Beyond Technology: What AWS New Voices 2026 Taught Me About Communication
Completing AWS New Voices 2026 was a valuable five-week journey that helped me improve my technical storytelling, presentation skills, and audience engagement. In this article, I share my key learnings, the people who guided me, and how I plan to apply these lessons as an AWS community builder.
For a long time, I believed that if you knew a technology well, you could explain it to anyone.
Over time, I realized that wasn't always true.
You can build something interesting, understand how it works, and still struggle to explain why it matters to someone else. The challenge isn't always the technology itself. Sometimes, it's how you communicate it.
That is one of the biggest lessons I took away from AWS New Voices 2026.
I'm happy to share that I've successfully completed the program, and the five-week journey gave me a fresh perspective on technical communication, storytelling, and public speaking.
My Journey as a SBG Leader
As the leader of the AWS Student Builder Group at Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering (VVCE), Mysuru, a significant part of my journey involves bringing students together, organizing technical events, and creating opportunities for others to learn.
Whether it's conducting workshops, helping students explore cloud technologies, or working with a community to organize events, communication plays an important role in everything I do.
But I wanted to improve how I communicated technical ideas, especially when speaking to an audience.
I wanted to move beyond simply explaining how something works and learn how to make people understand why it matters.
That's where AWS New Voices came in.
Five Weeks That Changed My Perspective
AWS New Voices wasn't just about improving presentation skills. It encouraged me to think differently about how I share knowledge.
Throughout the program, I had the opportunity to work on several important aspects of communication.
1. Technical Storytelling
One of my biggest takeaways was understanding the importance of storytelling.
When explaining a technical concept, it's easy to focus entirely on features, architecture, tools, and implementation details.
But an audience might be more interested in the problem you're solving, the reason you built something, and the difference it can make.
I started thinking more about the story behind the technology rather than just the technology itself.
2. Understanding the Audience
Not everyone in an audience has the same technical background.
A concept that seems simple to a developer might be completely new to someone just starting their journey.
I learned the importance of building presentations around the audience, choosing the right explanations, and making technical ideas easier to follow.
The goal isn't to show how much you know. It's to help others understand what you're sharing.
3. Practicing and Improving
Becoming a better speaker requires practice.
The program gave me opportunities to work on lightning talks, explore different presentation techniques, and improve through feedback.
One important lesson I learned was not to treat feedback as criticism, but as an opportunity to identify what could be better.
Sometimes, small changes in how you structure an explanation or deliver a message can make a significant difference.
4. Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone
Growth doesn't always happen when everything feels comfortable.
It happens when you try something new, make mistakes, listen to feedback, and try again.
AWS New Voices encouraged me to challenge myself and become more intentional about how I communicate.
I'm still learning, but I now have a clearer understanding of what I need to work on and how I can continue improving.
The People Behind the Journey
A learning experience becomes much more valuable when you have people who are willing to guide you, challenge your thinking, and help you improve.
I'd like to express my sincere gratitude to Meredith Grundei and Gary Grundei for their coaching, honest feedback, and guidance throughout the program.
Their support helped me look at communication from a different perspective and understand the importance of continuously improving as a speaker.
A special thank you to Carrie Kerns and the entire AWS New Voices team for creating this opportunity and investing in community builders who want to become better communicators.
I'm grateful to have been part of this cohort and to have learned from the experience.
What This Means for My Community
For me, this experience doesn't end with completing a program.
As a community builder, I want to take what I've learned and apply it to the work I do with students and developers.
When we organize a workshop, deliver a technical session, or introduce someone to a new technology, the way we communicate can influence how they understand and engage with it.
I want to become better at making technical topics approachable, delivering more engaging sessions, and helping others communicate their own ideas with confidence.
I also hope to encourage more students to share what they build, talk about what they learn, and participate in technical communities.
You don't have to know everything before you start sharing. You just need to be willing to learn and improve along the way.
One Lesson I'll Carry Forward
If there's one lesson I want to remember from AWS New Voices 2026, it's this:
Don't just explain what you built. Tell people why it matters.
Technology is important, but the ability to communicate its purpose, impact, and possibilities is equally valuable.
Completing this program is an important milestone for me, but I see it as the beginning of another learning journey.
There is still a lot to learn, more stories to tell, and plenty of room to grow.
I'm looking forward to applying these lessons in my future talks, workshops, and community-building efforts.
Thank you, AWS New Voices 2026, for being part of my journey.
Still learning. Still building. Still growing. And looking forward to sharing more stories along the way. 🚀
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