10 years of Speaking + Conferences

In this episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott talk about their experiences speaking at conferences, why they’ve done it, how they prepare talks, and tips for anyone interested in wanting to give talks. Linode - Sponsor Whether you’re working on a personal project or managing enterprise infrastructure, you deserve simple, affordable, and accessible cloud computing solutions that allow you to take your project to the next level. Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and easier. Get started on Linode today with a $100 in free credit for listeners of Syntax. You can find all the details at linode.com/syntax. Linode has 11 global data centers and provides 24/7/365 human support with no tiers or hand-offs regardless of your plan size. In addition to shared and dedicated compute instances, you can use your $100 in credit on S3-compatible object storage, Managed Kubernetes, and more. Visit linode.com/syntax and click on the “Create Free Account” button to get started. Sentry - Sponsor If you want to know what’s happening with your code, track errors and monitor performance with Sentry. Sentry’s Application Monitoring platform helps developers see performance issues, fix errors faster, and optimize their code health. Cut your time on error resolution from hours to minutes. It works with any language and integrates with dozens of other services. Syntax listeners new to Sentry can get two months for free by visiting Sentry.io and using the coupon code TASTYTREAT during sign up. Freshbooks - Sponsor Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax Show Notes 00:02 Welcome 01:38 Stanley Cup update 03:13 Legoland update 04:09 Topic introduction Nicole Sullivan Tweet looking for questions 05:03 Why speak at conferences? 08:56 Travelling for free 09:50 Getting paid to speak at conferences 12:23 Doing in person workshops 14:55 How do you get into speaking? 19:25 Meetups 20:30 Sponsor: Linode 21:15 What should you speak about? 26:27 Something you did a deep dive on 29:21 Sponsor: Freshbooks 30:04 Flight protection and travel insurance 32:59 Idea: update to a library 33:28 How to get conferences to invite you to speak? 36:03 How do you prepare for a talk? 42:40 How to find conferences looking for speakers 44:09 How to create a topic that will get picked 46:59 Sponsor: Sentry 48:06 Software for your slides Slides.js Slides.com MDX Deck Notion Figma Google Slides Lydia Hallie Keynote 56:28 ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× Scott: Risk for iOS Wes: Barrina LED T5 Integrated Single Fixture Shameless Plugs Scott: LevelUp Tutorials Wes: Wes Bos Tutorials Tweet us your tasty treats Scott’s Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes’ Instagram Wes’ Twitter Wes’ Facebook Scott’s Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets