In the previous post we wrote about our Mentor Program. With this post we kick-off a new series of posts in which you as a new speaker will get tips from our mentors. Along with their answers to why they signed up as mentors and what was their first speaking engagement. You can find all our mentors listed on the Mentor Program page.
Amey Holden
Amey Holden is located in Sydney, Australia. She’s a speaker, blogger, and ABC enthusiast, meaning she does Anything But Code, related to Power Platform and Dynamics 365. She specialises in Customer Insights – Journeys (what we used to call Dynamics 365 Marketing), alongside great expertise in model-driven apps and Power Automate. Let’s hear from Amey!
Why did you choose to become a mentor?
I think Nordic Summit is a really wholesome and welcoming event that is just the right vibe for a new speaker to dip their toe into the world of user groups and presenting. I hope to be able to help someone have the best possible experience and give them whatever support they need to succeed in their talk, and also to carry on into the future too.
Do you remember your first speaking engagement? Tell us about it!
My first ‘proper’ speaking engagement was at Australia Summit. I took on a monster task of comparing 4 marketing software products. It was a lot of research but I really enjoyed that part and learnt so much along the way. I spent a lot of time preparing and rehearsing with flash cards and all sorts which helped me feel prepared and ready.
The session was scary but also exciting to see my preparation pay off, the community was super supportive and engaged. It all felt completely ‘worth it’. I had way too much content in the end but it was great to have so much knowledge for questions, plus I used it to create blog post content afterwards.
What’s your best advise to new speakers?
The structure of the presentation is so important – start with the wow, then talk about the how.
Less slides more demos – slides should be supportive of shaping your presentation but nothing more, demos and real life stories speak volumes.
Rehearse – it’s hard to tell how long it will take to present things until you try them, practice and time it, refine it and fine tune. Always allow extra buffer time for questions, and keep an emergency slide/topic planned in case you find yourself with time to fill at the end of the session.
George Doubinski
George Doubinski is based in Sydney, Australia. He has been involved with the product since 2007 and has been serving the community with tips since the CRM days, starting in 2013, through the CRM Power Platform tip of the Day. He has engaged in so many speaking engagements that he cannot even recall his very first one.
Why did you choose to become a mentor?
I’ve been training people in our space for more than 15 years. However, I had never mentored anyone until I took on an intern earlier this year. I enjoyed the process, the interactions, and the learning opportunities it presented. I would love to continue on this journey, and mentorship seems like the next logical step.
Do you remember your first speaking engagement? Tell us about it!
I don’t recall my first speaking engagement, but I do remember my first international training session in Stockholm. We had planned for 20 people but ended up with 36 attendees, plus 5 walk-ins. To add to the stress, the WiFi died (ok, ok, it was the early 2010s, and WiFi sucked), and I was really scared of being exposed as an impostor – a feeling that, in some ways, never fully goes away.
That experience marked the beginning of a decade (minus the COVID times) filled with successful developer hands-on workshops, culminating in the BAD (Business Application Developer) Masterclass series in 2019. I can’t wait to bring it back!
What’s your best advise to new speakers?
It’s okay to have butterflies in your stomach; we all do. It means you care, and you are going to do great.
Are you a new or unexperienced speaker and want a mentor supporting you in your Nordic Summit CFS process and more? Sign up at the Mentor Program page!
Photo by James Wainscoat on Unsplash