A World of Opportunities

In this talk I want to explore together with you the world of opportunities that opens up to us through public speaking. It is about the professional growth we experience once we put ourselves and our ideas out there.

At first, the topic of public speaking can seem uncomfortable or even intimidating. Who wants to put themselves out there for judgement by a group of strangers just for the sake of it?

But what we must not forget: the benefits we gain from public speaking are immense. I hope this talk will help you to get a clearer picture of the potential for your career and self development once you speak at your first conference.

Transcript

1. A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITIES Jessica Jordan • Feb 20, 2021
2. Opportunities through Public Speaking
3. 🤔 Job Satisfaction? Business Development? Network? Self Development?
4. Starting Out 🛬 EmberConf 2017
6. New Opportunities Community Collaboration Exploration
7. Personal Growth through Public Speaking
9. Seasoned and Experienced?
10. Seasoned and Experienced? Still nervous.
11. Seasoned and Experienced? Still nervous. Still learning.
12. Start small
13. Set yourself a goal
14. - Follow conferences on Twitter - Be part of online / offline /open-source communities - Saw an interesting conference talk? Apply at the same conference! - Follow conference invites after your first speaking gig Set yourself a goal and find a CfP
15. Find support
16. Be kind to yourself
17. Enter a World of Opportunties Start your Public Speaking Journey
18. Thank you! Jessica Jordan she/her/they/them @jayjayjpg
19. Talk Script 1/5 In this talk I want to explore together with you the world of opportunities that opens up to us through public speaking. It is about the professional growth we experience once we put ourselves and our ideas out there. At first, the topic of public speaking can seem uncomfortable or even intimidating. Who wants to put themselves out there for judgement by a group of strangers just for the sake of it? BUT, what we might forget: the benefits we gain from public speaking are immense. I hope this talk will help you to get a clearer picture of the potential for your career and self development once you speak at your first conference. Four years ago, I spoke at my ever first conference. At EmberConf 2017 I presented a talk about web animations in front of 1000 people (yes, I was terrified!) and many lovely, kind and supportive people from the Ember community encouraged and supported me to get on stage for the first time. But to be honest with you: When I spoke for the first time, I could have never imagined how many doors this one single event would open for me further down the road. When I went on stage for the first time and spoke into my microphone the first jittery words of my presentation, it would have never crossed my mind how all the work, the stress, the anxiety, the discomfort and the sense of uncertainty would be worth it. Since that very first conference talk, I have spoken at over 20 conferences, at many meetups and online events. And throughout all of this, public speaking has truly benefited me on a professional and personal level in surprising ways. These are some of the amazing opportunities that I found come along with public speaking:
20. Talk Script 2/5 Public speaking enables us to meet other developers, designers, engineering managers, entrepreneurs, conference organisers and many other amazing professionals in our industry. Being part of conferences also lets us connect with friends from mostly online open-source communities in real life. If we want to strengthen our relationships in business, open-source and beyond - public speaking is a gift. We can meet all these people we would never have had a chance to meet otherwise. We can be a true part of our community - and discover new learning and collaboration opportunities in it. When it comes to collaboration, you can think of open-source projects. Maybe we meet our next mentor or coach for public speaking at an event we’re attending. Or often, our next job offer, app project or business venture is brought up to us by someone in the audience: someone who got interested in the topic we have been talking about and therefore got interested working together with us! In my own experience, I found that public speaking has truly been a blessing in uncovering exciting, new collaboration opportunities. And if you are starting a business, public speaking can be the deciding factor for your idea to get across the right pair of eyes - which could lead to clients, investment or new business partnerships. What else is there to opportunities created by public speaking? In the last four years alone I had the chance to travel to many more places that I have ever visited before. Public speaking in itself can gift us with amazing experiences that allow us to discover new places and other tech communities all around the world. Finally, if I had to name one more last benefit that I have found in my public speaking experience: that once we start to speak publicly, we’re seeing an improvement in conveying our thoughts and ideas to others clearly, that there’s value in sharing learnings with other likeminded folks, that there is personal growth coming from the practice of public speaking. We develop our leadership skills. Our ability to portray abstract concepts. To find our own voice. And with having our own voice, we are able to drive change. It has also been the realisation that there isn’t (and never has been) a requirement for anyone to be a talented, public speaker from the get go. That being good at public speaking is not a natural trait. But rather - that public speaking is a skill to be learned, an intellectual muscle to be strengthened.
21. Talk Script 3/5 And it’s not only my own, singular experience. In all those years that I have spoken at events, I talked to many, many other conference speakers, many of them highly experienced and well-seasoned, real experts in their field. And one question, I’d often ask them: "So after speaking at 10, 20, 50, 100 conferences - do you still get nervous before you go on stage? Do you still sometimes doubt if you should be doing this?” And guess what their answer was? “Yes, I do” “I still do get scared.” “I’m still nervous before going on stage” “It continues to be nerve-wracking after all these years.” Doubt is normal. Anxiety is normal. And continuting to learn and grow is normal. These feelings will not change anything about one fact: That you can be a public speaker, too and access a world full of new opportunities. And only if you’re curious. If you really want to try and see this world of opportunities for yourself that opens up to us through public speaking. You can create and submit a proposal at your favorite events and get up on stage. To get started, here are my 4 bullet proof tips (from my personal experience) to make your conference talk happen:
22. Talk Script 4/5 Start small Do you have a meetup in your town that interests you and that offers opportunities for members to present something? Write an organiser an e-mail and put a talk together. From the feedback you’ll get from a presentation in a small circle of people, you’ll have an even better idea how you can shape the presentation you already have (or create a new talk) that’s gonna make your conference proposal submission a success! Set yourself a goal Checkout papercall.io or follow your favorite conferences on Twitter to be notified if a new Call for Proposal opens for submission! If you are a member of an underrepresented or marginalised group in tech, have an eye out for those CfPs who offer a blind proposal selection process (e.g. the JSConf* series) - which commit to reducing unconscious biases in the selection process as much as possible and give you a better chance for your proposal to be selected due to its value and interest for the topic. Find support It’s crucial to have someone or several folks in your corner who can support you in the process. How about brainstorming and checking back on talk proposal ideas with a friend, colleague at work or a mentor? Once you’ve been accepted: rehearsing your talk in front of a friend or a meetup group can be beneficial to identify what works best in regards to the flow of your talk and overall narrative. They can also motivate and uplift you anytime you feel doubtful and remember you of how much value there is behind what you’re doing to keep going.
23. Talk Script 5/5 Be kind to yourself This is the most important one. If from these 4 tips you can only remember one after this talk, please make it this one: truly be kind to yourself. Remind yourself: We all need to start somewhere. We all learn only as part of the process. And it’s ok to be doubtful, imperfect and make mistakes. That’s part of the process, too. Do expect problems throughout the process and accept them for what they are - problems that everyone has to go through on their public speaking journey. Therefore, even if you stumble upon problems, you don’t feel that you’re making as much as progress as you’d like to, even if your first proposals get rejected from conferences - it’s ok and you have the permission and the right to be kind to yourself. So take advantage of meeting yourself with compassion on your way to public speaking. As long as you start and continue your journey of public speaking, an entirely new world full of opportunities lies ahead of you. Thank you!