My presentation at WordCamp Finland 2023
From time to time, I’ve pushed myself to step out of my comfort zone and engage in public speaking, despite my usual apprehension. Recently, I received a sudden invitation to speak at WordCamp Finland, and despite the short notice, I accepted the challenge, knowing it would be the largest audience I’ve ever faced.
The setup
I was asked back in 2022 to give a speech at a WordPress Helsinki meetup, and I took on the challenge in the spring of 2023 with my talk about ‘The Transition from Agency to Product Development.’ The talk went somewhat okay, but I noticed that I was quite nervous and hadn’t had enough time to prepare for my talk. The audience at that meetup was around 30 people, so it was thankfully quite laidback, and there was no time pressure. I knew that a WordCamp Finland was coming later in 2023, but I thought about skipping it since I knew I could spend my time more wisely. However, I informed the organizers of WordCamp Finland that I could be a backup speaker.
Que to one week before WordCamp Finland, I receive several Slack messages pinging me and asking if I can come and give a speech. I thought about it for a while, made some arrangements at work, and finally accepted the speaker position.
Preparation
Initially, my plan was to deliver the same speech I had presented earlier at WordPress Helsinki. However, I couldn’t ignore the fact that my previous talk hadn’t gone as smoothly as I’d hoped. That’s when I made the decision to switch my topic to “What to Consider When Publishing a Plugin.” This new focus allowed me to delve deeper into the technical aspects and provide a more comprehensive perspective.
04:45 wake up
As WordCamp was held in Tampere, I had to wake up early to make it to my talk at 09:20. I had prepared everything the night before and left on schedule. However, I should have spent more time checking the metro schedule, as Google Maps indicated I would make it to the train on time as long as the metro wasn’t delayed, which, of course, it was. I missed my train, but fortunately, I had planned to arrive in Tampere around 08:00 for breakfast and had a backup plan with the next train that would still get me there in time for my presentation. This did stress me a bit, but once I found my seat on the train, I began to feel more relaxed.
During the entire train ride, I dedicated my time to rehearsing my talk, thinking about what to say and in what order, and when to incorporate jokes and puns. I finally arrived in Tampere just 20 minutes before my talk and managed to make it to the venue on time.
The talk
I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout for my talk; there were so many attendees that some had to sit on the stairs because there were no free seats left. At the beginning of the talk, I felt quite nervous. However, thanks to my rehearsal on the train, after about four slides, I began to feel more relaxed, allowing me to slow down my presentation pace and avoid feeling rushed.
As I progressed through many slides and sprinkled in some jokes, I reached the conclusion of my talk and noticed the sign that read “2 minutes,” indicating how much time I had left. Fortunately, I was already at the end of my speech by that point, so I didn’t need to skip anything. Following the presentation, there was a brief Q&A session before I exited the stage.
After my presentation, several people approached me to discuss their experiences with plugin development, and we exchanged thoughts.
The remainder of the day was spent socializing, attending other people’s talks, and having a great time.
Photo by Gennady Kurushin
Watch the talk (when it comes out)
I was supposed to have the talk available here, but the WordCamp organizers haven’t released the videos yet, despite the event taking place some time ago.
However, the recording will be uploaded to wordpress.tv, and when it is, I will also embed it here. So, if you are interested in seeing my talk, be sure to check back at a later time.