Tech Talk 101: Topic Generation

Given at Dreamforce 2014 in the DevZone

Transcript

1. Tech Talks 101: Topic Generation
   Rebecca Miller-Webster
   Instructor at Dev Bootcamp
   Founder Write/Speak/Code
   @rmillerwebster
   

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2. Rebecca Miller-Webster
   Software Engineer
   Instructor at Dev Bootcamp
   Founder and co-organizer Write/Speak/Code
   !
   

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3. The schedule
   • 101: Topic generation - Mon 11:15am
   • 201: Talk Development - Mon 12:00pm
   • 301: Stage Presence - Mon 12:45pm
   • Lightning Talks
   • Tues 4:00pm
   • Wed 12:15pm
   • Thurs 10:45am
   

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4. Topic
   What do you know or
   want to learn?
   What’s appropriate
   for the conference?
   How can you
   meaningful contribute?
   What the process of giving a tech talk?
   Proposal Talk
   Title
   Description
   Outline*
   Bio
   Slides
   Stage Presence
   Do it!
   

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5. This is interactive. Let’s interact.
   #df14techtalks
   @SalesforceDevs
   means time to DO IT!
   

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6. Why haven’t you spoken before?
   

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7. Have you ever thought …
   “Oh crap!
   Everyone is going to realize I have
   no idea what I’m doing.”
   

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8. Do you feel like a fraud because …
   • didn’t start coding when you were 12?
   • don’t work on side projects for “fun”?
   • aren’t yet Salesforce certified?
   

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9. Impostor Syndrome
   Photo: http://elephantwendigo.deviantart.com/art/Hunted-197538783!
   CC http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
   

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10. work too
    hard
    Burnout!
    Isolation!
    Failure!
    Stress
    Self-fulfilling
    hold
    yourself
    back
    

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11. Tech is communal
    • Conferences
    • OSS
    • Books & blogs
    • Stack Overflow & online documentation
    • Teams, pairing, agile
    

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12. “I’ve realized
    almost everyone
    is a fraud so I try
    not to feel bad
    about it.”
    

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13. Reframe
    • Teaching
    • Sharing
    • Helping others
    • Narrating history
    • Being a role model
    • Mentoring
    • Changing the world!
    

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14. Help others
    • Teach things you know
    • Ask the first question so someone else doesn’t have to
    • Connect with others
    

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15. Teach
    Write 5 things you could teach related to
    tech
    

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16. Remember what matters
    Which values relate to happiest, proudest, or most satisfied
    times in your life?
    

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17. Three values related to your happiest or proudest moments
    • Accomplishment
    • Accountability
    • Achievement
    • Activism
    • Adventure
    • Affection
    • Ambition
    • Autonomy
    • Challenge
    • Close relationships
    • Commitment
    • Community
    • Compassion
    • Competence
    • Competition
    • Confidence
    • Coolness
    • Courage
    • Creativity
    • Credibility
    • Decisiveness
    • Economic security
    • Effectiveness
    • Efficiency
    • Enthusiasm
    • Excellence
    • Excitement
    • Fairness
    • Family
    • Free time
    • Freedom
    • Friendships
    • Growth
    • Health
    • Helping others
    • Helping society
    • Honesty
    • Independence
    • Influence
    • Inner harmony
    • Insight
    • Inspiration
    • Integrity
    • Introspection
    • Justice
    • Knowledge
    • Leadership
    • Loyalty
    • Meaningful work
    • Mentorship
    • Merit
    • Openness
    • Persistence
    • Pleasure
    • Privacy
    • Public service
    • Quality
    • Recognition
    • Reputation
    • Responsibility
    • Security
    • Self-knowledge
    • Self-reliance
    • Self-respect
    • Stability
    • Truth
    • Vibrancy
    • Volunteering
    • Wealth
    • Will-power
    • Wisdom
    

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18. Choose one value
    Write a paragraph about why that value
    matters to you
    

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19. Look at the data
    • record positive feedback
    • measurable progress
    • list accomplishments
    

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20. Victory Journal
    • Write 10 accomplishments
    

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21. Credibility
    Knowledge
    +
    Experience
    

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22. Make some lists!
    

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23. What do you know?
    • Languages (HTML, Java etc)
    • Frameworks (Django, Rspec,
    CakePHP)
    • Tools (make, rake, WordPress)
    • Documentation, Testing, Team, Project
    Management
    

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24. What have you done?
    •Jobs
    •Internships, volunteering, organizations
    •Schools
    •Projects (work or personal)
    

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25. Mine specifics
    

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26. Answer one …
    • A hack I used to accomplish X
    • Last bug I fixed
    • My favorite tool/technique/module/etc
    • Bad advice for beginners
    • Most painful tool to use
    • Something I thought would be useful but didn’t
    work.
    

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27. Project
    Technologies!
    used in project
    General!
    Technologies
    

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28. Topics
    values
    knowledge
    experience
    accomplishments
    

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29. 5 minutes. 20 topics. Go!
    

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30. Next Steps
    • Choose a topic
    • Brainstorm titles & descriptions for topic
    • Create an outline for topic
    • Research conferences to submit to
    • Practice presenting and public speaking
    

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31. Next at Dreamforce
    • 101: Topic generation - Mon 11:15am
    • 201: Talk Development - Mon 12:00pm
    • 301: Stage Presence - Mon 12:45pm
    • Lightning Talks
    • Tues 4:00pm
    • Wed 12:15pm
    • Thurs 10:45am
    

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32. @rmillerwebster
    #df14techtalks
    

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