So you want to be a conference speaker? Are you sure?
Recently, a few people have asked me what it's actually like to speak at tech conferences. ...
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lol I like the title of where you give a tutorial on becoming a conference speaker but also a downside to it.
Speaking in public for me has never been a thing I want to do, mostly because of stage freights. It's not that I don't know what to say, I tend to plan things ahead and know what I need to do, but seeing people just gives me anxiety and it causes me to stutter my words.
I tend to write it out since I have more time to think about it as well as being able to share what I know.
Glad you have the courage to speak in Public Sylwia!
Hey Francis! 😊 And that's exactly what I wanted to get across in this article: it's totally okay! Public speaking certainly isn't for everyone, but it's not a must-have skill either. There are so many other ways to share your knowledge and grow professionally!
I'm glad you're choosing a path that works for you and your mental well-being. That's what really matters! ❤️
Maybe you can imagine there’s no crowd below the podium. It’s just you alone, having a conversation with yourself. Try not to be affected by the outside world. Of course, this depends on how much pressure each person can handle, but it’s worth trying to make this shift.
Does that actually work for you? 😄 Because honestly, nothing seems to work for my stage fright! I can try every technique out there, prepare everything perfectly, and consciously tell myself there's nothing to worry about... but my subconscious couldn't care less! 😂
I guess this takes time and practice because that's kind of hard to do in real time. The closest I got is presenting on Zoom, which is fair since you don't really see the audience.
@sylwia-lask Seeing your comment, how did it work for you?
Honestly, during my first few talks, absolutely nothing helped! I just walked onto the stage terrified. 😂 Luckily, I have this one useful trait: stress actually makes me perform better, so once I was on stage, things usually went pretty well!
I still get nervous now, but it's more like the stress you feel before presenting on Zoom to a group of strangers or going into a job interview. It usually kicks in about an hour beforehand, and I've come to accept that it's probably always going to be there. So rather than trying to get rid of it, I just let it be.
I have a lot of discussions with people who are interested in speaking, but are really nervous to be in front of people they know. If it's a group of total strangers, they seem way more comfortable with the idea.
For me the logistics of getting to the conference is always where I'm most nervous. I don't know if it was age or experience (or both!) but one day I woke up and decided I had so little control over it, why worry about it.
Great post! I've been paid for some speaking engagements, as well as offered donations to my charity of choice. If I'm speaking on behalf of my employer, I'm usually not offered any sort of payment and I'm not sure I would take it either. The networking alone that comes with being a conference speaker has been a huge benefit to my career.
Hey Amara, thank you so much for sharing your perspective! ❤️ A few things caught my attention! First, if people are nervous about speaking in front of people they know, but think speaking in front of complete strangers would be more comfortable... well, I'm afraid they might just think so! 😂 But hey, it's always worth giving it a try if it's something they're excited about!
As for logistics, that's actually not what scares me the most. Although I have to admit, I deal with uncertainty by being a total control freak and always having plans A, B, and C! 😂 For example, I'm flying to Munich next week, and I could have taken a later flight via Copenhagen. But if something went wrong (and things do go wrong surprisingly often!), I'd be stuck there, with my talk scheduled for 9 AM the next morning! So I chose an early flight via Frankfurt instead. At least if something goes wrong, I'll already be in Germany! 😂 Of course, a million things can still go wrong, but hey, we're only human!
And your point about charity reminded me that after one conference, apparently a tree was planted in my name! At least that's what the email said. 😂 Other than that, I've never earned a penny from conference speaking, unless we count running workshops.
And yes, the networking is absolutely wonderful! Although, for any introverts out there experiencing FOMO, I'd add that I've also made some amazing connections right here through blogging! 😄
This is me taking the direct flight from Austin, TX to London. I've made it across the pond, I'm not still stuck in the US, and at this point I have unlocked train travel as an option!
Hahaha, exactly! And the worst part is that this kind of planning actually comes in handy! Once, I was flying to Bologna with a connection, and I deliberately booked an earlier flight because I thought, "What if the first one gets delayed?"
