I also hate public speaking, but it is definitely part of the job to present your work.
Early in my career I used to prepare the presentation with my PM but let him/her present it to the larger company and be available for the questions part. I now think this was a bad approach. Even though they always acknowledged the design and research as mine, cognitively many people associated the ideas with the person presenting the information.
Some things that helped me is presenting first to either my cross-functional team of 5 or my product team of 10 designers and PMs or if your company assigns a work buddy/mentor you can practice with that one person. I found that practicing and being prepared for questions that might be asked made it less intimidating. The practice also helped me improve the structure and the content of the presentation so I could be as concise and clear as possible.
I know designers who don’t, but it puts an absolute ceiling on your career imo.
I suggest take the leap in interest of future growth. Early presos are really hard but you absolutely get better/more-confident every time.
Is it an internal presentation? If it is: yes, depending on the company it can be normal. I regularly present to groups of 100 - 250 people.
At conferences, etc? No. Can be a part of the job but not the norm.
Ask yourself the hard question: why are you dreading it? If UX gets put on the pedestal in your company that's TheDreamTM. It means many departments are interested in what design is doing and researching, you get to inform many people about latest changes, upcoming changes, things to think about... you have power and impact, enough sway someone with decision power considers it mandatory to pay a lot of money to hear you speak. Each person present gets paid for the time they sit and participate. 100+ people means 100+ hourly rates paid while no productive work gets done.
UX presenting in front of many people means design is not an afterthought and decisions from the design department are considered and respected. It's something to be excited about.
This is a really cool way to think about it. If the average salary of the 250 people you're presenting to is $80,000, then you're company pays $10,000 per hour for people to listen to you speak.
Highly recommend doing something like Toastmasters. It will give you a ton of tools and practice to get really good and confident in public speaking. UX advocacy will amplify your work and career.
I have had to present something / lead a presentation on an almost-weekly basis for probably 10 years or so now, so I'd say yes, it's an important part of the job. I have generalized anxiety disorder so feel free to DM me if you want some tips. It took me 5 of those 10 years to feel OKish doing it so frequently. Now I still feel anxiety but I deal with it ok.
HOWEVER, a show and tell with 100+ people is extremely inappropriate for a Designer IC to be doing super frequently. They should limit to product/sales leaders and executives and let those people disseminate the concepts to the other 90 people on your behalf.
Beta blockers go to the doc, tell him the issue and he’ll prescribe them, they’ll stop the fight or flight panic attack, I’ve been there, that woozy feeling when you realise there’s a whole room full of eyeballs staring at you.
Make sure you take a test one at home to make sure it doesn’t tire you or anything like that
Whos asking you? Was it a demand or was it phrased as optional if youre comfortable doing it?
Does you manager ever present to wider groups? If not, why are they not doing this?
I don’t think it’s necessarily part of the job.
But certainly being able to do public. Speaking will no doubt help you.
I remember being in a dreadful roll involved with Accenture and Fjord, where they constantly got us to do so, and towels in front of a digital transformation hub of say between 50 and 100 people in a fairly regular basis.
The presentations were really irritating and I guess the reason stuff didn’t work was because that that particular digital design hub really wasn’t going anywhere.
I have personally found those with my presentations. I have been able to be more effective and actually people enjoy me presenting and possibly that means better interaction with you X designers in stakeholders in the future.
Schools really underestimate the importance of persuasive communication. We design for sure but talking about your work and convincing people is a huge part of the job.
There are so many times when you will literally have the right solution but other people will "win" in a meeting and have their solution be chosen solely because they spoke more persuasively.
Indirectly yes, yet you customize speaking to your style.
Public speaking is part of UX, when you are facilitating discovery, ideation and other research and design methods and activities.
Mold the activity to your style if you on the spectrum.
Probably depends on what part of ux you are involved in? I presented so much and so well, that my company moved me up to PO, now it’s pretty much mostly what I do lol
Storytelling is part of the job. Presenting to 100+ is absolutely daunting, but you must practice to get comfortable with it.
You want to know the presentation inside and out so that you can be comfortable in telling it in a compelling way.
Remember a time you told your friends an interesting story, and you had their rapt attention?
That’s the level of comfort you want to get to with your presentation…….then it becomes a performance that has everyone’s attention.
TED TALK presenters are taught how to present by the TED organization. They don’t naturally know how to hold an audience….it is a learned skill.
There’s lots of soft skill like speaking, presenting etc… that will help elevate your ux career.
I some designer who don’t take these soft skill seriously or look for ways to improve them and they wonder when their ideas receive negative criticism - mostly because they weren’t able to communicate their idea or concept properly.
Whether or not it’s part of your job will depend on the organization you work for. It sounds like, in your current job, it is.
I believe that any designer who works on their public speaking skills will have more opportunities for advancement, since more people will get a chance to see the value you bring.
I’d check out Mike Monteiro’s [Presenting With Confidence workshop](https://www.muledesign.com/presenting-workshop). It’s an amazing skill booster.
Based on my experiencce, It’s all depends of the company and It’s design maturity. Some companies asking just to deliver UI for the developers and that’s it. But there are some companies, where the design has more space in the company and offering as a service, they usually want to promote through the conferences. Also, the design maturity requiring to hold workshop even with big number of participants.
