Chronicles of a First Time AWS Women In Tech Event Speaker
Tags: womenintech, awswomenintech, career, leadership
Published: 2022-09-12 08:25:57

_**"If you can speak , you can influence. If you can influence you can change lives" - Anonymous**_

In early July, when I received the email from Ridhima Kapoor inviting me to speak at the AWS Women in Tech Day Event 2022, I was genuinely surprised as I did not feel I had done anything worthy of getting this opportunity (my impostor syndrome kicking in). I was also humbled by the kind of support that the AWS Community lends its members. I grabbed the opportunity with both my hands & sent back a positive reply to Ridhima.

Other than the fact that it was my first in-person event, it was also the first time I was stepping out of my house for a meetup post the pandemic.

The content that's going to follow is basically a set of steps I adhered to upto the Event Day.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/zifbr4jd1bxd45gfqvae.PNG)

## TABLE OF CONTENTS:
  1.[Getting over the initial nerves] (#Getting over the nerves prep)
  2.[Selection of topic](#Selection of topic)
  3.[Presentation Deck Prep](#Presentation Deck Prep)
  4.[Presentation Prep](#Presentation Prep)
  5.[Facing your doubts](#Facing your doubts)
  6.[The main event](#The main event)


##Getting over the nerves prep <a name="Getting over the nerves prep"></a>

<img width="100%" style="width:100%" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/hrk1vT9WDNSAMZydLf/giphy.gif">

- To get over the initial jitters of "Where to start from" I decided to go over AWS Machine Learning Hero Brooke Jamieson's video which I had come across few months ago. It's a humorous take where Brooke describes her own experiences when she started as a speaker in Tech conferences. I must have gone over it 4–5 times.

- She provides references to some common problems which though seem mundane while watching, you see the relevance when preparing the content such as selection of font size, presentation template , colour palette, speaker bio etc.

Video Link : [How to be a Tech Conf Speaker](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5ub-KP_2N4)

As I was working with a Keynote presentation, I also checked out a few beginner to advanced videos on animations on Keynote

Video Link: [Beginners Tutorial for Keynote](https://youtu.be/tphW6ajNjCI) , 
[Intermediate Tutorial for Keynote](https://youtu.be/g0xjxYV4B_I)

I did not go over the tech conference videos by other speakers as I was worried it could influence me to emulate the speaker.


##Selection of topic <a name="Selection of topic"></a>

- Selecting the topic of your talk is crucial. 

- You should be both comfortable & confident with the content. 

- Also pay attention to who will be the audience & whether you need to deliver for a beginner, intermediate or expert level.

- Be sure to select something which interests you. I had selected "Fundamentals of Data Encryption" as Security in AWS was something I was interested in.


##Presentation Deck Prep <a name="Presentation Deck Prep"></a>

<img width="100%" style="width:100%" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/94iS62lx8CRQA/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e476fyf52w58q53o0kl52wovtrwpizxozwa7crllsi0&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g">

- Start working on your deck at least 2 weeks before the event. So you have enough time to rehearse & make changes to the content.

- Check whether you will be getting a pre designed template for your talk. I had received a pre defined one from the organising team even though I had spent some time on choosing the slide deck of my own prior to it.

- Else you might have to decide on the slide colour & design.If that's sorted, you can move on to font selection, look & feel of your content.

- Ensure the header, sub header sections are differentiated in font. Also, that the font is big enough for even the back benchers in the room to view.

- Avoid clutter in the deck.

- I usually prefer less theory on the slide & more of pictures or animation that helps audience understand better.

- Decide on how much content you want to fit into each slide & the number of slides you want to put in.

- Think from the perspective of the audience, what would they like to see for the subject of your choosing

- Get your deck reviewed by peers or your mentors, I had received some useful feedback for my slides.

- One such feedback was that the slides should be self explanatory so I had to include labels over arrows & pictures where needed.

- Remove content if it cannot be correlated with the topic.


##Presentation Prep <a name="Presentation Prep"></a>

<img width="100%" style="width:100%" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/qhXjYSKbT3dug/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e4709dcxbagiph0eso4x1ady4enzfz2hatftmn8ta3e&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g">


- If you are a first time speaker & low on confidence, prepare your speech, write it down on a paper, don't mug it up, if you understand the content you won't have to.

- Rehearse in an empty room or before the mirror & finally with a friend. Get feedback & apply it.

- No matter the actual words in your speech go with your gut & change the narrative if you need to.

- Time yourself during rehearsals , if your talk is set for 30 mins, check whether you complete well within the time. If there is a QnA session post your talk be mindful of the session as well.

- Also in QnA if you are not sure of the answers, be honest & tell the audience you would get back to them.


##Facing your doubts <a name="Facing your doubts"></a>

<img width="100%" style="width:100%" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/nnPlj0tyeqSuOvYrfl/giphy.gif">


- A week before the event I was having some self doubts that's when I spoke to Bhuvaneswari Subramani a very active member of our AWS Community & a seasoned speaker.

- Her words gave me a new perspective – she encouraged me to think about my purpose of giving the talk, how big this opportunity & the stage was. 

- She advised me about how to overcome stage fright, trying the WonderWoman pose before my talk(I swear it does help), communicate with the audience & smile while speaking. Her pep talk washed over my fears & I started rehearsing with a renewed zeal.

##The main event <a name="The main event"></a>

- Having rehearsed enough, on the day of the event I was able to witness the meticulous planning & preparation behind the scenes of the event. Hats off to Ridhima Kapoor, Rohini Gaonkar & the entire organising team.

- I could get essentials such as mic check & stage etiquette ensured much before the start of the event.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/ynbirarhcruwqchwn7f4.JPG)
- Post the start of the event I got so inspired by the talks of all the speakers that I completely trashed my rehearsed speech & went with an impromptu talk connecting with the audience, in the process I realised how much I loved being on the stage.

- This was quite a memorable experience for me, all thanks to the support & encouragement of the AWS community members – Ridhima Kapoor, Rohini Gaonkar, Bhuvaneswari Subramani, Sridevi Murugayen, Vivek Raja P.S.

- The event updates have already been documented by Bhuvaneswari ma'am in her blog , for those who have missed, you can find the link below

[A Trip Back in Time- blog by Bhuvaneswari Subramani](https://dev.to/aws-heroes/aws-womenintech-2022-451i)