How to Talk about APIs

Delivered at APIStrat Boston 2016 One of the more challenging aspects of working with APIs is that outside of your own little tech bubble, nobody actually knows what an API is - despite being hopelessly dependent on APIs for their day to day lives. So how do you talk about APIs to the masses of people who have no idea what they are? You're going to have to do it - you'll need to talk to your non-technical colleagues about it, many of whom you're entirely dependent upon to improve your API or get it out to the masses; there'll be potential customers out there for whom your API is the exact solution to the problem they're having and there's the people you meet who ask you what it is you do. In this talk we'll discuss how overcome this huge challenge for all of us in the business of APIs, how to establish not just a clear ubiquitous language when talking about our APIs but clarity and consistency of content - making sure your developers, salespeople, support and marketing are all talking about your APIs in a way that is accessible, meaningful and useful to all concerned, and how that consistency of understanding can be the difference between the success or failure of your API.