I often wondered why musicians and
artists travel all over the world to showcase their work. While money appears
to lure them, it’s hard to believe that these people live between suitcases
only for money. There is something else that drives them beyond money. What is
it?
Immortality
Many humans want to remain immortal
through their work. They want to leave their footprints before they move on
from this world to another. They want to feel useful and needed to mankind (or womankind J). They want
to be known for their work long after they are gone.
Passionate
Humans believe in something bigger than their own self
Conferring
In 2009, I went to a testing conference
in Bangalore. The conference was driven by tools, technologies and processes.
No one really seemed to worry about skills and values. After attending few sessions,
I thought I could do better as a speaker. I brimmed with over-confidence.
In subsequent years, I submitted
abstracts to many conferences where the jury asked me to take part in regional
rounds, requested me to send detailed slide decks and even answer questions on
email. My abstracts got rejected several times. Conference chairs hardly saw
meat in my sessions during regional rounds. My storytelling ability was too
weak.
At times, I was apprehensive of the
jury partly because they valued topics like ‘Global Trends in Testing’ or ‘Future
Trends in Testing’ more than ‘Emerging Need for Test Leadership’ or ‘Test
Strategy for Web Apps’. I also thought that conferences were driven by “what
the audience paid for” rather than what could help create a better world. There
is a proverb in Hindi, ‘Nach Na Jaane, Aangan Tedi’ – meaning there used to be
a dancer who blamed that the floor is not good and hence his dancing was bad. I
was in that dancer’s state of mind, perhaps.
In 2013, I told myself that I will build
on my speaking skill. It was one of the important goals for this year. I actively
applied to conferences as a speaker. I started to practice writing abstracts
and/or proposals seriously. I spent time learning how to make impressive slide
decks (long way to go). I even sent abstracts to many conferences outside India.
My testing heroes/sheroes Pradeep Soundararajan, Lisa Crispin, Carsten Fielberg
and Maria Kedemo helped a great deal this year by reviewing my abstracts and
provided detailed inputs. I appreciate their patience and support. It’s
heartwarming to have colleagues who are so helpful. I got rejected again and
again and again and again this year. As I write this post, an email arrived
rejecting two more proposalsL. It’s
painful to get rejected even after putting so much effort. And then, I was reminded of this proverb:
Expecting the world to treat you
fairly because you’re a good person is like expecting a bull not to attack you
because you’re a vegetarian ~ Dennis Whole
Invited
Speaker
I recently presented at Chennai on
‘Testing Mobile Apps using Heuristic Test Model COP FLUNG GUN’. It made me very
happy. This was my First speaking invitation ever (without the hassles of
abstract, regional rounds or selection process). I believe this invite came
only because the program chair of this conference had seen me present during one
of the regional rounds for a testing conference in Bangalore. Of course, my
paper for Bangalore conference was rejected for political reasons [Quoting
Jerry Weinberg, “All decisions are emotional and political”]. However, the same
team invited me to present at their Chennai conference. I rehearsed well. My
talk went really well. I pulled my phone out and made my talk highly
interactive. Heads and Directors of many testing companies were glued to their
seats. I received great feedback for my talk afterwards.
Catch-22
Here is what I think. Many program
chairs must have heard you speak somewhere or received great feedback about
your talk or interacted with you (and believe you have great ideas) in order to
offer speaking engagements. People like me need speaking engagements to be able
to speak so I can become a better speaker with each attempt. It’s a Catch 22
situation.
The
Spirit of Fighting Back
I believe I have great stories to
tell. I have my fair share of experiences which I have learned and can help
others. I see a large number of testers in Academy at Moolya benefit from what
I coach on while I learn along with them. I am confident I can do better in
speaking. I continue to practice. I observe other good speakers speak. I listen
to YouTube videos. Hey, I plan to attend a storytelling workshop too!
Pradeep recently sent me a link to
UXIndia which I registered. He nudged me to apply and I did, without any help
from anyone – all on my own. I got selected for a 10 minute Rapid Fire Talk. I
had a blast presenting at UX India 2013. This experience has boosted my
confidence by many levels. Thanks to Pradeep for the nudge!
Presenting at UX India 2013 to an audience of UI/UX designers |
The best way to deal with it is to
get better at what is under our control and let of what is not under our
control.
By the way, it’s not been all that
bad. Here are my speaking engagements so far. Two talks this year is decent
progress.
- Test Estimation – BLRTMM, Bangalore, April 2010 [Invited]
- Myths of Test Estimation – Aditi Technologies, Bangalore, November 2010
- Heuristics of Usability – BugDebug, Chennai, March 2012
- Testing Mobile Apps, WCNGT, Chennai, August 2013 [Invited]
- Heuristics for User Experience (Rapid Fire Talk) – A Testers Perspective – UXIndia, Bangalore, October 2013
- Lunch Talk – A Retail Company, Bangalore, 2014 [Invited]
- Ecommerce Testing – A services company, Bangalore, 2014 [Invited]
- Heuristics for User Experience, India Testing Week 2013, Bangalore, December 2013
- Testing, Learning and Inspiration - SAP Labs, Bangalore, December 2013 [Invited]
Someday, you’ll
hear me speak at TED!
I bet!
Regards,
Parimala Hariprasad
Addendum on 16th Jan 2014
Hey! I am already invited for 4 conferences this year, 3 in India and 1 in US. The seeds I sowed last year seem to be sprouting already ;).
Hey! I am already invited for 4 conferences this year, 3 in India and 1 in US. The seeds I sowed last year seem to be sprouting already ;).
Great to read, these experience notes from you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing,
Srinivas Kadiyala
@srinivasskc
Good one ..I have also the same problem. But i have joined toastmasters which is really very helpful.
ReplyDeleteYou have a great Blog right here Mate. Adore your articles or blog posts quite informative, Please hold up the great work.
ReplyDeleteNidhi Infotech
Great blog and interesting post. Congrats on your increasing success as a speaker!
ReplyDelete