Slide 20
Slide 20 text
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.