another for DIY, etc. (One for Sci-Fi too!). The family/friends tech group has eight members, which is already maybe quite large. Sci-Fi has just four.

By doing that, you soon find that people who are not in traditionally technical roles, may well have experience and skills in certain bits of engineering, and then some interesting conversations can occur there (in brief sentences! no-one wants to read a wall of text if it's something not core to their interests).

[Siwastaja]

You seem motivated by your need to impress people.

Although blunt, I think this is correct. Rest is rationalization, trying to make it sound like there is some more noble goal, than just wanting to be admired.

But rest assured Nominal, there is nothing weird or wrong in that, nearly everyone wants to impress others, wants to be admired, this is one of the most fundamental traits of a healthy human being. If not, then you are either some kind of Buddha monk, or just so outright depressed you have stopped wanting even that.

It is only a problem if you have to resort to narcissist tricks like outright serious lying (normal amount of exaggeration does not count, I mean coming up with completely bogus achievements) to get that admiration from the others. Which I guess you don't have to.

[Xena E]

It's just a desire for self promotion to others, definitely a human trait, and is present in everyone by some degree, and normal.

I think NA's original plan was quite a good one. Shabaz kind of beat me to it with the basic idea for the following:

How to implement it is the detail, personally I would suggest setting up a groups.io bio.

Make it private and read only. Then only those who you want to see it, can.

Give each aspect of what you do it's own hashtag.

Make it visual with photos, and with just short and non technical as possible explanations.

It is a step back from a public personal blog that those I'd class as having narcissistic personalities may create, and if a person then asks what you do, and go on to ask further details, a link to join NominalAnimal@groups.io could be offered.

I wouldn't do this myself, but possibly because I don't feel the locus of my identity is external to me, all that people get told if they casually ask what my job is, is "I'm a Technical Administrator".

It's an inadequate term, though in the conjunction they want to know more, I would tell them. I can't remember the last time it happened though, possibly in a questionnaire for home insurance!

Regards,
X.

[RJSV]

   I've met some different LIARS.  They are people too, and have varieties.
A dating partner lied almost continuously.  But, I tolerated her mis-dis-accuracy as she showered myself with good complements!

   Not so comfortable,  is the so-called Gas lighters...that's a reference to the book,  but essentially has a person concluding that your truth is a delusion, while they are the 'sane' person in the room.
   In the book, a husband would turn on the gas and then ask wife;  "You turned down the GAS, right ?".  (As he messes with her self-trust).

   Gaslighters seem often to be operating beyond simple everyday comments, seeking some pre-installed doubts,  (for whatever end).

[Nominal Animal]

You seem motivated by your need to impress people.

Although blunt, I think this is correct.

I partly disagree.  I do need to impress technical people, definitely yes –– I know I'm easily manipulated because of that ––, perhaps more than is precisely healthy.  So I'm not saying you're wrong per se, either of you.

I don't think I want to impress non-technical people, because my emotions say that because they don't know any of this, their opinion on it is irrelevant.  (Except of course in the employment domain, and especially HR/admin types, but that's a completely separate issue, better dealt with in a very different fashion.  That side is more about self-marketing and self-presentation, or rather the results I can achieve and the results they can expect, but it is outside the topic of this thread.)

It is the misunderstandings I really want to avoid, without having to spend half an hour discussing the details.
(Thinking about such past discussions, the unease I feel is because I know they don't understand, and I have wasted their time by trying to make them understand, but really just muddling it even more in their minds.  Very unsatisfactory.)

When talking about impressing nontechnical people, I feel like "trustworthiness" and "honesty" and "upstanding" and "friendly" and "helpful" are much more in play than any of my technical skills/achievements/projects.

Do note that when I started this thread, I wasn't consciously aware of this myself.  I only examined this in detail in myself when SteveThackery brought it up, with the help of the other posts above.

Thus, let me clarify my goal here:

I'm seeking a way to explain what I do and can do superficially/intuitively/simply to nontechnical people, without trying to impress them.  I have difficulty with this, because I do not fit nor have any of the standard labels like "engineer" or "PhD".

Considering all of the above, I'm leaning towards labeling myself a "researcher".  Partly because I technically am, mostly because the associations with that label nontechnical Finns have best match me.  It is then easy to control the depth of detail, if they inquire further; most often satisfied with one short sentence.  Instead of any kind of gallery/portfolio, I might keep some pictures of interesting projects someone might ask about at hand.

[ebastler]

Considering all of the above, I'm leaning towards labeling myself a "researcher".  Partly because I technically am, mostly because the associations with that label nontechnical Finns have best match me.

In German, we have the nice and rather old-fashioned term "Privatgelehrter". Private scholar or independent scholar, probably more common in the humanities than in technical fields, but perfectly usable for those as well. I'm tempted to print business cards with that title once I fully retire. 

