Speak Up: How to Find Your Voice

Transcript

1. finding your voice
   Samantha Quiñones
   Day Camp 4 Developers, Winter 2015
   

   View Slide

2. View Slide

3. When asked what people are most afraid of…
   What they fear more than death…
   One of the most common answers is public speaking.
   

   View Slide

4. Scary!
   

   View Slide

5. View Slide

6. rejection
   

   View Slide

7. Story time!
   

   View Slide

8. High School Speech Class
   F
   College Speech & Communication Class
   F
   

   View Slide

9. View Slide

10. View Slide

11. What Could Go Wrong?
    Threw remote control across the room. It exploded.
    Fell off a raised stage.
    Microphone pack fell off, yanked my head back.
    Pantyhose started rolling down my tush.
    Projector failed. Repairs ate half my session.
    Had to load slides on another machine. Controlled them by hand gesture.
    Threw another remote across the room. It also exploded.
    Left my phone on. Audience realized, tweeted at me incessantly.
    Audience member interrupted me to express offense at the term “dickbag”.
    Nearly vomited on stage.
    

    View Slide

12. I asked a bunch of speakers to tell me about their experiences.
    Over 200 responded.
    

    View Slide

13. Two out of three speakers have experienced Impostor Syndrome
    

    View Slide

14. What Could Go Right?
    

    View Slide

15. View Slide

16. Tell your story.
    

    View Slide

17. What is mundane to you can be fascinating to others.
    

    View Slide

18. Have you ever had to do something with the wrong tools?
    Have you ever used a skill from a hobby in your work?
    Have you ever had too build something for a difficult customer?
    Have you ever failed? Did you learn something from it?
    

    View Slide

19. View Slide

20. Experience…
    Age…
    Gender…
    Title…
    Fame…
    These things don’t matter.
    

    View Slide

21. What matters is passion.
    

    View Slide

22. What excites you about your work?
    What are you passionate about learning?
    What arguments do you love to engage in?
    What are things your team relies on you for?
    

    View Slide

23. View Slide

24. View Slide

25. Write to…
    learn how construct and deliver arguments
    develop an audience
    establish yourself as a thinker & sharer
    

    View Slide

26. View Slide

27. Help.
    Offer to speak.
    Build a network.
    

    View Slide

28. For any given conference…
    far more talks will be submitted than there are space for
    at least some slots will be given to established speakers who “draw”
    ties will be broken based on economic factors
    

    View Slide

29. View Slide

30. Inspiring
    Anecdote
    Punchline
    Perfect
    Image
    WOW!
    Demo
    

    View Slide

31. I. Introduction
    I. About me
    II. My experiences doing crimes
    II. Dealing with the Alliance
    I. Avoiding patrols
    I. Perfect Image
    II. Obtaining fake ident cards
    I. Inspiring anecdote
    III. Finding new opportunities
    I. Dealing with gangsters - pros & cons
    I. Punchline
    II. Doing business with people who’ve shot you
    I. WOW! Demo
    

    View Slide

32. What is an Abstract?
    Response to a CFP (Call for Papers)
    An advertisement directed at conference organizers
    An advertisement directed at conference attendees
    

    View Slide

33. Define your audience.
    Present a problem.
    Define the value proposition.
    

    View Slide

34. You’re a big damn hero who’s just trying to keep flying, but sometimes
    it’s hard to stay ahead of the Alliance. In this session, you’ll learn
    everything you need to know about avoiding patrols, dealing with
    unsavory characters, and finding the most profitable ventures.
    Whether you’re just looking to protect your own or aim to misbehave,
    you’ll learn everything you know to take you and your crew to the next
    level.
    

    View Slide

35. You’re a big damn hero who’s just trying to keep flying, but sometimes
    it’s hard to stay ahead of the Alliance. In this session, you’ll learn
    everything you need to know about avoiding patrols, dealing with
    unsavory characters, and finding the most profitable ventures.
    Whether you’re just looking to protect your own or aim to misbehave,
    you’ll learn everything you know to take you and your crew to the next
    level.
    

