IDEAS, DECISIONS & LESSONS

Journal

Notes on AI, architecture and building useful products.

10 articles

27 Jun 2026 · 4 min read

agile

Agile English: Release Planning Meetings

English phrases and scripts for release planning meetings — discussing scope, timelines, risk, go/no-go decisions, and rollback plans with stakeholders.

25 Jun 2026 · 6 min read

communication

Tech Lead English: Running Effective Technical Meetings

English phrases and techniques for tech leads to run focused, outcome-driven meetings — facilitating discussion, time-boxing, driving decisions, and handling disagreements professionally.

21 Jun 2026 · 6 min read

english

Speaking Skills: How to Facilitate Meetings Effectively in English

Master English for meeting facilitation: opening, managing discussion, handling disagreements, closing with clear action items. For Vietnamese tech leads.

12 Jun 2026 · 8 min read

communication

Tech Lead English: How to Disagree, Debate, and Reach Decisions in Technical Discussions

In Vietnamese work culture, public disagreement with a more senior person feels high-risk. In international tech teams, failing to push back when you see a problem is what actually damages your credibility. Here's the English for productive technical disagreement — the language that moves discussions forward without destroying working relationships.

11 Jun 2026 · 9 min read

agile

QC/Agile English: How to Run and Participate in Sprint Retrospectives That Actually Improve Things

A retro that ends with three vague action items nobody does is worse than no retro. Here's the English for facilitating retrospectives that surface real problems, produce committed actions, and don't turn into complaint sessions — from opening the meeting to closing with accountability.

10 Jun 2026 · 8 min read

english

Speaking Skills: How to Facilitate Meetings in English With Confidence

Running a meeting in your second language is harder than attending one. You have to open, steer, redirect, and close — all in real time. Here's the language structure for each phase, from a Vietnamese tech lead's perspective.

21 Mar 2026 · 6 min read

business-english

English Upgrade #12: Client Meetings — Rehearsal to Delivery

From technical design with clients to demo rehearsals and live presentations. The complete English toolkit for client-facing meetings.

11 Mar 2026 · 6 min read

business-english

English Upgrade #2: The Daily Standup — 90 Seconds That Matter

How to give a clear, confident standup update in English without rambling or freezing. Templates, phrases, and practice routines for non-native speakers.

01 Mar 2026 · 6 min read

agile

AI Team Rituals: Standups, Refinements, Retros & Reviews Redesigned (Part 11 of 12)

Part 11 of 12 — How AI transforms every team ceremony: async-first standups with AI summaries, AI-prepared refinements, structured retrospectives with pattern detection, and sprint reviews where AI generates the demo context. Plus the human connections that meetings are really about.