Public Speaking: An Attempt To Naturally Expand My Comfort Zone. A Series. Episode 1.
Elena Cotar
Senior CRO Developer @Orange Systems / @Community Fibre Limited | Web Development, A/B Optimisation, CRO
I feel like nowadays we quite frequently hear stuff like "Fear it, but do it anyway" or "Life begins outside of your comfort zone" and frankly, there are days I really don't agree with all that. Those are probably the "preparatory days" for something overwhelmingly amazing to happen. And so it is the story of public speaking for me.
Although for years and years I've been saying that I'm an introvert and that human interaction is a tough activity for me, I came to realize that the way I behaved/acted sometimes proved quite the opposite. (It's still true that in order to communicate and interact effectively and openly I need some time for "adjustment", but often you find yourself in situations where you don't really have the luxury of time for that.) How so? I performed public speaking not actually realising I was doing that, because of my perception of it.
In my head, public speaking meant presenting an elaborate and sophisticated information on a certain topic in front of hundreds of people, always having as mandatory attributes a real stage, lights, a mic and the speaker being an expert of the presentation matter with an experience of at least 10 years. Otherwise it simply wouldn't count as public speaking. In fact though, public speaking is the act of delivering a speech, presentation, or talk to a live audience, whether the audience is physically present or connected virtually.
My public speaking was happening during my performance evaluation sessions with the manager (cheers, Andrei Buzdugan !??). In order to not forget things (expecially the line of somewhat smaller achievements we often tend to overlook), plus for a more "dramatic" visual effect, I used to prepare PowerPoint presentations for these sessions. Text, graphics, tables, screenshots, any relevant messages and even emails - all went into my presentations, thoroughly thought through and carefully structured. For me it was just a way of feeling more comfortable in telling about my goals being achieved and the way I did it, also it was a way to reduce the level of anxiety of talking to people, so it felt natural to prepare in such a way. Besides, I thought that's how everyone did it in tech, so it seemed even more usual.
Well, turns out it wasn't such a common practice. And believe me, I've had my fair share of slightly made fun of (in a way or another) because of it or being called a show-off. Not that I'm complaining, I'm just saying this to encourage you to accept it and carry on with what you're doing, as (surprise-surprise ????) people talk, anyway. And there's all sorts of reasons behind this, not necessarily bad ones. And more often than not, it has nothing to do with you.
Looking back now, after 100+ hours of public speaking during the last ≈18 months (kind reminder: I'm still an introvert, still a developer, still relatively new to the tech field), I'd say these performance evaluation presentations were an important breakpoint towards exceptional opportunities like career growth and visibility, networking, making friends, discovering passions (like mentoring) and remarkable collaborations ( Iuliana Ste?enco ??). So far, these are some of the highlights of this period of time:
领英推荐
And there's more to come, I'm certain. Have I overcome my fear of stage, public speaking and presenting? Absolutely...
Absolutely not. And that's okay. I came to realise that I can both fear it and enjoy it at the same time and that I like to keep trying. Sometimes it's more about the process than the result itself.
Where do you stand regarding presenting in front of an audience?
#PublicSpeaking #PresentationSkills #CareerDevelopment #PersonalGrowth #ComfortZone #SelfImprovement #OvercomingFear #tech #WomenInTech
Senior Product Designer with 14 years of experience · ex Semrush · ex Tinkoff · ex Yandex | Design Mentor and Community Contributor
2 个月"100+ hours of public speaking for 18 months" That’s terrific. Do you look for places to speak yourself, or are you usually invited?
Senior Product Designer with 14 years of experience · ex Semrush · ex Tinkoff · ex Yandex | Design Mentor and Community Contributor
2 个月I totally agree with what others have said. You’re great at telling stories! I love how you use examples from real life ? It makes your writing so much fun to read. Besides, I am trying to do the same in my presentations ?? I'm looking forward to the sequel!
Delivery Manager at Orange Moldova
2 个月Elena, great article! Your storytelling is as sharp as your meeting insights – always a pleasure and never boring. If this is how you’re expanding your comfort zone, I can’t wait to see what’s next. Bravo!
Searching for Trainers & Speakers | Vector Academy | E-learning Platform
2 个月Felicit?ri ??
UI/UX Designer | Problem Solver
2 个月Had a great time reading this and remembering how we met at the FAF NGO Programmer’s Day back in 2023. When you said that was your first time as a public speaker I honestly couldn’t believe it. You were SO GOOD (and the participants also liked you). Looking forward for more career advent calendar updates ????