Representing Facebook Design on Stage

Takeaways from my journey

Update: For additional tips and considerations, read my updated article: On Becoming a (Bilingual) Public Speaker.

On a Friday afternoon in Berlin, Germany, I stood in a movie theater-sized room about to speak to hundreds of people on behalf of one of the biggest tech companies in the world. As fragments of my speech swirled through my head, I reminded myself to breathe and enjoy the moment. This talk wasn’t my first foray into public speaking, but as I stood there with the thought of representing all of Facebook Design, I felt a strong sense of responsibility.

I successfully delivered my talk and soon the MOBX Mobile UX Summit came to a close. As I began the long journey back to San Francisco, I couldn’t help but reflect on my approach to public speaking. What could others learn from my experience?

The resulting takeaways can help you tackle new speaking challenges, even when the challenge is representing something bigger than yourself, like your company.

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I began taking notes on design topics I wanted to hear more about while attending talks and conferences. As I became more comfortable with the idea of giving a keynote speech, these notes became an inspiration of sorts: a…