Being a Part of the Community
Recently, I stumbled upon a post by Antonio, in which he mentioned his experiences with public speaking. This triggered some personal memories of my first public speaking experience at a local programming meetup, and the substantial impact it had on my career.
Here was my response:
I did my first public speaking gig in 2016 at a local meetup. It made a huge difference in my career. I was approached by a number of fascinating people, expanded my network, and received attractive offers. Since then, I've had a few more similar gigs, through which I have improved my communication skills, learned how to learn and teach more efficiently, and enhanced my speaking abilities, which reflect in my interactions with managers and clients, resulting in better job positions. To this day, I still feel butterflies in my stomach before a talk, and despite the mistakes I make, the feeling of fulfillment afterward always keeps me coming back for more.
However, I forgot to mention that I'm now a co-organizer of the same meetup where I held my first talk, and I'm involved in some other amazing projects such as NodeSchool.
Interested in Giving a Talk?
I would encourage everyone to visit meetup.com, search for meetups in your town, and try attending them a few times to familiarize yourself with the community. Try to connect with the organizers and ask them what they would love to hear about. Reflect on a challenging problem you've solved in the past, find a theme within it, and propose a talk to the meetup group.
Recently at our JavaScript Zagreb #49 meetup, a colleague discussed how he used Serverless, NodeJS, and AWS to write a script that helped him find an apartment in Zagreb. The audience's feedback was positive, and most attendees enjoyed the talk because it was concise and practical. Bear in mind that people have limited attention spans, so try to avoid delving too deeply into minutiae for more than 25 minutes.
Avoid presenting on topics that can be read online within 15 minutes.
Interested in Attending?
Even if you're not speaking (although you should give it a try), being part of a community feels wonderful. You'll make new friends, learn new things, enhance your empathy, and keep your ego in check. Empathy is the ability to understand and feel what another person is experiencing. There's no better way to cultivate your empathy than by surrounding yourself with diverse people and practicing empathy skills. Ego can often obstruct us and cause discomfort. Being amongst a group of knowledgeable individuals serves as a reality check, providing a benchmark for your career and knowledge base. This information can help you assess yourself, identify areas for improvement, and determine your future course of action.
Don't fear judgement based on your knowledge. Nobody knows everything. You probably have insights others lack! ;)
Introverted?
I've been there, but remember, the only way to conquer a fear is to confront it head-on. I used to avoid crowded places, preferring solitude, and never felt at ease with others, to the point where I believed I didn't like people. However, when I started working, interacting with my colleagues and clients became a necessity, and surprisingly, I began to enjoy it. My first public speaking engagement was a game-changer. Now, I can't imagine who I was before, and I love interacting with people, which I do every day. This post is also my attempt to reach out and connect with more people.