    View Slide

36. You’re a big damn hero who’s just trying to keep flying, but sometimes
    it’s hard to stay ahead of the Alliance. In this session, you’ll learn
    everything you need to know about avoiding patrols, dealing with
    unsavory characters, and finding the most profitable ventures.
    Whether you’re just looking to protect your own or aim to misbehave,
    you’ll learn everything you know to take you and your crew to the next
    level.
    

    View Slide

37. You’re a big damn hero who’s just trying to keep flying, but sometimes
    it’s hard to stay ahead of the Alliance. In this session, you’ll learn
    everything you need to know about avoiding patrols, dealing with
    unsavory characters, and finding the most profitable ventures.
    Whether you’re just looking to protect your own or aim to misbehave,
    you’ll learn everything you know to take you and your crew to the next
    level.
    

    View Slide

38. The abstract is a commitment to deliver value.
    

    View Slide

39. Shorter is better. Aim for ~600 characters.
    Make an unambiguous statement of value and commit to delivering.
    

    View Slide

40. Finding open CFPs…
    Call to Speakers (www) - https://calltospeakers.com/
    The CFP Report (email) - https://thecfpreport.com/
    Callback Women (twitter) - https://twitter.com/callbackwomen
    

    View Slide

41. What topics is the conference interested in (do your topics fit?)
    When does the CFP close?
    When will decisions be announced?
    

    View Slide

42. Compensation is usually structured as…
    Conference pays speakers a flat fee
    Conference covers all expenses for the speaker
    Conference covers some expenses (partial travel/lodging/meals)
    Conference covers no expenses
    

    View Slide

43. 41%
    26%
    33%
    1-3
    4-6
    >6
    Average number of conferences
    submitted to per year.
    19%
    22%
    45%
    15%
    0
    1-3
    4-6
    >6
    Average number of conference
    rejections per year.
    

    View Slide

44. View Slide

45. Tips!
    If a CFP form has a place for “notes to the organizer” use it!
    Highlight whatever speaking experience you have.
    Always be responsive to organizers.
    

    View Slide

46. View Slide

47. Great talks are not written the day before they are given.
    

    View Slide

48. I set the stage with my introduction
    

    View Slide

49. SAMANTHA QUIÑONES
    ABOUT ME
    ▸ Software Engineer & Data Nerd since 1997
    ▸ Doing “media stuff” since 2012
    ▸ Principal @ AOL since 2014
    ▸ @ieatkillerbees
    ▸ http://samanthaquinones.com
    

    View Slide

50. Samantha Quiñones
    (human)
    @ieatkillerbees
    

    View Slide

51. Establish a visual brand.
    Bri
    ngi
    ng order to
    chaos
    ❱ R
    E
    S
    T
    w
    a
    s
    b
    o
    r
    n
    a
    s
    a
    w
    a
    y
    o
    f
    b
    r
    i
    n
    g
    i
    n
    g
    o
    r
    d
    e
    r
    t
    o
    t
    h
    e
    y
    o
    u
    n
    g
    w
    e
    b
    ❱ F
    i
    e
    l
    d
    i
    n
    g
    e
    n
    v
    i
    s
    i
    o
    n
    e
    d
    t
    h
    e
    e
    x
    i
    s
    t
    i
    n
    g
    w
    e
    b
    a
    s
    a
    s
    y
    s
    t
    e
    m t
    h
    a
    t
    c
    o
    u
    l
    d
    b
    e
    m
    o
    u
    l
    d
    e
    d
    b
    y
    c
    a
    r
    e
    f
    u
    l
    l
    y
    a
    p
    p
    l
    y
    i
    n
    g
    c
    o
    n
    s
    t
    r
    a
    i
    n
    t
    s
    ❱ N
    u
    l
    l
    S
    t
    y
    l
    e
    Empathy Is…
    (Wiseman’s 4 Attributes)
    • The ability to take the perspective of another person.
    • The ability to understand another person’s feelings.
    • The ability to communicate that understanding.
    • The ability to avoid judgment.
    

