How To Become A Public Speaker

The organisers behind UX Camp Brighton share some tips to encourage you to give a conference talk

- Kym Winters

Have you ever thought you could talk about UX, design or development in public? In this article, we’ll give you some reasons and tips to make this year the one where you stop talking about talking at an event and actually make it happen.

Every spring we hold a one-day ‘un-conference’ for people involved in UX, user research, interaction design and other related fields. The event is run in a bar camp style, and through the day we have about 50 presentations, workshops and discussions put on by attendees. Many of the presenters are first-time speakers. All of them survive. Speaking in public can seem daunting and scary as much as it is rewarding and fun. To encourage you to give it a go, we asked speakers at this year’s UX Camp Brighton for the tips they’d pass on.

Reasons to Present

Why would I want to stand up in front of my peers and potentially embarrass myself? We hear this a lot, so let’s start with five reasons to give it a go:

- At every event we hear from previously nervous presenters about the satisfaction and joy they get from engaging an audience with their thoughts.

- You get to explore your chosen subject – there’s nothing like talking about a topic to force yourself to think about it in more detail.

- You get to practise a new skill, and it is a vital one to help develop and accelerate your career.

- Speaking at a public event looks good on your CV – even if it may go slightly wrong on the day!

- It provides the chance to give something back to the digital community you’ve probably learned a lot from.

How to make It Happen

Now we’ve got you thinking about why you might present in public, let’s give you some tips on how to go about it.

Stop Thinking, Start Doing