You May Be a Tech Speaker and Not Know It
Tags: opensource, beginners, career, motivation
Published: 2019-07-23 13:44:09

Last year I attended [Open Source Summit Japan](https://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/open-source-summit-japan-2018/) thanks to the Linux Foundation diversity scholarship. As a relatively new coder who had just immersed in the wonders of open source some months ago, I had a blast. I remember thinking "*I would love to come back next year as a speaker*".

**And I did!** :tada: You can find my talk description and slides [here](https://sched.co/OVtO). Sadly, the session itself wasn't recorded.

So, did anything happen during that year? Something than somehow transformed me into *speaker-worthy-material*? 

No. The only difference was I went and submitted that proposal. Of course, there was a lot of hard work behind the scenes, but one that comes naturally along with loving what you do. **However, after it was accepted, I must admit I regretted my decision more than a couple of times**: I felt I didn't know the topic *well enough*, I didn't have a mentor to *supervise what I was going to say*, I didn't have *enough time to prepare*... and all the classic self-sabotage/impostor syndrome talk many of us are used to.

Now, my secret sauce to overcome those feelings was simple: **I focus on why I want to talk to the world and what I want to convey**. What would maybe have lighten up a spark in me some years ago? As a teen, I didn't imagine something like the open source community even existed, let alone that it would be so exciting. After giving some talks at high schools, I found the situation is pretty much the same and **I really want to change  that**.

Of course, there are infinite forces that may drive you. To help you find some of them, **I would like to share some of the insights I used to shut up the excuse generator in my own brain**.

## :speech_balloon: Common excuses NOT to give a talk :speech_balloon:
- English is not my first language
- I just can't speak in public
- I have nothing interesting to talk about
- Everything I know is too basic
- What if they ask me difficult questions?
- I can't handle PowerPoint

## :fire: What may FUEL YOU to give a talk :fire:
- Things you care about that are not that well known
- Important topics that are often misunderstood
- Underrepresented groups that may need more referents in tech
- That really cool project you worked on during summer
- Just keep on learning and advancing your career

Obviously, you'll gradually get better at public speaking, an invaluable soft skill for every job out there. I find it really useful to **write down the key points I want to convey and how I imagine public interaction**, reviewing the results after the talk. **Your own honest feedback is very important for a steady improvement.**

## :loudspeaker: Some tips for tech talks :loudspeaker:

- Present an overview of the topics you are going to cover
- Include a "what we've learned" or similar slide after each section
- Use motivating examples when possible
- Avoid using a monotonous voice - jokes are okay as well!

I personally follow a maybe not that traditional approach to talk preparation. **Instead of rehearsing, I like to broadly discuss the topic with colleagues, friends and family subsets that volunteer.** You'll get your share of questions, and will be probably even asked for clarification and diagrams. Use this material to upgrade your slides and gain confidence in the topic you're presenting.

## :rocket: Some tips for workshops :rocket:

- Set aside 10-15min for introducing the tech stack and overall goal
- Prepare a Github project with code and general guidelines for your public to follow
- Regularly interact with the public and recap previous steps
- Offer an online place of discussion to clear up any issues (e.g. Git/Twitter)

Workshops can be reeeally dense for the public, specially if it's about a topic they are not familiar with. Similarly, if they are **too** familiar with it, interest may be lost as well. **It can be hard to find the sweetspot, but supporting material is crucial for a productive session.**

Public speaking, like almost everything in life, is an iterative process. It can only be improved by putting oneself out there and failing again and again.

You can find more tips in these wonderful posts:
{% link https://dev.to/helenanders26/how-to-rock-your-first-tech-talk-28pp %}
{% link https://dev.to/tlakomy/what-i-wished-someone-told-me-about-speaking-at-tech-conferences-3opp %}

**Now find your reason and go crush those Calls For Papers!** :boom: