The Year I Became a Conference Speaker (Part One)
Tags: speaking, career, techtalks
Published: 2019-10-23 14:02:58

_This post was originally published on [jessbudd.com](https://jessbudd.com/posts/the-year-i-became-conference-speaker/)_.

Three and a half months ago, I decided to give some public speaking a go. Today, I have 3 conference talks lined up. How did this happen??

You could say it actually all started nearly 2 years ago, when I was fortunate enough to be gifted a free ticket to attend [CSSConfAU](https://2018.cssconf.com.au). I managed to use frequent flyer points (accumulated from years of grocery shopping to pay for flights, and split the cost of an Airbnb with two friends also attending from Perth. 

At the airport, waiting for our flights home, I was gushing what an amazing experience the conference had been. And in quick succession, lamenting how I wished I could afford to attend more. 

My friends then let me in on a little secret. 

If I wanted to attend conferences on (very) limited funds, I could become a _speaker_.

As a speaker you get free entry to the event, and quite often, the conference will cover flights and accommodation for  interstate speakers. What an amazing way to increase the number of conferences you can attend!

## Except...

I hated public speaking. Like, afraid to speak up in meetings or in front of more than 3 people at a time, hate. 

Not to mention, what would I even have to say that other people would be interested in?


So I laughed it off, and filed it away under "_Things that will never happen_". 

But that was the moment, the seed was planted. 

<figure>
<img src="https://jessbudd.com/images/posts/cssconfAU2018.jpg" alt="CSSConf name lanyard and 2 photobooth strips"/>
<figcaption>The Perth crew representin' at CSSConfAU 2018</figcaption>
</figure>

## The Seed Grows...

Fast forward a year and I'm co-organiser of a [meetup group for front-end developers](http://fenders.co). I've MC'd our events a few times without anything too disastrous happening. And although I'm still afraid of public speaking, I've come around to the fact it's a really beneficial skill to have.

Frequently, my speaker friends would encourage me to apply to speak at events. And I would continue to deflect, because speaking at conferences is something _other people do_.

## Until... 

August 2019, [JSConf Hawaiʻi](https://www.jsconfhi.com/) released it's Call for Proposals (CFP). 
(A CFP is the formal process of conferences requesting people to apply to speak at their conference.)

And this conference folks, looked _amazing_ :heart_eyes:

Not only was this well-respected event happening in a place I've always dreamed of going (HAWAI'I baby!), the CFP _specifically welcomed first-time speakers_! And the topics didn't even have to be JavaScript!

<figure>
<img src="https://jessbudd.com/images/posts/jsconf-cfp.png" alt="JSConf Call For Papers Diversity Wording, We welcome beginner speakers apply"/>
<figcaption>JSConf welcomes beginner speakers in their CFP</figcaption>
</figure>


I was sold. 

I needed to at least put my hat in the ring, right??


## Call in the troops

This is when I enlisted my dream team ([@Mandy_Kerr](https://twitter.com/Mandy_Kerr), [@Amys_Kapers](https://twitter.com/Amys_Kapers), [@stringy](https://twitter.com/stringy) and [@sandysandy](https://twitter.com/sandysandy)) to help me figure out how to make this whole CFP thing happen.

We organised a hacksesh and Mandy helped me brainstorm potential ideas using questions similar to the ones found in [this post by Lucy Bain](https://lucybain.com/blog/2016/conference-proposal-ideas/). 

I then wrangled these ideas into three talk abstracts. (An abstract is a description of your talk idea, in a couple paragraphs, to sell it to the conference organisers and attendees).

By the end of the night, I had three validated talk ideas and some rough abstracts to polish up.

The next day, I took a big deep breath, drew up my courage and submitted all three of my talk ideas to JSConf.

{% twitter 1165114649743749125 %}


## In for a penny, in for a pound

So now I had these three talk proposals (and so very little chance of being accepted to my dream conference). It would be a waste not to use them again....

Friends suggested I should submit to [DDDAdelaide](https://www.dddadelaide.com/) and [Google DevFest](https://www.gdgmelbourne.com/devfest), both known for being exceptionally welcoming to beginners. Now, these are community run conferences, which means unfortunately they're not able to cover speaker flights or accommodation. 

But as [@Amys_Kapers](https://twitter.com/Amys_Kapers) always says, "_That's future Jess's problem_." :sweat_smile:

And the chances of getting in were pretty slim anyway. 

So I put in submissions for those too. 

##  And then something crazy happened...


[@Mandy_Kerr](https://twitter.com/Mandy_Kerr) was invited to speak at [LaraconAU](http://laracon.com.au), but had to decline due to already speaking at [Web Directions](https://www.webdirections.org/wds/speakers/mandy-kerr.php) at the same time... so SHE RECOMMENDED ME :scream:

Laracon's organiser was willing to take a chance on a newbie - and that was it! My first ever conference talk was booked!

{% twitter 1171327217185374208 %}


3 weeks after that, my submission to speak at [Google DevFest](https://www.gdgmelbourne.com/devfest) in Melbourne was accepted.

{% twitter 1178871826056826881 %}



And a couple days later, I was selected to speak at the very first [DDDAdelaide](https://www.dddadelaide.com/).

{% twitter 1180050231011885056 %}


## What have I learned?

- __You've got to be in it to win it__. I always felt like I had nothing to say, no one would want to listen to me or take a chance on an inexperienced speaker. I was wrong.
- __People want to help you__. I've had offers to help come up with talk ideas, write abstracts and give slide feedback from multiple people on twitter I've never even met in real life. If you show interest, people will put their hands up to help you get there.

- __There are lots of free speaking resources__. All over the internet tech speakers are writing resources for us beginners to get into conference speaking. I highly recommend Zach Holman's <a href='https://speaking.io'>speaking.io</a> and Rachel Andrew's <a href="https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2018/02/getting-started-public-speaking/">Getting Started in Public Speaking</a> as starting points.

- __Listen when people say you can do this!__ This one might just be me, but I have a bad habit of assuming people are just being nice when they express confidence in my abilities. I needed to get out of my own way (and own head) to put myself out there for opportunities. 


## What next?

Well, now I actually have to write, practice and perform the talks :joy:

I'll let you know how that goes in Part Two!


_To be continued...._