I've been a SQL blogger and videomaker for nearly a year now. Last night, for the first time, I stepped in front of a room of people to teach about SQL Server. Overall, I think it went pretty well, and I'm really jazzed.
Preparation
I started prepping TSQL sessions about a month ago, and submitted them to SQL Saturday #35 Dallas, which is scheduled for May 22 2010. I thought about what I really like to talk about, SQL wise. As it turns out, my favorite thing to talk about is code, and what people do wrong with it. So I built on my code sins blogs.
I also thought about what I talk about most at my job, SQL wise. A lot of my talking time at jobs is spent educating people (bosses, business folk, programmers and other data professionals) about database essentials, so I started putting together a TSQL Beginners Kit session.
Two or three weeks ago I decided to submit to SQL Saturday #41 Atlanta (April 24!). Not only is it exciting to have two SQL Saturdays planned, but I also have a longtime friend who lives in Georgia, and it's a great excuse to travel and see her!
Aaaaand then on Monday, Sean (who is the speaker coordinator for NTSSUG) said "our speaker fell through, so you're up on Thursday". I had my deadline jump backward from late may, to mid April, to THREE DAYS AWAY. I was quite nervous, and had to rush through polishing my presentation and slide deck (I was presenting TSQL Code Sins).
The Good
But I had a few things going for me that helped me through the nerves, and through the presentation itself:
1. I picked topics I LOVE to talk about. If we sat down together, and you asked me "What are some of the worst things people do wrong with SQL Server", it'd be hard to shut me up.
2. I have an excellent mentor. Sean only gave HIS first NTSSUG talk mid last year, but he's been a heart-and-soul teacher of one kind or another for 20 years.
3. I was on my home turf! The SQL community is pretty warm and fuzzy anyway, and the NTSSUG folk were VERY welcoming and pleasant, and they participated!
4. I've been making training videos for months now. Even though those had me in front of a camera, not a crowd, it was great practice to work out a lot of mental and verbal issues.
Another thing that helped a LOT reading up on speaking. It's a major relief to know even professional speakers face the same issues, and it's invaluable to get advice and notes on common concerns.
The Take-aways
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I had a couple of awkward spots in my presentation, but it wasn't too bad. I need some more practice, and I need to trim down my notes a bit.
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I also need to work on timing, or restructure the talk a little bit. I spoke at length in the beginning, had some good discussions midway, and had to rush through the ending.
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I'm still working on one aspect of confidence: I have to train myself further out of the idea that I'd better hurry everything up, or I'm going to bore the audience. It makes me talk too fast, and skip over things that could use some explanation.
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I need to change my screen resolution and fonts! Some of the slides and demos were hard to read, I was told.
All in all, a great time, with great lessons learned. And now, I can't WAIT for #SQLSat41 and 35…I think.
Oh yeah, and if you'd like to judge for yourself how I did, the recording of the presentation will be up early next week! Please give me feedback, but refrain from using the words "suck", "terrible", or "holy crap", unless it's "Holy crap, it sucks that I haven't been watching all your videos!", or "I'm terribly interested in seeing your next talk."
Happy days,
Jen McCown
http://www.MidnightDBA.com