AWS Workshop

About this workshop

 

In this workshop you will walk through an incredibly simple process that you can use to create a short talk from scratch in under 15 minutes. That’s right. You will go from having no idea what to speak about, to having a fully formed talk in under 15 minutes.

 

You will have a cheat sheet/template that is yours to keep and you can use over and over again to create as many talks as you like.

 

What you will learn?

 

After taking this workshop you will have a process for how to create and give a short talk from scratch.

 

Included within that you will learn:

 

How to handle imposter syndrome (“why would anyone want to listen to me?“)

What subjects you can and should speak about

How to structure a simple presentation

How to make sure people will actually be interested in your talk

How to find your style

 

What will happen?

 

This is an interactive workshop, usually with 3-6 people, all of whom will be new speakers, often struggling with imposter syndrome, nerves or subject choice. It’s an extremely supportive, friendly and fun workshop.

 

We will be walking through a simple to follow template (held on google docs). We will go through it step by step and gradually build a talk.

 

The event will last 45-60 minutes, after which you should be able to use the template to write a talk in under 15 minutes.

 

Why should you take this workshop?

 

This workshop will be suitable for you if you would like to start a speaking journey, would be interested in speaking at a conference or have been asked to give a talk at work and are not sure where to start.

 

It will be suitable for you if you don’t know where to start, or if you have a tendency to overcomplicate things.

 

It will be suitable for you if you don’t know what topic to choose, or can’t decide between lots of different topics or if you’re unsure why anyone would care what you have to say.

 

Speaking is like learning to drive. You can’t learn to drive by reading a book, you need to get behind the wheel. No matter how much you prepare, your first drive will not be your best. To learn to drive you need to spend hours driving. To learn how to speak publicly, you need to do lots of presentations. Creating lots of presentations can take time, so this workshop will show you how to create presentations very quickly, which means you can practice often and learn your craft fast.

 

This workshop is not about how to create your masterpiece, it’s about giving you the confidence to pick up a paintbrush.

 

How do I know if it’s right for me? 

 

This is an introductory framework, designed for anyone that resonates with any of the following:

 

New speakers, junior speakers and aspiring speakers

Those who are paralysed by the thought of speaking to other people

Those who are convinced they can’t talk because of imposter syndrome

Those that want to speak but can’t find the time to think about what to talk about

Those that don’t think they have anything interesting to talk about

Those that want to speak but don’t know where to start

 

Background

 

Having been involved in tech communities for the last 15 years we have watched countless new speakers start their speaking careers. We have observed as they have gone through the stages of being extremely nervous, having imposter syndrome and not really knowing where to start, to giving their first few talks, speaking at conferences, gaining confidence and going on to become world renowned, subject matter experts and becoming keynote speakers.

 

We have interviewed many of these speakers over the years about the tips and tricks they have learned, and what they wished they knew at the beginning of their speaking journeys. We have built this workshop as a way to distilled those tips into an easy to use process to get you started.

 

We have also spent the last few years organising fortnightly sessions for new speakers to get started. Having organised over 50 events for new speakers, we have encouraged hundreds of new speakers to get started. We are very experienced in the common challenges for new speakers around imposter syndrome, choosing a subject and understanding why people would want to listen to you.

 

Who runs the workshop?

 

This workshop is run by Barry Cranford. Barry is the founder of 15 tech communities including the London Java Community, the Aspiring Speakers and Aspiring Women Speakers. He is keen to help inspire a new diverse generation of speakers and through these groups and this workshop has helped launch the speaking careers of hundreds of tech speakers.

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