I just got back from speaking at CascadiaPHP and wanted to share some thoughts about how I approach going to conferences as a speaker and maybe you will find it helpful too.

You are playing a dual role

I have been going to conferences since 2003 and speaking at them since 2005. That is a very long time, spanning the vast majority of my professional career. Most of my energy and attention are devoted to making sure that I deliver the best talk I can at the time I give it.

I also need to show other attendees that I still have things to learn so I make sure to go to other talks.

I understand that for some folks time pressures are such that they come in, give a talk, and then immediately leave. I am not a fan of that approach and would never do it -- I would just simply decline the opportunity. But for many events they are marketed as an opportunity to get access to some of the most knowledgeable people in your programming community. So I feel you should give back by making sure to talk to other people, make some new community friends, and encourage people to continue to attend these events.

So make sure to support your other speakers by attending their talks. I know I missed some talks at CascadiaPHP because I was not handling the 3-hour time difference well and I was catching up with some old friends during other talks. I did get to some talks of things I was interested in and that is really what we are here for.

Know your material

I will admit that I often don't practice my talks because I make sure I really know the material before I present. I think I can mostly get away with this because of my presentation style -- it is kind of like walking a tightrope.

So even if you can't practice your talk a lot, if you understand the material really well then a collection of slides that act as the initial thoughts you want to go over, and then you fill in the rest yourself makes for really engaging talks.

Answer questions and ask questions

This can be hard for people who suffer from "imposter syndrome". My joke about this is that my ego is too large for me to think I am an imposter, but the truth is I am highly confident that I can figure out how to do just about anything. The key to pulling that off is to understand when you don't know something and then figure out who you can ask for help.

In the context of a conference, I try to do talks that question the way some things are, present my point of view, and then ask the audience to consider what I've told them. You don't have to agree with everything I say (talks that like that are boring) but I do actually change my mind over time and with experience. So try and get your audience thinking and wanting to ask questions.

Conversely, if you are watching someone else's talk and don't understand what is going on, ask them a question if you can. I generally ask people to save their questions for the end of my talks but feel free to go with whatever feels right for you.

A great example of this is the topic of generics in PHP. I have never used them and have not been able to figure out on my own why they might be useful to me. There was a talk about PHPStan and they mentioned generics. I didn't ask the speaker about them as I got to the end so instead I asked some of my fellow developers if they could explain to me why I should care about them. They provided me with some insights into when and where I might want to use them so next time I am building something that could benefit from Generics, I will give it a try.

If I hadn't asked, a question I probably would still be thinking they were something I would not have to worry about.

Take care of yourself

Make sure to eat.

Make sure to get proper amounts of rest.

Don't treat the conference like it's an excuse to cut loose and abuse yourself.

I don't want to say things like "be a professional" because that on it's own is really insulting. Instead, be respectful towards yourself.

Have your slides done ahead of time

There is the trope of folks doing their slides at the last minute. In almost every case I have my slides all done before I come to the event, This time I ended up needing to devote the time I would've spent on slides for one of my presentations doing stuff around my house getting it ready to be sold. I ended up finishing the slides in my hotel room during a block of talks that I did not find interesting enough to attend.

Sometimes the talk just doesn't work

This final one is tricky. Sometimes, a talk just doesn't resonate with the audience. You miscalculated how much time you had. You wanted to talk theory but the audience was expecting examples. You only prepared 30 minutes when the slot was an hour. It was the first time you gave the talk. It happens. I view them as teachable lessons about what the audience is expecting from you, which becomes even more important if you are lucky enough to have a long enough speaking career where there are expectations that you are going to be a certain way.

We can all learn from our challenges -- failing to do so is the real issue.

You made it!

If you want to an event and spoke, congratulations! Now try and make the experience for your audience and yourself just a little bit better next time.