Author used Claude to structure a talk on troubleshooting for platform engineers, applying Patrick Winston's speaking method.

The author was asked to give a 15-minute talk at an SRE meetup in Sydney and chose the topic 'The Lost Art of Troubleshooting' based on the organizer's recommendation.

The author used Claude to apply Patrick Winston's 'How to Speak' method—which emphasizes an empowerment promise, cycling the core idea three times, building a fence around it, and using verbal punctuation and strong openings and closings—to structure rough notes into a talk outline.

The author worked with Claude to identify the core idea: that a platform engineer's 'warehouse' of accumulated system knowledge compounds over time and produces a 10x engineer, and that troubleshooting is the method that builds it, rather than being a lost or dead skill.

The author emphasized that AI is effective at structuring and editing but does not capture voice, novel ideas, or taste; the author's own writing and refinement of content remained essential.