Take that First step in Faith, rest will pave its path to your Speaking Journey!

Do you have a Dream to become a Great Speaker? Do you have that one Dream you wish to see your words changing people lives in a positive way?

You may absolutely have that strong will in your heart to succeed but something inside you might be stopping you, the self doubt.

I struggled with self doubt for a long time and I still have it within me. Trust me, I exactly know how it feels. I have that negative chattering in my mind all the time telling me its not worth it, not to try in the fear of failure.

While I was vigorously searching for a solution to this self doubt, I came across some motivation which completely changed the way I look at life.

“If you are not uncomfortable, then there will be no change in your life! Stop judging yourself and take that First step in Faith. Get ready to get uncomfortable because it takes a lot of work. As you move beyond your Comfort zone and accomplish something, that’s when you realize there is next version of yourself. That’s when you will be able to see and feel the other side of the world you thought never existed.”

This motivation really changed the way I think about life. I learned that all the limitations that exist are the ones we impose on ourselves but in actual reality, there are no limits.

Once I understood that, I seriously started searching for an opportunity that can show me the next version of myself as a Speaker. One lucky day, I saw a twitter post from Ben Weissman:

” Call for Speakers open for New Stars of Data. New Stars of Data is an event to help find and promote new speakers in the Microsoft Data Platform arena. Speakers submit their presentation ideas and are assigned to a seasoned speaker, who will mentor the newcomer in all aspects around delivering a presentation.”

New Stars of Data is organized by Ben Weissman and William Durkin, sponsored by Redgate, SOLISYON and DATAmasterminds to help promote new speakers and pave a path to their speaking Journey. Organizers, Sponsors and Mentors spend their valid time and put so much effort in organizing the event just to see other professionals grow in their career as speakers. I was so lucky to know about the New Stars of Data event at the right moment in my career. I am very thankful to Ben Weissman and William Durkin for introducing this wonderful event helping many Data professionals to kick start their career as speakers.

There is a saying “You can only see what you are looking for!” I absolutely felt amazed and happy to see this post as I was looking for a good opportunity to start my speaking career. I still had self doubt but then I remembered, I cannot move ahead in life if I don’t make a change. I had many thoughts running in my mind continuously but I decided to take that first step anyway. I went ahead and submitted a session. I waited for the speaker selection results. Luckily, I was selected. I was very happy to be part of the event.

I was assigned to a Mentor, Deborah Melkin. I am very lucky to have a wonderful person as my Mentor, Deborah. She was very patient with me during the process. She spend hours of time in helping me during my preparation process. She build confidence in me and changed my life in a very positive way. Her valuable suggestions brought life to my presentation. Without Deborah as my Mentor, this would not have been possible.

There is so much support throughout the process. Both organizers and mentors were always ready to help anytime we need them. The constant support and encouragement built immense amount of confidence in me. I was more than ready to give my first presentation on August 14th. Andy Yun moderated my session. Andy made sure I was comfortable during my entire presentation time. I am very thankful to Andy. Deborah and Ben were also with me online to support me during my presentation. With the help of all these wonderful people, I was able to successfully complete my first presentation. All credits goes to Ben, William, Deborah, Andy and all sponsors.

I never thought I would be able to speak at conferences until I had my first presentation for New Stars of Data.

Received valuable feedback from Ben, William, Deborah, Andy and Jeff Iannucci after the presentation. Attendees were very supportive as well and provided valuable feedback. Feedback from all these amazing people gave me enough confidence and boost to present at different events and conferences.

Since then, I spoke for twenty eight events in total till date which includes three SQL Saturdays across United States and other countries, Dataweekender, DBCC International, GroupBy conference, Drupaljam International Conference, Google Dev Fest Conference and several PASS User Groups across United States and other countries like Canada. I am going to speak for Women In Technology Summit 2021, SQL Saturday Bangladesh and SQL Saturday Vienna 2021, Festive Tech Calendar 2020 in near future.

All this is possible only because of New Stars of Data event. My speaking Journey all started with this wonderful event. As New Stars of Data event paved a path for me, I was able to move in the path, improve, learn, share and continue to grow as a speaker.

Ben and William helped many professionals during the New Stars of Data event. As they continue to help many others, they came up with the second New Stars of Data event.

If you have self-doubt in you, please try to put your self doubt aside for a while and take your first step in faith. Once you take your first step, you will have a chance to see the other side of the world which you never knew existed. You will be able to introduce yourself to a new version of yourself. If you have a Dream to become a public speaker, I really suggest you to apply for New Stars of Data event. It’s not just an event, its a very strong supportive system you build and the friendships you build through the process which is more valuable than anything. These friendships are for life 🙂

Trust me on this one. Go ahead and apply for New Stars of Data, you will thank me later 🙂

Call for speakers is open until December 20, 2020. Event is on March 12, 2021. Here is the sessionize link for your session submissions for New Stars of Data. You will be assigned a Mentor who will support you in every step of the process and make your first speaking session successful.

I wish you all the best and see you at the event on March 12, 2021!