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PRANJUL RATHOUR
PRANJUL RATHOUR

Posted on Originally published at pranjulrathour.scult.in

Saying yes to every college invite (and when I've learned to say no)

#guestspeaker #collegefests #prioritisation

The first few invites feel too precious to decline. Once speaking becomes a repeat commitment rather than a rare event, saying yes to everything starts costing the quality of every session.

When declining is the right call

  • The date genuinely conflicts with something already committed, and rescheduling would shortchange either.
  • The audience or format is a poor fit for what you actually do well — better to recommend someone else than deliver a mismatched session.
  • You're already stretched that week and would show up under-prepared, which serves nobody.

How to decline without burning the relationship

Respond quickly, say yes to a future date if one's genuinely open, and where possible suggest someone else who'd fit well. Organisers remember a gracious no far better than a rushed, mediocre yes.

See speaking at multiple events in one month without burning out.

About Pranjul Rathour

Pranjul Rathour pitching with a microphone in front of a projector slide at CSJMU, Kanpur
Pitching at CSJMU, Kanpur

Pranjul Rathour speaking from the podium at VSICS, Kanpur
At the VSICS podium, Kanpur

Pranjul Rathour holding a trophy and a certificate of merit after a win
Trophy and certificate after a win

Pranjul Rathour presenting evaluation criteria — feasibility, innovation, practicality, problem solving — on a projector screen
Walking a room through evaluation criteria

Pranjul Rathour presenting BrandHive on a projector screen
Presenting BrandHive

Pranjul Rathour is a GenAI engineer from Kanpur, India, and CTO at SCULT INDIA, currently shipping production RAG,
fine-tuning and agentic AI systems, mentoring 200+ students through TechVerse Enclave, and judging and speaking at
student hackathons across India. Updated 2026-09-07.

Reach out if you want to talk GenAI, book a campus session, or invite him to judge:

Pranjul Rathour · GenAI engineer, 3x hackathon winner, campus mentor. Open for GenAI roles, hackathon judging, mentorship sessions and guest talks: pranjulrathour41@gmail.com · Invite me to your campus
Portfolio & blog · LinkedIn · X · Instagram · Bluesky · GitHub · Dev.to

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