What’s one of the most effective ways we can make a difference?

According to Poornima Vijayashanker, the founder of Femgineer.com, it’s our own ability to speak up and share our experiences – whether it’s at work or a conference of 400+ people.

As the founding engineer at Mint.com, Poornima helped build, launch, and scale the product until it was acquired by Intuit for $170 million.

After the acquisition, Poornima began speaking and sharing her experiences within the tech industry. Once people started coming up to her and sharing what an impact her talks had, Poornima realized what a powerful platform public speaking was – giving her a chance to make a difference by sharing her story while opening up professional opportunities that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.
Since then, she’s spoken somewhere between 500-1000 times to audiences of over 400 people at conferences and companies around the country, including at TEDx and Salesforce. 

In today’s episode, you’ll learn:

• What pushed her to start speaking and get out of her comfort zone
• Why she thinks EVERYONE needs to learn to speak up for themselves, especially at work
• How people with zero public speaking experience can take their first steps
• How she overcomes her own stage-fright, and how she’s helped other people overcome their own imposter syndrome and fear of public speaking
• She also goes into the proactive steps she took to be able to get in front of 400+ people at Salesforce

I hope you enjoy this conversation with Poornima. She’s super smart, has a ton of insights, and was even generous enough to offer THSB listeners a free copy of her book, Present! A Techie's Guide to Public Speaking.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• [00:02:36] How Poornima got started with public speaking
• [00:13:06] The fear of public speaking, and what people can do to get past it
  
• [00:16:31] Why people should speak, even if they aren’t sure they have anything new or unique to say
• [00:19:10] Poornima’s experience with stage fright
• [00:22:28] Steps for people who want to get started with public speaking
• [00:28:25] How you can use personal experiences to find topics to speak on
• [00:36:32] Why Poornima is involved in encouraging women and minorities to speak out
  
• [00:39:47] How Poornima got invited to speak at Salesforce
• [00:44:10] One vital step that people who want to get into public speaking can take
  
• [00:45:28] Why a people-first approach is important
• [00:48:49] The biggest impact that public speaking has had on Poornima
• [00:53:02] The importance of having a mentor or partner