Tech Speaker: Everything You Wanted to Know

Gil Fink

sparXys CEO

@gilfink / www.gilfink.net

About Me

• sparXys CEO and senior consultant

• Microsoft MVP in the last 8 years

• Pro Single Page Application Development (Apress) co-author

• 4 Microsoft Official Courses (MOCs) co-author

• GDG Rishon and AngularUP co-organizer

Agenda

• My start

• How to get started?

• Tips and Tricks

• How to find conferences?

Make the Decision!

My Story

https://www.microsoft.com/israel/msdn/DevAcademy4/Default.aspx

What’s In It For Me? (WIIFM)

• Travel to many places (also in Israel ☺)

• Meet a lot of people (speakers and attendees)

• Speaker activities and special SWAG

• Adrenaline rush ☺

• And in the end…

So, you decided you want to be a speaker… What next?

Name Recognition

Name Recognition – Building a Brand

• Open a Blog

• Help in open source projects

• Write articles

• Answer questions in forums such as Stack Overflow

• Write a book

• Be active in tech social media (Facebook groups, Twitter and etc.)

• Once there are references to things you’ve done, it’s easier to persuade organizers to give you a speaker shot

Find Your Niche

• It isn’t enough to be knowledgeable

• You must dig in and be an expert to get recognition

• For example: knowing Angular doesn’t mean that you know how to create/explain how Angular Animation work

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone!

• Learn other development languages

• Learn other methodologies

• Learn other platforms

• If you know only one tool, learn about the other tools in the market• For example: Angular, React, Vue and etc.

• Another example: TFS, Subversion, Git and etc.

• Being versatile gives you credibility

Were to Gain Experience?

Preparing a Session

• Be focused

• Find your WIIFM• And build the session around it

• Be precise

• Don’t take assumptions • About the crowd

• About the organizers

• About anything

Preparing a Demo

• Short and simple

• Use coding conventions and standards

• Use prepared demos at first• After you master that, strive for live coding

Advanced Topic – Preparing a Workshop

• Like a session but runs for 6 hours

• Prepare slide decks and demos

• Prepare exercises

• Good timing • One hour session

• 30 minutes exercise

Preparing for a Session/workshop

Preparing for a Session/Workshop

• Practice, practice, practice!• Story time (Bank Hapoalim)

• Make a check list to prepare before you start a session

• Put notes in hard slides (if needed)

• Assume the worst and hope for the best

How to Find Conferences?

• The Weekly CFP

• Conferences Twitter account

• Conferences Facebook pages

• Speaker friends ☺

• Ask Nir or me ☺☺

Summary

• Being a tech speaker is very challenging• Start slow and then increase your speed

• Name recognition is the key

• Being an expert is your tool

Thank You!

Questions?