Advice For First Time Speakers

My First Public Talk

I remember the first time I gave a talk publicly. It was nine years ago, and I was invited to Manchester by our A/B testing provider to talk about my work. To this day, I still remember that presentation. It was called "Think Big - Start Small", and it was all about the experimentation program I was running at my company.

I spent weeks building the slides. I wrote down everything I was going to say on flashcards in excruciating detail. It never occurred to me that I already knew the content inside out and that all I was doing was making myself more nervous.

On the train journey up to Manchester the night before, I read and re-read my flashcards. With each run-through, I put more and more pressure on myself. I knew what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t memorise the sentences. (Flashback to high school when I joined the drama club, landed the lead role in a murder mystery play… and forgot most of my lines!) That night, I stayed up late, sacrificing sleep to go through my slides and notes. Looking back, it was such a stupid decision. I must have assumed I wasn’t going to get much sleep anyway.

The slides weren’t even that text-heavy—most were just images—which made me think I needed to memorise a script since they wouldn’t help much on their own. But little did I know that slides with minimal text were actually more helpful than the few slides that contained paragraphs. Again, so obvious in hindsight. Ironically, I spent more time reading my notes for slides with images because I assumed the slides with text would be easier to present.

It was a strange experience looking back. The slides with just an image or a graph were much easier to talk about. I wasn’t trying to read what was written down—the words just flowed, as if I was chatting with colleagues in the office. I knew the context and the content, and even though I couldn’t remember exactly what was on my flashcards, I spoke (mostly) confidently and without sounding like a bumbling idiot.

But when I reached the text-heavy slides? I definitely struggled. Maybe because I practised them slightly less than the others? Maybe because I was over-relying on the text? Either way, I stumbled more.

Fast-Forward to Now

Last year, nearly a decade after that first sweaty talk, I was invited to speak at another event—this time, as the keynote speaker. My slides? Whipped together the night before.

My wife, who has a deathly fear of public speaking, asked if I was nervous and whether I’d have time to practise before the event. I looked at her and said what I always say when we talk about my last-minute slides:

“No, I know the content like the back of my hand.”

Don’t get me wrong—I’m still not sleeping much the night before a presentation. But now it’s because I’m finishing my slides at the last minute, not because I’m up late obsessively reading through pages of notes.

Key Advice for First-Time Speakers

You know your content better than you think. Stop trying to memorise sentences—focus on the key ideas instead.

Less text on slides is better. Image-based slides are actually more helpful than text-heavy ones. They force you to talk naturally rather than read.

Over-preparing can make you more nervous. Rehearsing is good, but don’t convince yourself that you need to recite everything word for word.

You won’t sleep well the night before anyway. So don’t sacrifice even more of it by over-practising.

Confidence comes with time. Your first talk might feel terrifying, but every one after that gets easier. Eventually, you’ll be throwing slides together the night before like a pro, although I strongly advise against it.

If you’re preparing for your first talk, what’s your biggest worry? If you’ve already spoken publicly, what’s one piece of advice you’d give to your past self? If I had to go back, I’d still prepare, but differently. I’d spend less time memorising and more time structuring my main points. I’d practise speaking out loud rather than reading off notes. And I’d definitely get some sleep.

A decade later, I’ve spoken at a lot more events, and I know now that no one expects perfection. If you’re just starting out and want to get more speaking opportunities, platforms like Keynoat can help you get discovered—without the imposter syndrome. So sign up today and start your own public speaking journey.

Oh and here's the promo image that was shared after the event by the AB Testing vendor. They did video it, but I think it's been taken down... probably for the best.

Written by Bhavik Patel