Speaking at AI Events

I had never spoken at events before. I was always someone who attended and observed. I would watch people closely and try to understand how experienced speakers presented themselves at conferences. Even when I did not fully understand everything being said, I focused on grasping the meaning and studying how they spoke.

At some point, I asked myself, why not give it a shot? I used to feel scared. What if I forgot my words? What if people did not appreciate it? What if I was unable to answer questions? I realized I was worrying about things that had not even happened. Instead of staying present, I was overthinking the future. Being present and giving your best in the moment is what truly matters. The rest will follow.

So I decided to start trying. I began taking opportunities, and the rest is history.

This was my first ever event. It was probably the first time I went on stage as a host after middle school. I had traveled to Lonavala, Pune for an office off-site. I got the opportunity to volunteer as a host for the Secret Santa event later that evening.

I had some time to prepare. I thought about the audience, planned how I would engage them, and even came up with a small game to make things interactive.

I was quite nervous. When I saw the crowd, I just hoped everything would go well. I closed my eyes for a moment and then stepped onto the stage.

It was not perfect. I started well, but when I asked for volunteers for the game I had planned, no one came forward at first. There was a brief moment of silence, and it made me nervous. I asked again, and slowly one person came up, then another. Eventually, we had six volunteers and the activity began.

After that, we moved on to the Secret Santa segment where I distributed gifts to everyone from their Secret Santas.

It was a simple event, and not exactly the kind of talk I had imagined. But it was an important step for me. It helped me build confidence and made me realize that I could stand on stage and speak.

One evening around 8 p.m., I was having dinner when a Gmail notification popped up. It said, “Your talk has been selected. You will have to visit Microsoft, Noida.”

I felt excited and anxious at the same time. Almost immediately, fear crept in and I started giving myself excuses. Noida felt too far. I thought about skipping it. But deep down, I knew this was an opportunity I had been waiting for.

I had been applying for speaking sessions to showcase a tool my team and I were building at the company. I also wanted to talk about Core Web Vitals and how our tool was helping improve them.

Once I committed, I prepared seriously. For an entire week, I practiced every single day without fail. This time, it was not just about me. I felt a sense of responsibility toward my company as well.

The day of the talk arrived.

There were around 200 people in the room, all looking at me. It was overwhelming. For a moment, I could feel the pressure building up. Then I told myself to go all in.

I started speaking, moving through each slide with confidence. I knew my points well. I focused on explaining them as clearly as I could. Whenever I forgot something, I did not panic. I simply shortened the explanation and kept going without breaking the flow.

The talk was very well received.

To this day, I feel proud of that moment. It was my first technical talk, delivered at Git Together Delhi at Microsoft, and it marked a big step forward in my journey as a speaker.

For a few months after Git Together Delhi, I did not get a chance to speak at any events. I kept applying, but nothing came through. Still, I did not stop attending events.

One such event was The Product Folks Delhi, focused on AI product management. It featured a single speaker, and the session went on for about two hours. To be honest, I found it quite monotonous at first. I kept listening, but my mind was not fully engaged.

Things changed in the second half.

The speaker started talking about n8n and related topics. At that time, I had already been working on an AI chatbot proof of concept at my company using n8n. As I watched the demos, I realized I was already familiar with what was being shown.

In that moment, something clicked.

I told myself that I wanted to present. With every passing minute, the urge to get on stage grew stronger. I became determined to make it happen.

I immediately took out my laptop and created three quick slides. I already had my chatbot POC ready. Without overthinking, I approached the event organizer and asked for ten minutes to present. I showed them what I had prepared, and to my surprise, they agreed.

Soon, it was my turn to speak.

Since I had not prepared for weeks like my previous talk, I started with a simple opening. Then I moved to the demo of my chatbot. Unfortunately, the demo did not go as planned and failed midway.

For a moment, I felt panicked.

But instead of getting stuck, I shifted my focus. I started explaining the chatbot, its features, and the ideas behind it. I moved the audience's attention away from the broken demo and toward the story I was telling.

Gradually, people started listening more closely. I became the center of attention again.

The talk was appreciated, and I walked away with an important lesson. Demos can fail, but what truly matters is your ability to hold attention and communicate clearly.

It was completely impromptu, and far from perfect, but I am proud of it. More than anything, it showed me that I had the confidence and courage to step up and speak when the opportunity appeared.

This was a global conference in Delhi that I was not even supposed to be a part of.

I had originally applied to speak at CityJS London. To my surprise, I was selected, but not for London. Instead, I was invited to speak at CityJS Delhi. I was among the last speakers to be selected lol.

What made it even more special was that it was a paid conference. For the first time, people were actually paying to attend and listen to me speak. That thought alone felt surreal.

I prepared a talk around how AI skills can help you create better content. Along with that, I also spoke about building animated websites using tools like GSAP and Motions.dev.

The experience was incredible.

I got the chance to connect with people from companies like Adobe and AWS. These conversations were valuable and opened up new perspectives for me. I was also featured in a street-style interview during the event, which was later shared as part of a React Hyderabad session.

When it came to the talk itself, it went just as I had hoped. I felt confident on stage, and the audience was engaged throughout.

After the session, several people came up to me to ask how they could get started with JavaScript. That stood out to me. I saw a reflection of my younger self in them, someone curious and trying to find a starting point.

Overall, it was a memorable experience. The talk went well, the connections were meaningful, and I genuinely enjoyed being on that stage.

Speaking at CityJS was truly special.

This was my second time speaking at Git Together Delhi. This time, Notion was the sponsor of the event.

I had the opportunity to present on Notion MCP and custom AI agents. In my talk, I demonstrated how tools like Slack and GitHub can be integrated with Notion through MCP, and how custom AI agents can be built around these integrations.

The crowd was smaller this time. There were around 50 to 60 people, a mix of both technical and non-technical attendees. I believe I was selected because I was among the few applicants who proposed an AI-focused topic within the Notion space. Maybe it was luck, but I was grateful for the opportunity.

The atmosphere felt familiar. Even though the crowd was smaller, it felt nostalgic to be back on the same stage where I had started. It was a reminder of how far I had come.

I prepared for only three days. On the last day, I felt like I was forgetting things and doubting myself, but once I got on stage, everything flowed well. The talk was well received, and the audience engaged with the ideas I shared.

One of the highlights was receiving Notion stickers, which now proudly live on my laptop.

It was a simple but meaningful experience, and it reinforced why I enjoy speaking and sharing what I learn.