It all started back in December of 2018 when I received the green light to speak at the conference. Mind you, and I was super pumped and excited when the terror began to sink in. What topic could I possibly share for such an important event? That was the most significant and difficult question I had to answer, and it would prove to be a daunting task and adventure. As I said in my talk, let’s get this party started.
Preparing for my first talk at the UXAlive conference was a two-month exercise in realizations, revisions, and rewrites. I have to admit it was a long road traveled and one of the most challenging tasks to realize. My most important goal for 2019 was to speak at a conference. This one goal fueled my desire to jump feet-first into something wholly new to myself. I began without knowing how I should start or what initial steps I should take.
I researched and pursued knowledge from various speakers and asked each of them only one question, “What was your experience?”. I received a lot of different answers, but one common recurring theme was to “Have fun.” I thought to myself, that is their secret sauce? I had a hard time understanding the specifics of having fun, but I took a mental note and ventured on. I continued to prep for my talk and rehearsed and rehearsed time after time. My poor friends that I rehearsed with endured three straight months of repetition, rinse and repeat. This included a whole lot of rewrites for extra flavoring. Without my team, I would not have been able to do what I did on that stage. I came across an article that Sara Mei had written, and she also stressed, “Be yourself and have fun.” The more I spoke to different people, the more they all said the same thing to me, “Have fun while you are up there.”
So I wrote a “Have fun” note to myself when I was working on the talk itself. It did help, and I continued to make draft after draft. Finally, when I reached my 19th draft, I was happy. Everything was flowing nicely. It was, at last, time to stop revising and practice until I knew the content fluidly.
Someone asked me how my experience at the conference was, and I replied that it was excellent. The userspots team did a fantastic job setting up and making sure all of the speakers had everything they needed. My personal feeling of preparing for the conference is similar to when I prepare for holidays; shopping for our family and friends for that day. We wrap gifts, and they are placed under the tree or someplace, right… When the holiday finally comes, we open everything in a short amount of time. The holiday is over. We shopped for so long to find the right gift for that person, and in less than 4 minutes they open the present, and you will see their expressions. Hopefully, they will like the gift you got them. The moment goes by so fast. That is how I felt preparing for a while, and when I was on stage doing the talk and heading down the steps, the feeling was like, it’s over? What? Is there more? Sometimes when you are preparing for something for a long time and when it’s time, it goes by so fast without you realizing it.
Whatever it is worth, it is worth it. I was able to learn about myself even more and learn from other people at the conference. Everyone has a story and everyone’s time matters. No matter what background they come from, I have learned to listen more and exchange conversations more. All of the connections I have made does make a difference, and we all have to remember that. Connecting to individuals is the key to the audience and making those personal connections with each other. If you see a conference that you would like to attend, please sign up and go. Those moments will be your experiences, and they become a lifetime of great moments. What is so exciting in experiencing a moment is that we don’t do that enough. Those moments will help you build the scaffolding to the next step. I hope this moment will encourage you to do something that you always wanted to do…
My Talk
Keep a look out for Part II!
