Kimberly Collins
I had a hard time coming up with a topic for this talk!
- I’ve given several lightning talks
- I’ve helped lots of people find topics and give their first talks
Filling 5 minutes is easier than you think
I had to cut a lot of content
Start with your first and last slides
- Your topic
- Your name
- Give context on who you are and why we’re listening to you
- Subtly mention if you're looking for work
- C#.NET software engineer
- SQL Server database consultant
- 17 years of development experience
- Part-time availability for freelance work
- What do you want people to do after your talk?
- What do they need to get to that point?
- github.com/kacollins
- linkedin.com/in/collins-kimberly
- slack.techlahoma.org @KimberlyCollins
- OKC Design + Tech
- OKC WebDevs
- Pythonistas
- SheCodesOKC
- ThunderPlains 2024
- OKC Coffee and Code
Finding a topic is the hardest part for everyone
- Participate in Slack discussions
- Ask and answer questions
- Attend local user group meetups
- Chat with other attendees
- You don't have to get into technical details
- Attendees can learn more about the topic on their own if they're interested
-
Assume the audience knows a little less than they probably do
-
It’s fine if you talk about something they already know (devs love that)
-
Other people will be giving lightning talks
-
It’s fine if yours only applies to some of the audience
- Your story - how you got into tech, your role, or your tech stack
- Anybody can do this
- Nobody can “well actually” you
- They probably need speakers. Ask them to talk through some topic ideas with you
- Tell them you're interested in being on a panel or just reading the announcements
- Volunteer to help out with meetups to get a feel for how they work
- Let’s chat about it
- Find my Calendly link
- github.com/kacollins
- linkedin.com/in/collins-kimberly
- slack.techlahoma.org @KimberlyCollins
- OKC Design + Tech
- OKC WebDevs
- Pythonistas
- SheCodesOKC
- ThunderPlains 2024
- OKC Coffee and Code
- Questions?
- Ask in Slack! #thunderplains @KimberlyCollins
- Aaron - OKC WebDevs, simpleslides.dev
- Erich - Tulsa WebDevs, #newbie-mentor-matching
- Kerry/Grant/Adrian - OKC Design + Tech
- Lance - Pythonistas
- Shanda/Hannah/Layla - SheCodesOKC
- Everyone giving lightning talks today
- Everyone signing up to give talks (You!)