T-SQL Tuesday #84: Growing New Speakers Round-Up

Welcome to this month’s T-SQL Tuesday Round-Up! A few weeks ago, I sent out a call for bloggers and must say that I’m utterly blown away by the response. A whopping FORTY bloggers responded last week with contributions for Growing New Speakers!  Four – zero!  You people are all amazing!!!

I’ve decided to split the list of contributors into three groups.

• New Speakers: Those who have never presented before!
• Novice Speakers: Those who have presented just once, just a few times, or perhaps long ago in a galaxy far, far away. Generally if you’ve only spoken a handful of times, been speaking for less than a year, and/or self-identified as a new-ish speaker, you were grouped here.
• Experienced Speakers: Those who are seasoned speakers.

NEW SPEAKERS

1. Andrew Pruski-First Foray Into Presenting: @dbafromthecold
   Shares story of first presentation
2. Angela Tidwell: @angelatidwell
   Writes about things learned at PASS Summit about presenting
3. Arun Sirpal-SQL Server – Reconfigure: @blobeater1
   Explores RECONFIGURE in a technical blog for a first presentation
4. Chris Voss: @ceedubvee
   Writes about upcoming first presentations and muses how to progress further
5. Constantine Kokkinos-Exploring DBA Tools or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love PowerShell: @mobileck
   Blogs about DBATools & Powershell for first presentation
6. Deb Melkin-If I Were a Speaker…: @dgmelkin
   Explores three ideas for a first presentation
7. Devon Leann Ramirez: @restinbeachface
   Writes an introduction for first presentation
8. Jo Douglass: @jodouglass
   Writes about 1st presentation topic idea: surrogate keys as a DW/ETL anti-pattern
9. Michelle Haarhues-On the Doorsteps: @mhaarhues
   Explores Women In Technology and first presentation about women presenters
10. Robert Preseau: @robertpreseau
    Writes about overcoming mental obstacles to speaking
11. Scott Millard-Taking the next step – becoming a speaker: @leftseatsql
    Accepts the challenge to speak
12. Tywan Terrell: @tyawnterrell
    Writes about T-SQL fundamentals as first presentation topic

NOVICE SPEAKERS

1. Anthony Nocentino-Public Speaking – The First Time: @nocentino
   Shares an updated recap blog from first presentation
2. Bjoern Peters-Become a Speaker at a PASS Event or other Meetups – share your knowledge: @sql_aus_hh
   Writes about elements that make for a good presentation
3. Chris Lumnah: @lumnah
   Reflects on lessons learned after first presentation
4. Chris Sommer: @cjsommer
   Shares things to think about when writing a new presentation
5. Kenneth Fisher-Zip to Speaker: @sqlstudent144
   Recaps prior blogs about speaking & offers encouragement
6. Kevin Hill-Speaking & Presenting: @kevin3nf
   Explores DBA Basics for Non-DBAs as a “first” presentation idea
7. Matt Gordon: @sqlatspeed
   Shares two key lessons learned
8. Mike Kane: @tcp1433
   Explores target audience, topic, and format
9. Monica Rathbun-Helping New Speakers: @sqlespresso
   Writes how to get started
10. Wylie Blanchard-Use Video as a Tool to Enhance Speaking Skill and Create Content: @wylieblanchard1
    Discusses value & benefits of videotaping one’s self

EXPERIENCED SPEAKERS

1. Alexander Arvidsson: @arcticdba
   Writes about body language
2. Andy Yun-Building Your Slidedeck: @sqlbek
   Shares slidedeck building tips
3. Brent Ozar-The Three Parts of Every Presentation: @brento
   Explores types of presentations
4. Derek Hammer-Building an Hour of Content: @sqlhammer
   Shares advice in building your first hour long presentation
5. Doug Lane-Conquer Your Fear of Presenting with a Gift-Giver’s Mentality: @thedouglane
   Presents a video blog about the Gift Giver’s Mentality
6. Erin Stellato: @erinstellato
   Recaps 4 prior blogs about speaking & addresses topic of comfort
7. Jes Borland-Dealing with Failure: @grrl_geek
   Discusses how to handle failure on the fly.
8. John Deardurff-Speaking about SQL: @john_deardurff
   Shares tips about learning itself
9. Kathi Kellenberger-New Speakers: @auntkathi
   Writes about how to field questions
10. Lori Edwards-So You Want to Present: @loriedwards
    Builds on prior blog post about speaking, sharing advice learned since
11. Michael Swart-I’m Trying To Kick My “Undo Button” Habit: @mjswart
    Writes about speaking at PASS Summit for the first time
12. Mike Fal-Getting Ready for your Presentation: @mike_fal
    Shares how to prepare the day of your presentation.
13. Mike Lawell-Speak in Public? What? Me?: @sqldiver
    Shares journey about starting speaking.
14. Riley Major-No One Wants to Eat You: @rileymajor
    Shares his personal story of speaking, followed by a huge list of tips, tricks, and resources
15. Rob Farley-How I Prepare for a Presentation: @rob_farley
    Writes about deeply exploring your topic
16. Rob Sewell-Speaking? You? Go on.: @sqldbawithbeard
    Shares advice about getting into speaking
17. Steff Locke-A note to (potential) new speakers: It’s ok not to be perfect!: @stefflocke
    Reinforces that perfection is not necessary.
18. Steve Jones: @way0utwest
    Encourages readers to speak.

WHAT COMES NEXT?

As I pledged in the first blog post, I will now be reaching out to all New Speakers, to offer personalized feedback.  A number of Experienced Speakers also volunteered to help, so I will be working out those logistics.  Additionally, if any of the Novice Speakers would like the same kind of help, please contact me – I will add you to the list too!

There are numerous opportunities to present: internally to coworkers, Toastmasters, User Groups, SQL Saturdays, & Virtual Chapters.  And all of them are always looking for new speakers!  When will you speak next?