Well, guess what? It actually got delayed! And thanks to my control freak tendencies, they simply rebooked me onto the later flight I'd been considering in the first place. 😂
my advice for those who "think speaking in front of complete strangers would be more comfortable" would be that, at least if those people know you, even if they might joke around or tease you a bit, they are much more likely to give you critical feedback to help you improve rather that just going and bashing you on X or reddit.
What a fantastic article, so well put together and detailed. I love how you break down every piece of what goes into being a conference speaker.
I really appreciate that it's an honest take, not one of those "yeah bro, just go for it, you'll be a legend" pep talks. It's grounded and shows the reality, which usually isn't as flashy as we'd like.
And here's the thing: that reality motivates me much more than any motivational speech. It's real, it's uncomfortable, and call me crazy, but I love that kind of discomfort. Being mentally somewhere I've never been, knowing I'd better figure something out fast or I'm done, is pure adrenaline, and I'm a little addicted to it.
I know blogging can be more effective, and the payoff from conferences might not be as big. But what I chase is the feeling of having done something incredibly hard that not many people have the guts to do. That rewarding feeling when you just sit at the airport on your way home and think: “yeah Giorgi (or Sylwia in your case) you just nailed it!”
I don't usually share my plans, I prefer to let results do the talking. But I'll tell you this much: with this article, you just poured a whole tanker of fuel on my burning desire to start speaking at conferences.🔥
I don’t know when it’s gonna happen, but it’s gonna happen.
Hahaha, Giorgi, I'm rooting for you! 😄 I'm pretty sure you're exactly the kind of person who would enjoy this kind of challenge!
But here's a little spoiler: after a talk, I usually think something like, "Damn, I messed up on line 55, that could've gone better!" 😂 And for another two or three hours afterward, the adrenaline is still pumping so hard that I feel like I'm about to give the talk, not like I've already finished it! It takes me a while to finally calm down.
So yes, for adrenaline junkies like you, conference speaking is definitely a great goal!
Although, despite having some success with it, I still sometimes wonder whether this is really the right path for me (today, for example!). Mostly because there are so many other side quests I'd love to pursue, and conference speaking takes up so much time that I simply have to give some of them up.
I even promised myself that next year I wouldn't submit a single CFP and would just wait for invitations instead.
Naturally, I've already submitted two. 😂
I know exactly what you’re talking about. Just when I think I’m done with DEV challenges for a while and I’m finally ready to continue my current big project, another challenge drops that I can’t turn down… I’m absolutely sure I’ll be the same way if I take your path and start speaking at conferences. There’s just no other way.😄
Hahaha, it's exactly the same mechanism! 😂 That's why I don't participate in DEV challenges anymore. I don't even read what they're about, just to be safe, because there's always another conference lurking around the corner! 🤣
I like the internal speaker questions here:
"Will anyone show up? And did I do a good job?"
I also judge my talks by two questions, somewhat jokingly... "Did anyone fall asleep in the talk? Did anyone walk out of the room?"
I've spoken at conferences around the U.S., in venues large and small. Corporate venues, tech conference venues, meetups, online, and in person. My payments have been conference tickets and occasionally travel/lodging, but that isn't a given either. Some conferences I've seen don't even provide speakers with conference entry.
Nice write-up, and yes, one or two conference speaking opportunities likely won't immediately impact your earning potential. But it can set you apart at your company as an engineer willing to do more than stare at a screen. 🤣
Oh, and about people walking out during a talk, I totally agree! 😂 However many people show up, that's fine, as long as they don't start leaving halfway through! 😅
Interestingly, I've actually walked out of talks myself a few times, and most of the time it had absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the presentation. I simply had to leave for one reason or another! 😄
That's true, some employers really appreciate it! Although I've often worked for companies that weren't particularly interested in my conference speaking activities. 😄
But not even providing speakers with a conference ticket? That's just ridiculous! I've actually heard that some conferences, especially business-oriented ones, even make speakers PAY for the opportunity to speak! No idea if that's really true, though. 😂
Oh, I've seen those conferences as well. Hard pass on those as a personal speaker. I've been on the corporate, pay-to-speak side, though, where sponsorship comes with a speaking slot. Much different than earned opportunities through CFPs or invites, in my opinion. The audience tends to know the difference too.
