<\/p>\n
Why we avoid public speaking and why we should do it anyway<\/h2>\n
A couple of people at the workshop said they enjoy public speaking. But most\u00a0didn’t.<\/p>\n
Some reasons attendees gave for\u00a0avoiding public speaking:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Worrying about being wrong<\/li>\n
- It\u2019s easier not to speak<\/li>\n
- Because of a bad experience<\/li>\n
- Being ignored in the past<\/li>\n
- The Q and A bit at the end is tricky<\/li>\n
- Difficulty coming up with a new idea<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
There are all sorts of reasons that put us off speaking in public.<\/p>\n
But there are so many more important<\/em> reasons to just go for it:<\/p>\n
- \n
- It makes you look good<\/li>\n
- It helps you progress your career<\/li>\n
- It\u2019s fun<\/li>\n
- It\u2019s great for networking<\/li>\n
- It\u2019s a chance to give something back to the WordPress community<\/li>\n
- You can be a role model for others<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Coming up with an idea<\/h2>\n
Putting our fears to the back of our minds, we all came up with ideas for our own talks.<\/p>\n
The title sells your talk to your audience.<\/p>\n
And while you want to catch people\u2019s attention, it\u2019s also good to be clear what you’re going to talk about.<\/p>\n
A simple, descriptive title is often better than a too clever, cryptic one.<\/p>\n
If, like me, you’ve never spoken at WordCamp before, you probably have lots of ideas bursting to get out.<\/p>\n
Take five minutes and try it now…<\/p>\n
…<\/p>\n
…<\/p>\n
Once we’d sorted our topics, we came up with short descriptions of our talk. This description shouldn’t need to be more than 200\u00a0words.<\/p>\n
Want to try it too?<\/p>\n
Take five minutes to come up with your description now.<\/p>\n
If you’re struggling to describe your talk, how about asking\u00a0a question and describing how you’ll answer it.<\/p>\n
Don’t give everything away though – you’ll have plenty of time for that when you present your talk.<\/p>\n
…<\/p>\n
…<\/p>\n
You don’t need to write<\/em> your speaker application for WordCamp Brighton. You can make a video or do a sketch instead. It’s up to you.<\/p>\n
Take a look here <\/a>for more information.<\/p>\n
![\"Get](\"https:\/\/2016.brighton.wordcamp.org\/files\/2016\/05\/WordUp-Brighton-Get-Speaking.jpg\")
<\/a>At WordUp in Brighton, thinking about talk topics.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Planning your talk<\/h2>\n
When it comes to preparing your actual talk, it’s a bit like coming up with a\u00a0story. It needs a beginning, a middle and an end.<\/p>\n
Everyone plans\u00a0their talk differently.<\/p>\n
You might find it easier planning\u00a0your slides first.<\/p>\n
Or, you might focus on writing your talk first.<\/p>\n
However you go about it, Tammie had some handy pointers:<\/p>\n
- \n
- It\u2019s a good idea to have a theme for your slides \u2013\u00a0in terms of colours and fonts.<\/li>\n
- Don\u2019t write out everything you\u2019re going to say on the slides. Think of them like a backdrop.<\/li>\n
- Check your font sizes are big enough for people sitting at the back.<\/li>\n
- Check copyright rules for any images you use and include sources. You could even draw your own doodles using an app like Paper<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 see my attempt below.<\/li>\n
- Think about accessibility, including checking your\u00a0font choice and colour contrast.<\/li>\n
- It\u2019s useful to include links to your resources at the end of your talk. That way your\u00a0audience can sit back and relax during your talk.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"Brighton](\"https:\/\/2016.brighton.wordcamp.org\/files\/2016\/05\/Brighton-beach-sketch-225x300.png\")
<\/a>My attempt at drawing Brighton beach with Paper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n There are lots of talks from past WordCamps over on WordCampTV<\/a>. Check it out for inspiration.<\/p>\n
Overcoming fear<\/h2>\n
As the time to get up on stage and give your\u00a0talk gets nearer, how do you\u00a0overcome\u00a0nerves?<\/p>\n
The more you\u2019ve rehearsed your talk, the easier it\u2019ll be.<\/p>\n
Make sure you\u2019ve slept well the night before you’re due to give your talk.<\/p>\n
On the day you give your talk,\u00a0wear clothes you feel comfortable in and stay hydrated.<\/p>\n
As\u00a0you\u2019re getting ready to go on stage: relax and breathe. You could try the 4:7:8 pattern of breathing. Breathe in for a count of 4, hold for 7 and breathe out for 8.<\/p>\n
And think how amazing you\u2019ll feel once your talk is\u00a0done.<\/p>\n
Want even more tips? Check out these useful Get Speaking resources<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Want to be\u00a0even more relaxed?<\/h2>\n
The day before WordCamp Brighton 2016, we\u2019re organising a special opportunity for all the speakers to get together.<\/p>\n
We’re keeping the details quiet at the moment. All I can say is: it\u2019s going to be really fun.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re planning something that will give you a chance to meet and bond with other speakers.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll also have plenty of opportunity to check out the stage where you\u2019ll be speaking.<\/p>\n
It’s time to apply<\/h2>\n
There\u2019s still time to apply to speak. Applications close on 9th May 2016, so go ahead and apply\u00a0today.<\/p>\n
We\u00a0can\u2019t wait to hear what you have to say and give you a high five after\u00a0your talk.<\/p>\n
And if you want\u00a0any help or advice, now or in the lead up to WordCamp, contact us here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Apply to speak at WordCamp<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Statistically, you\u2019re probably a bit scared of applying to speak at WordCamp. According to my quick Google research, around 75% of people suffer from a fear of public speaking. I am one of the 75%. So when Tammie Lister said she was doing a \u2018Get Speaking\u2019 workshop at WordUp Brighton, I decided I\u2019d go along … Continue reading “Dive into public speaking at WordCamp Brighton”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14832409,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11156],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advice"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brighton.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brighton.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brighton.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brighton.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14832409"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brighton.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/brighton.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2548,"href":"https:\/\/brighton.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596\/revisions\/2548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brighton.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brighton.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brighton.wordcamp.org\/2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}