Encouraging Developers to Share Their Stories in Their Own Words

As a developer relations professional, one of our goals is to highlight the voices of the developers we work with. Recently, I’ve been focusing on inviting developers to share their projects in their own words. Here are some of the tactics and lessons learned along the way.

Personal Outreach: A Key Tactic

One of the main strategies I’ve used is reaching out “individually” to developers who share interesting projects in our forum or Slack channel. I personally invite them to write a post about their project in their own words. This personal touch has been very effective—I’ve had a 100% response rate from the developers I’ve approached so far.

Leveraging Ghostwriting and Reframing

Another lesson learned is that sometimes developers are more comfortable if you help them reframe or ghostwrite their initial content. For instance, I took one developer’s lessons learned and turned it into a tutorial, then let them share it themselves with minimal extra work on their part. This approach made it easier for them to participate.

Cross-Promotion Through Other Outlets

To boost visibility, I’ve also been highlighting these posts across other media outlets, like our newsletter. While we’re still building broader community engagement, this cross-promotion helps get more eyes on the content and encourages more interaction over time.

Why Developers’ Own Voices Matter

It’s important for developers to share in their own words because it adds authenticity and helps build a more genuine community. When developers tell their own stories, it resonates more deeply with their peers and can inspire others to share as well.

FAQ:

How do you encourage developers who are shy or less confident about sharing their work?

We focus on creating a supportive environment and offer to help them shape their story so they feel more comfortable sharing.

What if you don’t have time to individually reach out to every developer?

Start small and focus on a few key contributors, or consider setting up a process where community members can nominate each other to share.

How do you measure the success of this approach?

We look at engagement over time, track how many developers participate, and see how the overall community engagement grows with these authentic stories.