Overall, conference speaking results in a somewhat interesting Venn Diagram of skills.
Oh, absolutely! Conference speaking actually lets me use all those skills I once thought I'd never need as a software developer!
Hi Sylwia,
One question: Do you have a fear of judgement before going before a crowd - and how do you overcome it?
The best I can do is look out at whoever is before me and pretend they are all using a lavatory, leveling the playing field knowing that they are still (likely) human. I remember one time before saying a few words in front of a small crowd and thinking to myself: "They all take s**** too, they are just humans"
I am not a speaker, and I do not intend to be one. 😂 Your bravery is admirable.
Oh, before my first conference, I was absolutely terrified of being judged! 😂 It didn't help that my talk was built around my own thesis, which not everyone necessarily had to agree with. I was weighing every single word, every comparison, trying to make sure nobody could challenge anything I said!
But the more time I spend in the tech community, both at conferences and here on DEV, the less pressure I feel.
For example, in my first talk about WebGPU, I wanted to compare it to WebGL and simply call it "the successor to WebGL." But technically, that's not entirely accurate, so I spent ages wondering how to phrase it properly. Until I watched a talk by an expert on the subject, and he casually said... "the successor to WebGL." 😂
I've learned the same lesson through blogging. You can simplify things! You don't have to explain every single edge case or add a dozen disclaimers, because most people simply don't need that level of detail to understand your point.
So these days, I'm no longer particularly afraid of people judging me or thinking I'm an idiot. At least that's some progress! 😅
What scares me more now is getting stuck mid-sentence, losing my train of thought, or simply not being as smooth and confident on stage as speakers with 20 years of experience. But I guess that just comes with practice! 😄
20 years of practice! The only thing i've have been able to do successfully for 20 years is breathe. 😂
Hahaha, you do have a point there! 😂
I got selected for Devcon8 this year, happening in November, and I was told that I amy have to speak, so this blog is a godsend help for me right now. Only 2 weeks left have to practice a lot for my speech and speaking
Hahaha, that's perfect timing indeed! Fingers crossed for you! I hope your talk goes amazingly well! 🤞❤️
Amazing post, as always! So much valuable advice here, especially the logistics part for me. And I'm not surprised that a certain ANONYMOUS person decided to put their conference-speaking plans on hold indefinitely 🤣🤣
Hahaha, I wonder who that mysterious person could be! 🤣 But seriously, quite a few people have been asking me about conference speaking lately!
Oh, and when it comes to logistics, I actually have one huge advantage: I live literally about 6 km from the airport, and I can get there in just 15 minutes by public bus! 😄 That definitely makes all this traveling a lot easier!
Only 6 km from Gdańsk Airport? Sounds like you can hear every plane landing or taking off. 😅🤣
Actually, no! 😂 We used to live in another part of the city, about 10 km from the airport, and planes really did fly right over our roof with their landing gear already down! 🤣 But now we live alongside the airport, rather than under the flight path, so it's actually really quiet and peaceful here! 😅
Same energy. I remember my very first talk, I was invited mainly because I know how to bullshit my way around any topic you could think of except, on a talk, I can't bs so the hardest thing for me first time was hoping I don't drift away from the main topic so I planned a 2 page script of the things I MUST talk. When the day came, I was so nervous because i kept forgetting the script but then I was like, okay no, screw this, I threw away the script and went natural.
And I was surprised that I managed to slip in background stories, jokes and not drift away from the main topic and I received alot of positive feedback haha.
but the thing I love about most is meeting people. whether it's those more experienced that I could learn from or those who love to come up to me to tell me what they've been building and it's so rewarding to see how ambitious & passionate they are with their projects. it's all laughter, love, passion & lively energy in the room.
I'm having another one this November and I'm so excited!
Wow, congrats!!! Will there be a recording of your November talk? I'd love to watch it! 😄
And I can totally relate! At my last conference, I had everything beautifully prepared in my speaker notes. Not a word-for-word script, of course, but all the key points I wanted to cover. And guess what? With the conference setup, I couldn't even access my notes! Hahaha. So I just went with the flow, speaking from memory, and it actually turned out great!