[brucehoult]

A huge number of people won't only not understand what you do. They won't even grasp that humans are capable of doing those things. They seem to have some notion that designs are handed down from the Gods, and mere mortals just make and sell them.

This is a huge problem, and one of the things I try very hard to do with any bright young people I meet is to tell them that the iPhone in their pocket, airliners, skyscrapers etc were all designed and made by people who probably aren't any smarter than them. Also people from small countries and small towns or rural areas wildly underestimate themselves compared to people from the city, from the USA or Germany etc.

I was like that myself. I grew up milking cows and driving tractors and I didn't understand that I was good enough to go and do a PhD in Berkeley or Stanford or MIT and meet the right people to be in on the ground floor of Sun / Apple / Microsoft etc. It wasn't until I was 45+ that I had the confidence to even approach companies like Mozilla, Samsung Research, SiFive (all of which I've worked at).

As for OP's question, my standard answer is:

I help to make the tools that other programmers use to create web sites and apps. If you use Firefox or an Android phone then you use some of my work. Recently I've been helping to design a new kind of microprocessor and the tools for it. It's already in a lot of things like microwave ovens and drones, and it will start to be in many TVs and cars and phones in three or four years, but you won't know it.

[shabaz]

Incidentally, it might be unfair on people if you describe yourself as a researcher. Reason is, you're almost forcing people to ask you about what type of research you do, because if they don't ask, it could be impolite (a least in some countries).

Whereas, most of what you listed in the original post, could easily be described as (say) technical or IT or engineering, and that's immediately narrowed it down a fair amount for people, and they won't feel obligated to ask you more if they don't want to. Appreciate there's a different culture in play, and in some countries, it's OK to be more blunt, and it's not considered rude.

There's a TV show that was on in the background the other day, and one of the guys was very mysterious about his job role, almost obligating people to ask him more. In the end, they found it very boring (his role was actor, and they didn't find that interesting at all, so it was a time waste for them that they had to dig that out of him over several days!).

[Nominal Animal]

Incidentally, it might be unfair on people if you describe yourself as a researcher. Reason is, you're almost forcing people to ask you about what type of research you do, because if they don't ask, it could be impolite (a least in some countries).

Yup; I do need to specify my focuses somewhat like brucehoult showed, in simple terms.

That is, I won't say "I'm a researcher", I will say something like "I'm a researcher, working on stuff".  I do need to think about how to phrase "stuff" in a way that is simple enough to be correctly understood by nontechnical people, but cover my main interests.  I'll sneakily test some descriptions on my nontechnical close ones to check what seems to work best before I decide on the wording.

There's a TV show that was on in the background the other day, and one of the guys was very mysterious about his job role, almost obligating people to ask him more.

Yeah, I don't like that at all.  Something simple that does not mislead them, that satisfies surface curiosity, will work best.

[eleguy]

I repeat: NOBODY CARES.

Well... some people (like me) have started to "play" with computers, electronics, (...you name it!) very early. Lets call "such" (=us) now for a moment as engineers. When ever someone asks what I do, I typically say (free translation from Finnish) that "I am an engineer. It is such a person who has sat next to his computer when other guys have been partying and after girls. And the result can be seen". Typically people don't ask more.

Is it then also me to blame when others don't understand or know what I am doing as I haven't taken big effort enough to explain it ever to anyone? When putting stuff this way I would say I am the one who does not care if anyone understands what I do. One wise guy once said that is how many internally/self motivated people are "seeing" things.

I actually just discussed this matter with one who has doctoral degree from faculty of Humanities. She had also noticed that when they speak at work about their spouses typically people are very interested (meaning questions and discussion can go on and on) from the "other halves" if they are also working / studied humanities/social science in any form. BUT!! If one has an engineer as a spouse then he/she answers to the question "what does your spouse do?" typically just simply "he/she is an engineer" and the discussion moves to some other topic.

[shabaz]

There's so many other things that define you, it's no surprise people don't want detail on the job role. As long as they can see you're happy in what you do, that's all they care about.

Beyond that, I think they would be more interested in spouse/partner funny stories, or what music events you went to, your favorite drink, or what restaurants you've enjoyed or hated recently, what arguments you had, how you're dealing with your kids if you have some, what style you're decorating your home or whatever. All these are real-world interesting things, just as much as engineering, etc, is to an engineer.

Also, worth noticing, that in all the discussion, no-one has said to you "hey that's interesting, tell us more about that job role that you did". Not because what you did was boring (all of us on this thread pretty much have described our jobs, and none of us have asked for more information about anyone else). Simply, people would ask if they thought you didn't enjoy your work (engineers love to solve problems like that too), but that's not the case. So, if even engineers won't dig too deep into other people's job roles, it's very unlikely that non-engineers will want to know very much. The fact that family etc just want you to be happy in your work is pretty much a success as it is, leaving you time to talk about the other interesting stuff in life.