Why you should present at a conference

I wrote recently about stepping out of your comfort zone, an article that was derived from a presentation I gave at TCUK, the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators annual conference.

You can read it here.

I didn't want to present at a conference. That was the last thing on my mind when I had one of my regular meetings with my line manager in 2013. But, I came to realise that although I'm by no means an expert in technical communications, I haven't done this job for almost ten years without learning something. And that something may not be profound, or entirely original, but it is unique. That something is my experience, seen through my eyes, felt through my being. And that makes it special.

You might be thinking along similar lines. You might think that the only way to benefit from a conference is to go along and listen to speakers and take notes and go back to your office and share those notes with others. But you're wrong; that is the least interesting way to attend a conference.

Just think of what you might learn by setting yourself up as a speaker. You'll have the chance to really focus on a subject or your experience and share that with other human beings who want nothing more than for you to succeed. We are all interested in each other. We want to learn from each other. But the only way to do that is to open ourselves up to the occasional risk; to step out of our comfort zone and open ourselves up to the possibility that we will be truly marvelous.

If you want to consider presenting at this years TCUK, be quick! Deadline for submissions is 10 April 2015.