And yes, attending conferences is amazing too, but as a speaker, you're much more in the spotlight. Some people love that, others don't... and apparently, we're both in the first group! 😂
Ohh i will definitely record one this time. most of the talks I've given are in small conferences, usually 60 - 80 people and we haven't really thought of recording them but good idea!
anyway, since I have no recording of me ( except photos ) talking yet, here's a video of 15 year old me performing Michael Jackson's billie jean 🤣:
apparently, holding a mic in front of an audience is not new to me 🤣
OMG, this is absolutely amazing!!! 🤣🤣 Those moves!!! 🔥😂
Your speaker-notes example makes the venue check much more concrete than just testing whether the slides display. A three-line paper cue card could be a useful fallback: the main takeaway, the next demo transition, and the closing line. It would preserve the structure without becoming a script.
I maintain ChantLive, and this is an AI-assisted comment, not a tool recommendation. After that experience, do you now include access to speaker notes in your venue check, or do you prefer to rehearse without them?
Great read, Sylwia! 😄👏
So conference speaking is basically deploying to production: weeks of preparation, unexpected failures, high stress, and everyone watching when something goes wrong. 😂
I especially liked your point about blogging having a better long-term reach. A blog post keeps working while we sleep, while a conference talk apparently costs us several nights of sleep! 🤣
But the fact that you'd happily do it all again says everything. Wishing you more successful talks and fewer backstage panic moments! 😄
Haha, conference speaking sounds like deploying straight to production on a Friday! 😂
I'm just starting my blogging journey and hoping to get into conference speaking eventually. Hopefully, blogging will help me avoid a few production incidents along the way! 😄
Fingers crossed, Rimon!
Hahaha, exactly like deploying to production! 😂 And the analogy goes even further: at first, you spend months preparing, and something still goes wrong. But with every deployment, it gets a little easier! 😄
This was a great read and very helpful!
I wouldn't say that Im on a mission per se to become a full time conference speaker but it is on my bucket list to do a key note and something Im working towards. Speaking at local meetups definitely helps get started. Another one that has helped me was reaching out to people responsible for organizing onsites and offering to do a talk at their onsite. They typically at least cover travel and have turned into some paid opportunities. There are a bunch of apps now too that help with communication and articulation training for preparation.
For me too, something that helped me get in the right mindset was comparing it to sports. I don't have to be playing in the NHL (or whatever your favorite sport is that compares to being a paid keynote speaker). Simply showing up to play mens league (where I pay to play rather than being paid) is akin to paying my own travel and speaking in smaller rooms for free. Do it for the enjoyment and experience.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! 😊 I especially liked your point about doing it for the enjoyment and experience!
And I'm really curious about those communication and articulation training apps you mentioned. Is there one you'd particularly recommend?
It’s amazing that you’ve already given so many conference talks! 👏
I’m not good at speaking in front of people, so I’ll probably never experience this myself 😿 But I can easily imagine how stressful it must be, and I completely understand the panic before a talk. 🙀
Still, getting a baseball cap sounds a little attractive. 🧢😹
I also really liked your point about abstraction. In a limited amount of time, you can’t explain every detail, so choosing what really matters and turning it into something clear and easy to understand is such an important skill.
I think this is also very similar to writing articles. We can’t put every detail into an article either, and we need to find a good level of abstraction so people can easily follow the main idea.
That actually made me think, “Ah, maybe this is why your articles are always so easy to read.” 😺
Please keep going! I’m always looking forward to your next articles and talks. 🙌
Aww, thank you so much! ❤️ And that's exactly what I wanted to get across in this article: if someone is an introvert and doesn't feel comfortable on stage, but thinks they HAVE to become a speaker to advance their career... well, they really don't! 😄 There are so many other ways to share your knowledge and make an impact!
And thank you for saying my articles are easy to read! 🥹 That's actually something I always try really hard to achieve, so it means a lot to me! ❤️
One thing I'd add is that the value of a technical talk isn't always visible in the room. For example, a talk about migrating a production service from REST to gRPC might get great feedback, but the more useful outcome could be whether another team can apply the lessons to its own latency, schema evolution, and backward-compatibility problems months later.