    View Slide

52. View Slide

53. View Slide

54. “BEACON” SERVER “BEACON” SERVER
    “BEACON” SERVER “BEACON” SERVER “BEACON” SERVER
    RABBITMQ FARM
    DATA LAYER
    SERVICES
    couchbase
    hadoop
    RABBITMQ STREAMER FARM
    DATA LAYER
    STREAMER
    DATA LAYER
    STREAMER
    DATA LAYER
    STREAMER
    vertica
    cassandra
    

    View Slide

55. Never lose site of the story.
    Your deck is not your talk. You and your story are what’s important.
    

    View Slide

56. Text slides are there for people reviewing the talk offline.
    

    View Slide

57. View Slide

58. View Slide

59. Practice to…
    Build confidence
    Master your material
    Be ready for anything!
    

    View Slide

60. Think about the speakers you love to watch. Learn from them.
    

    View Slide

61. View Slide

62. View Slide

63. Question Time!
    Lots of questions is a great sign that the audience was engaged!
    Always repeat the question.
    Remember that it’s OK to not have an answer. Just don’t fake it.
    Not all questions are questions. Some people are butts.
    

    View Slide

64. I felt it was based around too much
    exercising of her liberal arts degree
    as she used sentences like "We can
    obviate that with caching" or "that
    is a pedantically true statement".
    

    View Slide

65. Constructive feedback is given honestly is the greatest gift.
    Embrace it. Crave it.
    (joind.in pls!)
    

    View Slide

66. Get help!
    Help Me Abstract - http://helpmeabstract.com
    Make Yourself Presentable - http://bit.ly/1QQdkla
    Technically Speaking - https://tinyletter.com/techspeak
    Twitter! Facebook! IRC!
    Walk up to a speaker at a conference! We rarely bite!
    

    View Slide

67. Make a great terrible mistake.
    Help your community.
    Help yourself.
    

    View Slide

68. Please offer any feedback here: https://joind.in/16527
    Thank you.
    @ieatkillerbees - http://samanthaquinones.com
    

    View Slide

69. Font - Odin Rounded - Anonymous - http://www.dafont.com/odin-rounded.font?l%5B%5D=10&l%5B%5D=1"}}{\fldrslt http://www.dafont.com/odin-
    rounded.font
    Font - Bree Serif - http://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/bree-serif"
    Font - Bloody - James Fordyce http://www.dafont.com/bloody.font
    Photo - Sad Puppy Dog Eyes | Flickr - Photo Sharing! : taken from - https://www.flickr.com/photos/suckamc/3047183157 Author: Martin Cathrae
    Storyteller (flickr photo) by Paul Stocker (paalia) http://flickr.com/photos/paalia/5408271491 shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license
    Western Scrub Jay by Ingrid Taylar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoarding_(animal_behavior)#/media/File:Western_Scrub_Jay.jpg
    Taj Mahal by Dhirad - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal#/media/File:Taj_Mahal_in_March_2004.jpg
    Eimerkettenschwenkbagger in Ferropolis by Rmollik - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ferro4.jpg
    Moore Street market, Dublin, Dublin, Ireland by Marek Ślusarczyk - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moore_Street_market,_Dublin.jpg
    One of the original Victorian Courtrooms at the Galleries of justice Museum by Fayerollinson - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Courtroom.jpg
    Power_of_Words_by_Antonio_Litterio.jpg: Antonio Litterio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing#/media/File:Stipula_fountain_pen.jpg
    Shar-pei brothers by Szakalová Edina - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shar_Pei_puppies.jpg
    

    View Slide