Stepping onto the Stage: How I Prepared for My First In-Person Conference Session

Lessons from my experience while prepping for the Community Rebellion Conference

At the start of the year, I wrote down some goals that I wanted to achieve, including creating more speaking opportunities for myself. Now in my third year of community building, I feel more confident with sharing my knowledge and experiences. I also just wanted to continue pushing myself outside of my comfort zone.

In February I remember getting a message from Klara, the co-founder of Talkbase about a community conference that they were putting together called the Community Rebellion Conference. This was the first of its kind in Europe. While giving me background on the conference, she then asked if I would like to speak at it and I remember thinking to myself that I was dreaming.

An immediate rush of emotions came over me, especially my inner imposter syndrome voice telling me that I should say no and that I am not qualified. But, I am glad that I ignored that voice and said yes!

Now reflecting back on my presentation and preparing for it, here is a little bit of how my process went. But before I begin, I can’t thank Klara, Tiffany, and the whole Talkbase team enough for giving me an opportunity like this. Y’all really made such an impact in my life, forever grateful!

Celebrating myself

Upon receiving the news, I really wanted to tell everyone I knew, but to be honest I kept it to myself for a bit of time because I was scared it wasn’t going to happen for whatever reason.

But after a few weeks have gone by and they started to make speaker announcements publically, I felt like it was time to tell all of my friends and family about this opportunity. And for me to fully accept that this is happening :)

For my first in-person conference presentation, I get to go out to Europe. This is a BIG deal and I needed to remind myself of that.

Practice, practice, practice

After some deserved celebrations, I knew that I wanted as much prep time as possible to practice before the conference. Fortunately, I had a lot of support from my friends who let me practice presenting in front of them and gave feedback.

My boss at SuperHi (shout out to Rik) encouraged me to run through a practice presentation with him and even helped me re-organize my slides in a more efficient manner. Also, he checked in with me every week or so to see if I needed support or help.

Leading up to the talk, I dedicated 30 minutes daily to my presentation. I also had to remember that even though I wanted to practice a lot, there were going to be moments for improvisation too and I wanted to leave space for that.

Be okay with making mistakes

One of the things that stressed me out of the most was making a mistake while I was presenting and having the audience catch it.

Mistakes happen, they’re natural. I decided to give myself some grace and if something did happen, I wasn’t going to let it derail my presentation.

In the end, the audience isn’t going to remember any of the “mistakes” that were made and you are the only one who knows your story. You’re up there for a reason, so own it!

Listen to those who have done it before

I do have to give a lot of credit to the speakers at the conference for really helping me out with overcoming my fears. Special shout out to Ilker and Peter who took time out of their day to help me with getting comfortable on stage and tips on how to address the audience.

Also to Richard, Jenny, and Caroline who kept reassuring me that I got this and that things are going to go well.

I am so grateful for these moments.

The talk

In a weird way, I felt more excited than nervous to go upstage during my presentation. I still was nervous as hell, but I also was starting to believe in myself more that I knew what I was talking about and it was just time to do the damn thing.

My presentation was 20 minutes but it felt like I was up there for only a few. Before I knew it, I was done and heading back downstage to chug water, and coffee, and take a deep breath.

I did it and felt so good.

One down, many more to go

What a feeling after delivering your first talk! It was a mix of relief, joy, fulfillment, and even a touch of sadness that it was over.

As I write and reflect back on this experience, I’m so happy that I have met some of the most incredible people from all over the world and made friends that I know will last forever. Seeing so many community builders in one room was so inspiring and further solidified that I am grateful for being in this industry.

All I know is, I definitely will keep putting myself up for opportunities to get on the stage again. We all have unique perspectives to share and I encourage us all to tell our stories. There is beauty in pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone.