I rarely, if ever, write "philosophical" blog posts, but coming off the heels of a SharePoint Saturday event I thought this write up seemed fitting.

Some of you may know that I've made it one of my career goals to be engaged in public speaking twice per quarter. As of late I've had quite a bit of success with this endeavor. From SharePoint Saturdays, to Twin Cities Code Camps, to the Minnesota SharePoint user groups, as well as some upcoming conferences like the SharePoint Technology Conference and The Experts Conference.

I say this not in an attempt to be prideful, because I know that my speaking lineup is pretty inconsequential compared with just about anybody else in the SharePoint space that is fairly public or well known. Rather, I say this in an attempt to bring some clarity around my purposes for public speaking, and how I believe it benefits my family and my career.

I find it surprising how often I get asked if I do all this speaking because I'm gunning for an MVP award. Now to be honest, I'd be lying if I said that thought never crossed my mind, however, I really have learned not to covet that award. There is no gain at striving after an award; rather, there is gain at being on the road that sometimes for some people leads to such recognitions.

Unfortunately, I must admit that my aim for public speaking is no less selfish than striving after an award. Some people say they speak for the "good of the community", or because they just "love it". But no, I cannot say my heart is so selfless. I wish it were. In fact, if I'm to lay myself utterly bare before you, I would say that in truth I do not like speaking too much, and even know I've done quite a lot of speaking, it still leaves me quite uncomfortable and anxious each time I do it. I will most likely never get completely comfortable.

The truth is I engage myself in public speaking, rather selfishly in comparision, for the pursuit of knowledge and understanding. I have come across NO BETTER WAY to learn and enhance my technical skills than by public speaking.

What greater motivation exists to learn a new skill or technology, than the expectancy of needing to present on the topic and "be the expert"? Is staying up through the night on a Friday before a SharePoint Saturday event that's 1000 miles away from home worth my time? I say it is, because that time is spent tweaking a slide deck that a week earlier I knew absolutely nothing about. But now I do. And now that I do, I'm becoming an ever better consultant and employee for RBA, as well as provider for my family, and greatest of all, follower of my Lord Jesus to whom I render all glory and honor in all I do, for it is His working in me in the first place.

I guess the sad part is that I'm not "uber geek" enough to have that motivation "just because I love technology so much", nor apart from fear of failure, to a certain degree. But I've learned that I cannot change my disposition to suit my fancy. However, what I can influence is processes and priorities in my life that can overcome it.

My encouragement for those of you out there that wish they knew more about a certain topic or technology is to be brave, and volunteer to instruct others on that topic even if at the point of volunteering you know little about it. You'll find the ROAD of PREPERATION to be very fruitful and beneficial beyond what you thought possible, as have I. And in the end, you'll most likely know more about the subject than if you would have pursued it through some other means…

Regards,

Phil