A First Foray into Public Speaking

A week ago I found myself in the upstairs bar in The Pitcher & Piano on York's riverside.  There were about 30 people there and I was there to talk for a few minutes about my experiences creating and running a web design firm in Whitby, whilst raising a family.

It was the first time I'd been asked/volunteered to do such a thing and whilst it was a bit of a learning curve, I enjoyed it and would value the opportunity to do something similar in the future!

There were a few things I really should have thought about in advance, which would've made life a bit easier on the night, so I'm noting them down, more for my benefit than others!

• You may not always be able to control slides yourself! I wasn't, and it made life a little difficult.
• Projectors have very low contrast ratios, so light text on a light background will disappear - a school-boy error, but I made it anyway.
• Speaking directly to the audience is good, but some notes can help to keep you on track and ensure you remember your killer points!

Other than that I had some good feedback and made a few new contacts from firms in York and Leeds and thoroughly enjoyed the other talks, picking up a few top tips along the way!

The next event is in August, keep an eye on www.dotyork.com for details.

A selection of my slides: