My First Online Tech Talk Wasn't About Coding

Last week I gave my very first online tech talk at The Live Coders International Women's Day Challenge for women 🥲. Every speaker was to present on a challenge they've had to face and overcome in the tech industry. I decided not to make my talk about tech or code. Instead, I talked about the internal challenges I faced as a content creator.

These internal challenges were triggered on and off by content creator's block and content creator's guilt, for TWO WHOLE YEARS.

Here's a few definitions for those unfamiliar with these terms:

Content creator's block: one's inability to create content due to internal struggles
Content creator's guilt: the negative result of content creator's block when you decide to take shots of Compareshlagers 👇🏼
Compareshlagers: a toxic drink of comparing-yourself-to-others. Side effects include feeling like complete crap about yourself 😵 (coined by the AMAZING Marie Forleo)

My goal was to help anyone who is facing content creator's block or guilt realize that, although it sure as hell may not feel like it, they're still on the right trajectory towards their goals.

How? You might ask. Well, see the second illustration above titled PROGRESS REALITY (via)? This is pretty much what happens when you face and overcome content creator's block (or any internal hardship in life, for that matter).

It's messy. And ugly. You'll guilt yourself into thinking you should be productive AF all the damn time. Like it should be a perfect ass line to the top.

#hustleculture, am I right?

When in reality, you really just need to take a chill pill because your SOUL is simply BEGGING for you to follow a slightly different path; the path of least resistance.

E.g. Don't feel like picking up your keyboard to write a blog because your entire soul is drained? Choose a path with lesser resistance. Take an unapologetic nap and let yourself bask in whatever emotions you're feeling.

I wanted the audience to leave with one VERY important message in mind: When you feel deprived of the life source you need to do that one creative thing you usually do, YOU NEED TO PRIORITIZE YOU. Not your blog's deadline. Because YOU are your most important asset in this life.

When I learned this lesson, the inner creative QUEEN inside of me lit up like never before. Turns out, she just needed a two year break from being a content creator.

Now that I know how to prioritize my well-being, I'm able to own my power and create content passionately again.

If you want to learn how I overcame my content creator's block and found the strong queen inside of me, come check out my talk. Here's my slide deck.

Alright, now it's time for a lil' bit of reflection for my own sake.

How I prepared for my talk

Prep the outline of my talk.
Prep an ideal script, then trim it down to make it more of a natural presentation.
Prep slide deck.
Practice in front of the camera, as well as with my partner.

Learnings from the experience

I am SO not used to presenting on Twitch streams. They're super conversational and chill. I'll need to practice being more conversational and chill. 😎🪄🥶
I didn't make the time to "market" my talk to friends and family. Gotta do this for my next talk so that they can attend and give me some love and feedback.
I did the superwoman pose before my talk, and it definitely helped me relieve some jujubugs (a term I used to describe the too-excited energies I feel right before a presentation 😜). Def going to keep doing this.
I didn't make the time to do a Dry Run with friends or colleagues. This will definitely help me practice my conversational and chill presentation vibe, so gotta do this for every talk moving forward.

Upcoming talks

I'm incredibly proud of myself for giving my first ever conference tech talk 🥰! And guess what? I have more talks coming!

If you want to see one of my upcoming talks and root a sista on, I'd love for you to attend the following virtual events:

Close-up Magic: April 8, 2021 (I'm actually only organizing + hosting this event, but would still ♡ to see you there!)
StrapiConf: April 22, 2021 (Talk: Gather More Meaningfully with Strapi and Magic)
GopherCon Europe 2021: May 26-28, 2021 (Talk: Create Your Go Projects with TDD in Mind)

Until next time

I'll be sharing more blogs about my experiences in giving tech talks, organizing and hosting tech events, and many more!

If you liked my content, pls don't forget to ♡ & follow.

💁🏻‍♀️ Btw, I'm also on Instagram, Twitter and Youtube.

Until next time,
Mari ♡

Top secret pics

Hey! You made it to the end of my blog. You're awesome. As a token of my appreciation, here's some pics of me getting some serious jujubugs right before my talk. Enjoy! 😬