That's where publishing the demo, benchmarks, and the trade-offs you discovered can make a difference. The talk creates the conversation, while the technical write-up gives people something they can revisit when they're actually facing the same problem.
I guess that's one advantage of blogging: you don't have to choose between sharing an idea and documenting the details behind it.
That's a great point! Although I'd say conference speaking doesn't necessarily exclude that either. I always share my slides and code with the audience afterward, so people can revisit the technical details whenever they need to.
Of course, the ideal scenario is to have it all: the talk, the slides, the code, and a more in-depth article (or even several!) exploring the topic further. 😄
Exactly, and I think the interesting part is what happens when someone tries to use that material in a real system. A demo can show a successful REST-to-gRPC migration, but the harder questions often appear later: what happens when old clients are still running, a new field changes business logic, or a rollout leaves two contract versions active at the same time?
That's where documenting the decisions behind the code becomes really valuable. Why was a particular compatibility strategy chosen? Which latency gains held up under production traffic, and what new operational costs came with them? Those details are hard to fit into a talk, but they're often what another engineer needs when facing the same migration.
I like your approach of building talks around topics you've already explored in your blog. It means the talk can open the door, while the deeper technical material gives people a way to work through the problem long after the event.
Sylwia, thank you for being honest about the cost. Your blog point matches my experience. One of my posts reached a conference in San Francisco. I published it from my phone in Port Harcourt. I needed no flight and no visa. I know the blogging side better than the stage side. Your post made the real work behind a talk clear. I hope your next stage is in Africa. I would come to hear you.
Thank you, Daniel! 😊 Oh, I'd absolutely love to speak at a conference in Africa, especially in Nigeria!
BTW, before I started blogging here, I had no idea Nigeria had such an amazing developer community! It's been one of the nicest discoveries of my blogging journey.
That makes me happy to read. Nigerian developers would welcome you. I hope a CFP opens in Nigeria soon. Thank you for noticing our community.
I always enjoy your posts, Sylwia! 😊 I have so much respect for people who can get up in front of a room full of people and speak. I could never! I'd probably lose my mind before I even made it to the stage. 😂
Honestly, just finding the courage to start sharing my own projects and thoughts here on DEV was a pretty big step for me. I'm naturally quite introverted, so putting myself out there doesn't come easily.
I really appreciated your point about blogging, though. It's nice to be reminded that there are different ways to contribute to the tech community, and we don't all have to be comfortable standing on a stage to have something worth sharing.
I also love that despite all the stress and preparation you described, you'd still do it all again. That's pretty awesome! ❤️
Thank you so much, Jessica! And I totally get what you mean! There are so many different ways to contribute to the tech community, and we all have different things we enjoy.
For example, I'd love to contribute to an open-source project, but I feel like I'm not introverted enough (or maybe just not focused enough 😂) to enjoy sitting down and working on someone else's code after a full day of programming. But blogging and building little demos for the community? That's a completely different story! I actually find those things relaxing! 😄
And conference speaking is definitely a pretty big step outside my comfort zone too. Unfortunately, it's also surprisingly addictive! 😅
"I always think nobody will ever invite me again. And somehow, people keep inviting me." That line says a lot. Five conferences in a year, speaking in a second language, and your brain still files it as luck. That's the RAS doing its thing. It's the filter that decides what you notice, and once it's been trained to look for proof you don't belong, it skips right past the invites and zooms in on the rejected abstracts. You don't retrain it by arguing with it. You retrain it by stacking evidence, which is exactly what you're doing every time you get back up there. Honestly the impostor feeling showing up and you speaking anyway is the most convincing part of this whole post.
Thank you so much! And I think you're probably right! I've actually experienced this in many other areas of my life. When success happens often enough, at some point you finally start accepting that maybe you're actually good at something. 😄
Unfortunately, the feedback loop with conference speaking is pretty slow. I've given 5 talks in a year, which sounds like a lot, but in the same time I've published around 60 articles. That's a completely different scale!
