Guys! I’m happy to announce I’ve finally gotten over my fear of public speaking!!!!

Two things that really helped me: 1) Reframing the nerves as excitement! I realized I was invited to speak because people enjoyed my work and were curious about it. The anxiety can also just be excitement about getting to share my curiosity with a room full of people. 2) Staying present. I used to spend the week before a talk worrying about how it would go and replaying past ones where I froze or messed up. Talking with @jackiehluo before my presentation, I realized I’d never actually been present while speaking. I was either rushing to get it over with or reliving bad past talks. Ultimately it’s also about getting the reps in, because a lot of this is easier said than done. But it’s possible to get over it and even enjoy speaking to a crowd :)