I'm sure you have had your spotlight moment where you got called out by your teacher in school to explain some concept to your peers or even tell a bunch of people something, whether nervous or not, you just had to do it.
In this article, I will be explaining the what, why, and how of Public speaking while sharing some simple and useful tips.
What is Public Speaking?
Public Speaking is the process of performing a speech to a live audience. It can be formal, face-to-face (one person), or a group of listeners.
Why should I get involved in Public Speaking?
It helps you build self-confidence over-time
Just like writing, you are able to help people understand concepts from your own perspective.
It's a great way to tell or show the world your pattern and what you are passionate about.
It broadens your knowledge about that topic due to your research and teaching others how it is done helps it stick faster to your memory.
A way to challenge yourself and step out of your comfort zone.
Public speaking provides opportunities to network and travel to other countries ( most conferences I've speakers free admission and even travel assistance).
It helps in career advancement because you build valuable skills like critical thinking skills, leadership abilities, poise, and professional qualities. These skills are valuable to the job market.
How do I get started?
First, I want you to debunk the thought that you must be an expert, a senior developer, or at the peak of your career to start speaking at events (it's not true). I gave my first talk 5 months into coding. Everyone has an idea they want to share, you just have to believe in yourself and start applying.
Here are some tips to get you started:
Explore Call for Proposal sites like:
You can follow them on Twitter and turn on notifications or subscribe to their mailing list to be notified of conferences announcing their call for proposals enabling you to submit a proposal fast enough.
Reaching out to local meetup organizers to speak at small meetups
Be sure about what exactly you want to talk about so you can draft your proposal to fit this (Yeah I know, writing proposals can be hectic and tiring). Here is a friendly resource to help you with this.
Believe in yourself enough to start and keep trying. I actually can't stress enough on this, don't feel intimidated or bad when your proposal gets rejected. Keep pushing because you are in for all the benefits.
Be vocal about what you are passionate about in a strategic manner especially on social media because you never know who is watching. Some couple of times, I have been reached out to for events to be a speaker because of the post, network, or engagement on my social media.
These are the tips I have for you to get started. Fell free to drop tips you may have or share this post if it was useful to you. I hope you consider public speaking if you have not already started.
Thanks for reading :)