That's such a good point about the scale. Sixty articles gives your brain a ton of data that writing is safe, and five talks a year just isn't enough reps for the filter to catch up. One thing that might help is shrinking the loop. A short meetup talk, a lightning talk, even recording a five minute version of one of your articles. None of those need a CFP, and every one is another data point that being seen and heard is fine. Funny thing is the confidence was there the whole time you were writing those sixty. Speaking just hasn't had enough chances to uncover it yet.
The case-study-with-a-big-picture-frame advice is the sharpest line here. I've been writing technical essays for a year and the ones that travel are always the specific story carrying a general claim — "Intro to WebGPU" would die in my drafts folder too. I haven't done the conference circuit yet, partly because the CFP math you describe (20 slots, most pre-spoken-for) makes the expected value look brutal for an unknown name. Honest question: for a first-time speaker with no big-room talk on the record, is the move a small local meetup first, or does a strong written piece actually move the needle with program committees?
That's a tough question! Honestly, I think having both definitely wouldn't hurt! 😄
There are also conferences that invite first-time speakers, although I have no idea how they actually decide whom to invite.
From what I've observed (and I could be completely wrong!), it's usually people who either work at a well-known company and have a really interesting topic, or have many years of experience, perhaps as a tech lead, and... a really interesting topic. 😂
Or sometimes they bring a completely different professional perspective to the table, combined with... yep, you guessed it, a really great topic! 😄
So I guess the topic itself might be the most important part after all!
Topic being the deciding factor is the encouraging version of that math, because it's the one part a first-timer actually controls. I've been writing technical essays for a year now, and the pieces that travel are always the specific story carrying a general claim, never the credential attached to them — so my working theory is that a strong written piece does move the needle, just not as a CV line. It gives the committee the talk itself, already proven on readers, instead of a promise about a talk. Would you say the committees you've seen pick the topic first and the speaker second, or does the speaker's name still break the tie when two topics are close?
Thanks Sylwia for sharing your experience as a Tech speaker.
Thanks Tanay 😊
The upfront travel costs deserve more attention. "We cover expenses" sounds reassuring until you realise you have to float the money yourself. I'd love to see CFP pages say whether organisers book travel or reimburse it later. That could decide whether someone can apply at all.
That's a very good point! You can always reach out to the organizers and ask about this before submitting your CFP proposal. 😊
True 🙂 I'd just like first-time speakers to get that answer without having to ask. It can feel awkward to lead with "can you book my flight?", even when that's what makes attending possible.
A refreshing counter‑narrative against the romanticized view of conference speaking. It reminds us stage time comes with huge hidden time and mental‑health overhead, and blogging can sometimes give better career ROI.
Exactly! Of course, conference speaking can be an amazing experience, but if someone doesn't feel comfortable doing it, they're really not missing out on anything essential. And hey, you can always attend conferences without being a speaker and still enjoy the talks, the atmosphere, and all the networking! 😊
You’re such an inspiration! I’m here to learn from your experience 😂 This raw, real story is amazing, loved it!
Aww, thank you so much, Lingfeng! ❤️ I'm really glad you enjoyed it! 😄
I want to become a conference speaker in the future. I’m only 9 right now, so I have plenty of time. Your article has lit a fire inside me. I don’t just want confidence, because confidence can fade. I want a strong determination that never gives up.
I’m not an introvert, and I don’t get nervous on stage. I just imagine that I’m an influencer and everyone in the audience is my fan, and that makes it easy for me to speak.
Could you give me a gem? I’m your fan!
Aww, thank you so much! ❤️ I love your enthusiasm! And I think your approach to being on stage is brilliant! 😄 If you already enjoy speaking in front of people, that's a great start!
Keep learning, building things, and sharing what excites you. You'll have plenty of interesting stories to tell by the time you give your first conference talk! I'm rooting for you! 🚀
Thanks for gem(useful, advise)!!!☺️
"This was such an honest and refreshing read!
As someone who writes technical articles and content, I can totally relate to the point about blogging having a wider reach and less backstage anxiety. But that adrenaline rush of being on stage and meeting people in person is definitely something special!
