I gave a keynote at OSCON this year .... and no, my talk is not the "Best Talk Ever". It was a real honour to speak, I had two weeks notice to prepare and whilst not as polished as I'd like, it was a reasonably good talk and one that I'm happy with. I covered the usual areas of evolution, management, lack of situational awareness and surge pricing for funerals in between a story of OSCON moving.
I received a number of kind comments, including one which was "When I grow up, I want to speak like Simon Wardley". OSCON is tough place to present at because there are so many good speakers - folks like Damien Conway, Robert Lefkowitz, Allison Randal, Paul Fenwick etc. They're smart, good communicators and know how to tell a story. I've spent some time on the speaking circuit. I've still to learn my craft properly but I do fine. However, before my talk I watched the earlier keynotes and was stunned by one.
Keila Banks walked in and literally stole the show. Keila is a future superstar of tech. At the age of 13 ... well, this is incredible. Inspirational, engaging, with purpose and a true story.
When I grow up I want to speak like Keila Banks! You must watch this.
When I grow up I want to speak like Keila Banks! You must watch this.
