---
title: You Should Speak
osem_url: https://osem.seagl.org/conferences/seagl2015/program/proposals/20
beginning: '2015-10-23T14:00:00.000-07:00'
end: '2015-10-23T14:50:00.000-07:00'
resources:
  slides_url: https://talks.edunham.net/seagl2015/
presenters:
- name: E. Dunham
  affiliation: Mozilla
  osem_url: https://osem.seagl.org/users/45
  gravatar_id: 5e3a5b03dcbda6bfb39cb98060c43034
  biography: E. Dunham is the DevOps engineer for Mozilla research, which in practice
    means shepherding servers for the Rust language and Servo browser engine web presence,
    continuous integration, and release infrastructure. The OSU Open Source Lab alum's
    hobbies include carpentry, gardening, and filing “please license your code” issues
    on GitHub.
---

Have you ever wanted to speak at a conference, but not known whether you’re
good enough or how to start? I was in the same situation 2 years ago, but
since then I’ve given over a dozen talks at a variety of different tech
conferences. As well as testing and refining my own solutions to the
challenges that face new speakers, I’ve learned what works and doesn’t work
for others.

This talk will share solutions, often in the form of open-source tools, to
many of the problems which aspiring speakers encounter, including:

  - Overcoming fear of public speaking
  - Choosing a topic to talk about
  - Finding the right conference for your topic
  - Marketing a talk proposal with a convincing abstract
  - Finding open-source presentation software that fits your needs
  - Designing powerful slides

These tricks will be helpful for experienced presenters looking to learn new
skills, as well as novice speakers who need some help getting started.
