Bake The Cookies, Wear The Dress: Bringing Confident Authenticity to Your Tech Talk

Auditorium • November 21 • 3:55 - 4:15

Finding out that you’ve been accepted to give a talk at a technology conference is a huge deal, a cause for instant celebration. And yet why is it that as soon as we hear the good news, we start second-guessing everything from the validity of our carefully-reasoned arguments to what we should wear? Nevermind our debilitating fear that we’re not good enough to be there, that we’re imposters who’ll soon be found out onstage in front of hundreds.

Sometimes we even feel pressure and judgement from those closest to us. “Be sure you’re not too feminine; you won’t be taken seriously.” “Don’t use too many analogies from domesticity; it won’t resonate with your largely male audience.” While it may be surprising to hear this “advice”, when I was invited to give my first talk at a technology conference in February of this year, I endured versions of both. Even though I had been invited to give a talk because of my blog Coding with Knives, where I document my career transition from personal chef to Python developer, I was specifically cautioned not to appear too feminine, or to bring the cookies I wanted to bake for my audience.

Somehow, I managed to resist this advice: I baked eight dozen cookies and delivered my talk in a flouncy Betsy Johnson dress. Positioning myself with confident authenticity, I delivered a message that resonated with my audience, convinced experienced developers to start mentoring, and inspired new coders to begin or continue their journey with programming.

In this talk for ELA Conf, I’ll speak directly to anyone who is interested in speaking a tech conference, but is unsure of how to navigate the opportunity to share technical information while remaining true to herself. I’ll share several actionable suggestions with relevance for anyone on the experience spectrum.

◀ Agenda