Public Speaking — One down and hopefully more to go
On Tuesday 12th February I took part in my first public talk at an event targeted at Internal Recruiters based on the subject of Diversity and Inclusivity in Recruitment.
Speaking at events is something I’ve always wanted to do to push myself personally in my career. Coming up to 11 years in digital/tech recruitment, it was about time that I did this and stepped outside my comfort zone. For those of you that already know me, you know I will talk to anyone, but standing up in front of a crowd of your peers comes with a different edge to it. I’ve seen so many of my friends in Software Engineering, Business Analysis, Product Management etc. talk at many events, from local meet-ups to global conferences. It made me realise I should be pushing myself more too. As I was on the bus on my way in to town, a friend of mine tweeted me ‘ Adrenaline is almost as good as coffee…’, and I think he was right.
Another reason I wanted to do this talk is because I’m a big believer in knowledge sharing with the community, as this is something that we can all benefit from and reap the rewards long term for our region. I’ve had the pleasure of being part of the DBR community (a Slack community for internal recruiters globally) and being part of helping build the DBR meet-up presence in both Manchester and Leeds over the last 12 months along with others. This was another reason to get involved and speak at this event, and I could leverage the support and experience of those within the DBR community globally. There are loads of really lovely and passionate people who are happy to give up their free time to help. If you don’t do so already, make sure you engage with these wonderful people in this community. Without them, I probably wouldn’t have had the courage to do this first talk.
I’ve been very fortunate to work with some incredible individuals who have embraced this subject and done a lot of work in the community. I found their support invaluable in being able to discuss my presentation and receive constructive criticism on making the content in my slides better structured and more appealing to an audience. I also held back the gifs and used just the one (I’m sure you can appreciate how hard that was to do). Massive thanks to Natasha Sayce-Zelem for the support and letting me run through my talk with her.
I’d highly recommend anyone that has an interest in public speaking to give it a go. It really wasn’t that bad and my nerves evaporated within minutes as I got in to my stride. What I started to focus on afterwards was wanting to know if the content of my talk hit the mark, could I improve in my delivery and how I engage the audience. All of which I believe will come in time as I continue to put myself out there.
Being active in the internal recruitment community has seen me receive fantastic support from BJSS in pushing myself in everything I do, and this was no different. Having the Head of Delivery and MD giving the thumbs up and wanting to discuss this topic (among others) with me is fantastic and demonstrates the value they have in an internal recruitment function.
I’m glad I did this and will now shamelessly plug that I will be leading a track at #truManchester19 on the 4th April 2019 along with some other awesome people and recruiters — Check it out here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/trumanchester19-the-recruitment-unconference-tickets-50408440001
The opportunity to lead a track at #truManchester19 came from meeting other amazing internal recruiters at DBR meet-ups and I’d like to thank Martin Dangerfield again for the opportunity he has given me.
My advice to those of you thinking about speaking at a local meet-up/event - go out there, network with your peers and you will see opportunities to help you grow both personally and professionally. Grab these opportunities with both hands, and you’ll be surprised how many of your peers in industry and in your network want you to succeed.
