Lightning talks are 5-10 minutes long, on any topic of interest to other Python people. It doesn’t have to be about something that you wrote, it can be something that you learned, or a technique you think other people will be interested in.
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You know that thing at work that everyone comes to you for help with? Talk about that!
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You know that thing you just learned that helped you out? Talk about that!
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You know that thing you always wish you understood, but haven’t figured out yet? Learn it, then talk about that!
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Other ideas:
- How I contributed to open source
- My best mistake
- How I learned to do X in Python
- This One Weird Python Trick
Things people say when they think they can’t do a lightning talk:
- “Everyone already knows THING_X”
- No, they don’t.
- They think they do, but they still have more to learn.
- Even if they do, they will be interested to hear another person’s explanation.
- “I’m not an expert at anything”
- You know more than you think you do.
- You don’t have to be an expert, you just have to be interested enough to talk for 5 minutes.
- People like hearing from peers. Beginners can do a talk.
- “My topic has been done before”
- Everything has already been done, you will do it your way.
- New people haven’t heard it before.
- When Google started, people wondered why we needed another search engine.
- “It’s scary talking in front of people”
- Yes, but you will feel really accomplished when you’ve done it.
- Boston Python is super-friendly and is always welcoming of new speakers.
- Everyone is nervous speaking in public, even people you think wouldn’t be nervous.
- “I have an idea but it’s no good”
- It’s a better idea than you think.
- Send me the idea, we’ll tweak it up.
- Are there really any bad ideas for lightning talks? :)
Seriously: anyone can do a lightning talk.
If you need more encouragement, watch this lightning talk about brewing tea (hint: it’s not really about brewing tea):
