Writing the pitch and speaker bio for your Open-Source presentation
This is a presentation for folks who are thinking about speaking at OpenSource events, such as Drupal or WordPress Meetups and Camps. During this hands-on session, we’ll look at what has stopped you from speaking in the past — and explore how to move past your fears. We will discuss some common myths about public speaking, different talk formats, and we will focus on writing your pitch.
Each participant will come out of the presentation with a DrupalCamp, WordCamp or meetup talk proposal – and more confidence to submit it.
***You do NOT have to have any experience in public speaking. This presentation is for all levels of experience. This workshop is for you if:
- You’ve thought about speaking at Meetup or Camp but haven't written your pitch
- Or you have pitched to multiple events and haven't gotten accepted
- Or you want to get better at writing your pitches
Agenda
- Why speak at Open Source events?
- Dispelling some myths about speakers/speaking
- Writing a pitch
- Coming up with a great title
- Writing your bio
- Practice giving a short talk (time allowing)
After completing this lesson, you will:
- Have a better understanding of what makes a successful pitch
- Have the confidence to begin work on your own pitches
- Get optional public speaking practice in a small group to build confidence
- Will understand that there are different types of talk formats
Speakers
AmyJune Hineline
AmyJune Hineline is the Open Source Community Ambassador at Kanopi Studios. With a dual focus on both open-source community development and inclusivity, she is uniquely positioned to help individuals become more comfortable and confident as they contribute to their communities. She co-organize various open-source camps and conventions throughout North America, empowering individuals to forge deep community connections that benefit the whole. As a self-described non-coder, AmyJune helps communities discover how they can contribute and belong in more ways than coding.
With five years of open-source community involvement behind her, she has had the opportunity to become actively involved in both the Drupal and WordPress communities: working to lower the barrier to entry in tech though the leadership of first-time contributor workshops at the local and regional level.
Her ongoing experience as a hospice nurse keeps her in touch with the challenges faced by many end-users. In her continued efforts to make a difference, she helps organize A11yTalks, an online meetup where they invite folks on every month to talk about all things accessibility - one of the core components of building an inclusive web.
Outside of her mission in the technology community space, she has a deep love for mycology, geocaching, and air-cooled Volkswagens.
Qymana Botts
Armed with an arsenal of programming languages, about 6 or 7 musical instruments, and a comically robust knowledge of video game lore, Qymana Botts is a quirky, enthusiastic dev on a quest to contribute a verse to this powerful play. Formerly a globetrotting music teacher, she made the transition to tech in 2017. Now, she works as a Software Engineer at Nerdery in Chicago. She is also an IAAP Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC).