How you felt when you got accepted to the conference?
Elated! Thrilled! But also like there had been some kind of giant mistake. I couldn’t believe people actually wanted to hear it, but so pleased they did. (I think I referred to this in the talk itself) I felt excited to be doing something new and really getting out of my comfort zone.
Also, fairly nervous, it being such a personal talk I was worried what the response would be.
How did you prepare?
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I started by mindmapping the talk I wanted to do. Then I spent an awful lot of time over the next few months finding out as much as I could about the research into Impostor Syndrome so I could incorporate this as well as my own experiences.
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I wrote the talk out as a sort of script, then tried to break it down over different slides, then started to refine this over a number of weeks.
Once I had put the talk I wanted to do together I spent time talking it through out loud, to myself. This helped me to work out what might not work. Sometimes things in your head don’t sound quite like you imagine they will when you say them out loud! My husband (and the dog) also provided me with a very attentive audience. -
Jit Gosai, a tester at the BBC, asked me if I’d like to do the talk at the regular BBC Test Craftsmanship session at their Salford offices so it was great to have the chance to present to a proper audience in the run up to Testbash, and Jit was great at providing tips on public speaking, so I owe him a big thanks for that opportunity.
Was there anything on the day you found particularly useful/calming?
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I’d asked our compere, Leigh, if it would be possible to go and stand on the stage early on in the day, to get a feel for the room. Obviously once the place was filled up with people it wouldn’t be quite the same, but I think it really helped me. Things like knowing the size and height of the stage, as well as the positioning of the screen, and my laptop, helped me feel more prepared.
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I skipped the talk immediately before mine to take some quiet time to go through my slides again, I was a bit gutted at missing Martin Hynie’s talk as I believe it was amazing but having that time for myself was really valuable.
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When I was getting ready to go on stage so many people came up to me and wished me luck and said they thought I’d do a great job, so this helped boost my confidence somewhat!
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Everyone involved in the organisation of the day couldn’t have been more helpful and supportive, even something like asking if I needed a glass of water was so helpful it felt like I didn’t need to think about anything apart from my talk.
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Just before I started my talk I tried to look round and see who was in the room, were there friendly faces I could look at? Being able to look around the audience while I was speaking and see people I recognised was a massive help.
Leigh also stood near the back so I knew I wouldn’t just be looking at the floor the whole time. -
I wore something comfortable. I’d been back and forth about what to wear, but ultimately wanted to make sure I felt like ‘me’, and not having to worry about feeling awkward in my outfit. I almost exclusively wear jeans and boots, so would have felt weird wearing something else.
How did you feel after your talk
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Proud I’d actually done it, elated(again!), happy that others seemed to find it useful.
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I was relieved, as I was on fairly late in the day so I’d had lots of time for the nerves to build up!
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I’d left my phone in my bag at the side of the stage so briefly checked Twitter on my laptop afterwards and it was wonderful to see such a positive response. Thanks to everyone who Tweeted or messaged me with feedback, as Gem said, it was pretty overwhelming.
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I also felt pretty tired if I’m honest, it had been a busy week and I was surprised how much it took out of me, but it was fantastic to be able to chat with people into the evening about their own experiences with Impostor Syndrome as well as their thoughts on the all the other talks. I felt like I was on a bit of a high for a couple of days afterwards!
Thankyou to everyone involved in the organisation of Testbash Manchester for making my first (and hopefully not last!) speaking experience such a good one. It was something I never thought I’d do, so to have achieved that felt amazing! If you have an idea for a Testbash talk but aren’t sure about submitting, I’d thoroughly recommend you do!