Ever since the first time I saw Ignite I have wanted to speak at it but have been absolutely terrified to do so and through this terror have always found a reason why I couldn’t speak. I could always convince myself that I was too busy or had nothing useful to contribute. After last night, as my still pink nails strike the keys, I can’t find a reason not to. What started as a joke among friends spun way out of control and ended with me standing in front of 850 people, dressed as a woman and giving a presentation.
It all started a few years ago when one of my best friends started to talk about getting married and we joked that I would be one of her bridesmaids and that I would wear a dress. Fast forward a couple of years and my friend is getting married and actually does want me as one of her bridesmaids and even though we decided not to ruin her wedding, me dressing up in a dress would not die. Through a calamity of events it morphed from Jason in a dress to Jason in full drag (Lady Janelle) and we went out in Crested Butte and had a great time. While I was gone, Ignite Boulder 12 happened and was fresh on everyone’s mind when I got back. Because of that it was really no surprise that conversations with my friends turned to me presenting at the next Ignite Boulder as Lady Janelle. Once again what started as a joke became very serious when I got the email that I was one of the presenters for Ignite Boulder 13 with my topic So You Want To Be Fabulous.
Now there could be no excuses and the fear could only be conquered by facing this head on. I think everyone prepares their presentation in a different way but I felt that the best presentation I could create would start with writing a solid speech and then building the deck to support it. While this worked fairly well there were parts of my deck that didn’t quite line up so if I did it again I think that I might try a more parallel process. One of the other presenters,
Aimee (
@greeblemonkey), gave me probably the best advice for preparing: She told me to record my practice sessions and listen to them. Not only do you get a feel for where you have unnatural pauses but listening to it reenforces your memory of what you are going to talk about. I actually listened to my latest practice mere minutes before I had to go on but I was still very nervous.
In the end it was the audience that saved me. Hours of practice ( many, many hours ) did not prepare me for the awesome energy that the audience of Ignite is more than happy to give you. All of that energy knocked the fear right out of me and I had an amazing five minutes that I will never forget. Thank you Ignite Boulder.