Thanks for sharing the reality behind CFPs and preparation—especially the tip on pitching 'big picture' topics like 'Your Browser Is a Compute Platform' instead of super narrow tutorials. That’s solid advice for anyone wanting to start.
Hope to see you on more stages soon! Best of luck with your upcoming talks in Munich and Berlin
Thank you so much! Exactly, I think the goal is to inspire people! They can always explore the technical details on their own afterward. After all, conference audiences are full of incredibly smart and talented people! 😊
Really enjoyed this, Sylwia! 😊
I appreciate how openly you shared both the exciting and exhausting sides of conference speaking.
Your point about blogging particularly resonated with me. Sometimes a single thoughtful article can reach and inspire people for years.
And I loved the ending! After all those challenges, you’d still do it again. That says a lot about your passion. 😄
Thanks for sharing such an honest perspective!
Thanks, Mustafa! 😊 That's exactly how it is! I may complain a lot, but speaking at conferences is still an unforgettable experience, and I wouldn't trade it for anything! 😄
But if someone is an introvert and feels like they have to do it because it's somehow the natural next step in their career... well, they really don't! 😁
Absolutely agree, Sylwia! 😊
There’s no single path to growing in tech. Some people shine on stage, others through writing, building, or quietly helping others.
What matters is sharing what we know in a way that feels natural to us.
And I’m glad you’re still enjoying the stage, despite all the chaos! 😂👏
"Thank you for sharing such a transparent and honest perspective! 👏
The part about questioning all life choices 1 hour before going on stage hit way too close to home! 😅 It’s so refreshing to read a realistic breakdown of the CFP hustle, logistics, and the massive effort behind a 30-minute talk, rather than just the 'glamorous' stage photos.
Absolutely agree on using blogging as a foundation—it really helps refine the narrative before turning it into slides. Thanks again for this great read, and good luck with your upcoming summit talks!"
Hahaha, if only we at least looked good in those glamorous stage photos! 😂 Somehow the photographer always manages to find the weirdest possible angle, and I end up looking like Jabba the Hutt! xD
Thank you so much for the kind words! ❤️
Your rehearsal budget is the detail I'd put next to the travel budget before applying. I'd also keep a shorter version of the talk ready, with one demo and one takeaway, so a delayed start doesn't turn the last five minutes into a speedrun. How do you decide what to cut when a slot gets shortened?
Hey, that's a really good question! The first things I cut are always the technical details. For example, when I had more time for my WebGPU talk, I briefly explained all three types of shaders: vertex, fragment, and compute. But when I had to shorten the talk to 25 minutes, I just gave a quick, high-level explanation of what a shader actually is. 😂
The distinction between a talk and a workshop is the part that makes the preparation advice click. Starting with what one idea the audience should leave with also gives you a principled way to cut those 45 minutes down to 20. Reusing a blog post seems especially useful because reader questions have already tested where the explanation is unclear.
Exactly! And cutting things down is often the hardest part, at least for me! 😂 Thanks for reading!
Great summary! Congratulations.
I was a regular speaker at local open source conferences until 2009. Then life (and work) happened and I stopped participating.
Back to 2018, I finished a quite complex data science project and my (now former) boss told me he would send me to a bi-annual meeting for me to get in touch with cough real data scientists. I was so mad that I prepared a CfP following similar advice and when it got selected, my boss was chuffed to bits and we both attended the conference in New Orleans.
Contacts? Greatest friends ever. One of them even taught me how to play chess and is now planning to travel to Chile so that we could play OTB chess together. Payment? Who needs payment if there's the chance of flying all the way over the Hurricane Michael in a shaking airplane...? This really happened, on 9th October 2018 it was crossing in the middle between ATL and MSY. I struggled keeping my composure.
But all in all, this wasn't a bad experience at all! Not many people, and especially not many Chilean people can tell that a former NASA astronomer was in the audience. I even have pictures with him.
So... yes! I agree with what you describe here, just wanted to support it with my personal experience.
All the best,
Rodrigo.
