"If you were to deliver a talk in a conference for Ruby engineers, what would the topic be?" That question from my supervisor framed my entire experience at PyCon MY. My decision to submit a talk likely raised a few eyebrows, as my former colleague even asked point-blank why I would make such a decision as an introvert. In some ways, I realized the ability to effectively communicate ideas is part of the professional socialization process, and this was my test.
The challenge was immediate: Preparation for the talk only started one week before the actual event. Given the tight timeframe due to endless delays, I leveraged modern tools to get organized. I started by getting NotebookLM to generate an overview based on my source material, and then turned to Gemini to start drafting the actual presentation script. This assistance was a luxury my younger self couldn’t have imagined.
Despite the preparation, my carefully crafted plan failed on stage. Juggling three devices at a time proved impossible, and I ended up forgetting the script and just autopiloting through the presentation. While I didn’t keep track, I likely missed out on a rough guesstimate of 40% of the content. The moment of crisis on stage felt like a massive failure.
However, the reflection that followed was the true reward. I realized that the choice of topic is a major consideration, but the willingness to put oneself out there matters more. Speaking in a conference calls back to the problem I had when I started writing about AsyncIO—the constant need for shared knowledge on the topic. Read the full story of the ordeal, the tools I used, and the surprising lesson I learned about professional growth.
https://kitfucoda.medium.com/from-blog-post-to-pycon-my-one-week-crash-course-in-public-speaking-ab4987b75702
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