Finding your first speaking oppotunity
Grab the slides:
slides.com/cheukting_ho/1st-speaking-opp
Hello I am Cheuk
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Open-Source contributor
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Organisers of community events
-
PSF director and fellow
- Advocate for OSS security
Why do I want to start speaking publicly?
Specifically in tech
Personal gain
Personal gain
- Show your knowledge
(potentially future employer) - Build up credibility
- Voice your opinion in certain topics
- Make friends in the field
- Make it a career - developer relations
My journey
- I was a data scientist
- Found a supportive community
- Submit my first talk - rejected
- Try again at another one
- So addicted that I want to be full-time doing it
- Switch career - Become a developer advocate
Community gain
"Menfrence" and "Menal"
Have you head of
Conference or Panel that consists of only CIS white males
Excuses I have heard...
- Hard to find female speakers that are as good as all the ones (CIS white males) that we found
- We select them based on their merit, not gender
- We have to cater what our audience wants
As if...
- speakers other than CIS white males do not exist
- female (or non CIS white male) speakers are inferior
- No one is interested in female (or non CIS white male) speakers' opnion
hopefully things are changing and
Please prove them wrong
btw, tell our allies not to participates in menference or menal
So how do I start?
Finding a safe enviroment
Find a safe enviroment
- Local meetups with supportive audiences
- Internal events at workplace (if it is a supportive env)
- Communities that support inclusion and diversity
- Events that have an effective Code of Conduct (CoC)
- Online events that accept recorded talks
Find a mentor
Find a mentor
- Mentorship program (e.g. EuroPython)
- Ask a colleague or friend
- Ask in a supportive community
Your first talk
Your first talk
- Lightning talk (3-5 mins)
- Recorded or live
- Do not do live demos
- Reherse with a mentor or friend
Submitting proposals
Submitting proposals
- Do it before the deadline
- Talk about something that you care about
- Usecase at work may be a good start
- Avoid sale pitches
- Deliver the educational value of the talk
(why should people attend your talk) - State that you are identify as a minority in tech
And remember, it's common to have proposal rejected
Don't give up and try again
Grab the slides:
slides.com/cheukting_ho/1st-speaking-opp