Rodrigo, I absolutely LOVE this comment! 😂❤️
This is exactly what conference speaking is like! Financially, it makes absolutely no sense, but somehow it's still worth it because the memories stay with you for the rest of your life! One day you're flying over a hurricane in a shaking airplane, the next you've got a former NASA astronomer sitting in your audience! 😂
And I can totally relate to this! Of course, I always do my best to prepare a talk that gives the audience as much value as possible. After all, we're speaking for the people who came to listen to us!
But the talk itself lasts, what, 30 minutes? And then there are all the conversations, hanging out, meeting new people, and experiences you would never have had otherwise. That's the part that makes it all worthwhile!
Although I have to admit, I still can't really play chess. I mean, I know the rules, I know how the pieces move, but I'm pretty sure any reasonably clever five-year-old could destroy me. 😂
Thank you so much for sharing this story!
Chess is hard. I totally love learning openings (the first 5-7 moves in a game), tactics (small wins that might give you some satisfaction during a game) and stuff, but after you get past certain level, studying becomes way more theoretical and it becomes harder to get rewards.
With that said, most of the things you said about becoming a conference speaker also apply to becoming a competitive chess player (I'm not saying titled player, as I'm just a random guy who travels to play in chess tournaments): not even professional grandmasters make enough money, so it doesn't make sense financially unless you are very good at chess and can win tournaments. But meeting other people, the experiences, and even visiting cities you otherwise wouldn't have a motivation for visiting, brings the same joy.
No, I definitely don't want to become a speaker, but I admire the courage and enthusiasm of people who do!
Hahaha, but why not? It's such a great deal! You spend weeks preparing, and then you get a beautiful T-shirt! 😂
Well that proves you have to be REALLY motivated (or a bit crazy? lol) to do this ... more power to you!
Oh, don't even get me started! 😂 I'm two days away from my next talk (my third since September!), and I've already reached that familiar stage where I'm annoyed with the entire world and telling myself I really need to reconsider this whole public speaking thing and whether it's even worth it. 🤣 But I bet that by Thursday evening, when I'm back home, I'll already be submitting new CFPs! 😂
I think once you get the hang of it, and you get a positive response from the audience - I can imagine it then gets addictive ... I mean, for sure you're having fun doing it, otherwise what's the point? :-)
It's the first time to me to read an article in this app, it is the first time any
way not just in this app
I was interested because I always like school broadcast , I thought that it is the same but it does seem the same now
But I will try this when I grow up
Oh, look what I just found! 😁 My talk recording is now up on the JS Poland YouTube channel! In case you're curious what one of my conference talks actually looks like, here it is:
If I were in Poland, I might have been able to watch your conference, but unfortunately, I can’t! :(
There's still hope! 😄 I'll be speaking in Munich next week, for example, and then most likely in Berlin! 😊
Good luck!
need it! great article, Sylwia.
Thanks a lot, Ben 😍
no problem!
I like how honest this is. People talk about the fun part, but the preparation and stress are real too in my experience
Oh yes! The fun part is great, but unfortunately, there's a lot of hard work behind it! 😅
Simplicity and heartfelt!!!
Thanks 😍😍
Thank you for sharing this insightful essay here with us!
Thanks :)
Loved it! Thank you so much for sharing this!
Thanks a lot ☺️
Loved how honest this is. Most posts sell the stage photos, not the rejected abstracts, upfront flight costs, and panic an hour before. The part about even keynote speakers asking how many people came to your talk was so comforting. Turns out everyone is secretly nervous. Can’t wait to see more of your talks!
The distinction between a strong abstract and a slot that fits the program is helpful for setting expectations. A practical addition could be a personal proposal ledger with topic, audience, CFP outcome, and preparation cost; over time it turns rejection from a verdict into feedback about fit and effort allocation.
This reads like half career advice and half horror story, and I'd happily buy a ticket to both halves :D
Actually i Want to be a Tech Expert First Then I'll Be Learning How To Be Tech Conference Speaker 😂 😂 I'm Just Kidding Thank You So Much For this Article.
Hello
Great writeup. I gave one talk last year and the biggest lesson was rehearsing the first 90 seconds until it was muscle memory — everything after that is easier.