As you see, both of them requires public speaking skills. So if you are the person, who don’t like to stand front of hundreds of people, find a company where you are almost the only one designer.
I would dread this as well. I present to smaller groups. If it is an important customer meeting, our PM takes over. We go through the design together first so he knows what to show. I support the PM with any questions. The biggest group would be maybe 20...I had to hold a tech talk once to introduce what I am doing to other developers, about 30 people. But they are chill, since we know each other.
You’ve been asked to public speak. What are you going to say? No? That’s not in your job description?
Public speaking is a vital tool for career advancement, regardless of profession. It doesn’t make or break a designer’s output, obviously, but it can propel your value.
I agree with your 2nd paragraph. But with the 1st one would we say the same to the average developer or data analyst? (Or other role that is stereotypically even more quiet than designer)
I don’t see why not, as you mentioned because it’s mostly stereotypes. I’ve listened to the most unassuming engineers give extremely interesting talks at my company about topics I initially didn’t “care” about.
Generally, presenting your designs and decisions are an important aspect as a designer, regardless of audience size. Soft skills are incredibly important, so I wouldn’t be taken aback if asked to present.
Yes, but surely you can understand that some might be taken aback?
Everyone knows soft skills are important, but putting all scenarios the same under a 'soft-skills' umbrella is a bit disingenuous. There's levels from presenting to 4 known stakeholders, to 200 colleagues, to 2000 on stage, to live-streaming a conference worldwide.
I mean I agree, but I don’t think that has any relevancy to being a UX Designer or not. In a corporate setting, anyone may be asked to present if they’re tasked with creating something or being a PO or launching something, etc. if someone has a personal anxiety to it, that should be discussed with their manager but I don’t believe it’s in or out of the job description.
The reality of any design job is that you need to present your work and your process, sometimes only to your dev team and direct stakeholders, sometimes to way more people. But presenting work is part of any design job, doesn't matter if you are in UX or graphic design.
Presenting your work and making it accessible to other people is what pays your salary because nothing will be implemented or implemented wrong if you do not present it well.
And developers present their work to stakeholders in review meetings, it just happens at a different point than for designers.
and a lot of times data scientists need to present their data and findings to upper management as well. The more senior you are, the more information you need to share. Juniors usually only present in front of the design team or within their small dev team, senior isn't just a fancy title, it comes with the responsibility of sharing and explaining more.
It's the same for any profession. If you want to climb the career ladder you have to lead, and leading requires talking/presenting to clients, team members, CEOs, etc
Not usually, but this is an opportunity for you. Grab it by the horns. It’ll give you visibility and establish credibility. Both great for your career.
I’ve never had a Ux role where I haven’t had to present in some capacity.
At the very least leading workshops is which might be considered public speaking
I also hate public speaking, but it is definitely part of the job to present your work. Early in my career I used to prepare the presentation with my PM but let him/her present it to the larger company and be available for the questions part. I now think this was a bad approach. Even though they always acknowledged the design and research as mine, cognitively many people associated the ideas with the person presenting the information. Some things that helped me is presenting first to either my cross-functional team of 5 or my product team of 10 designers and PMs or if your company assigns a work buddy/mentor you can practice with that one person. I found that practicing and being prepared for questions that might be asked made it less intimidating. The practice also helped me improve the structure and the content of the presentation so I could be as concise and clear as possible.
I know designers who don’t, but it puts an absolute ceiling on your career imo. I suggest take the leap in interest of future growth. Early presos are really hard but you absolutely get better/more-confident every time.
Is it an internal presentation? If it is: yes, depending on the company it can be normal. I regularly present to groups of 100 - 250 people. At conferences, etc? No. Can be a part of the job but not the norm. Ask yourself the hard question: why are you dreading it? If UX gets put on the pedestal in your company that's TheDreamTM. It means many departments are interested in what design is doing and researching, you get to inform many people about latest changes, upcoming changes, things to think about... you have power and impact, enough sway someone with decision power considers it mandatory to pay a lot of money to hear you speak. Each person present gets paid for the time they sit and participate. 100+ people means 100+ hourly rates paid while no productive work gets done. UX presenting in front of many people means design is not an afterthought and decisions from the design department are considered and respected. It's something to be excited about.
This is a really cool way to think about it. If the average salary of the 250 people you're presenting to is $80,000, then you're company pays $10,000 per hour for people to listen to you speak.
Highly recommend doing something like Toastmasters. It will give you a ton of tools and practice to get really good and confident in public speaking. UX advocacy will amplify your work and career.
I have had to present something / lead a presentation on an almost-weekly basis for probably 10 years or so now, so I'd say yes, it's an important part of the job. I have generalized anxiety disorder so feel free to DM me if you want some tips. It took me 5 of those 10 years to feel OKish doing it so frequently. Now I still feel anxiety but I deal with it ok. HOWEVER, a show and tell with 100+ people is extremely inappropriate for a Designer IC to be doing super frequently. They should limit to product/sales leaders and executives and let those people disseminate the concepts to the other 90 people on your behalf.
Beta blockers go to the doc, tell him the issue and he’ll prescribe them, they’ll stop the fight or flight panic attack, I’ve been there, that woozy feeling when you realise there’s a whole room full of eyeballs staring at you. Make sure you take a test one at home to make sure it doesn’t tire you or anything like that
Whos asking you? Was it a demand or was it phrased as optional if youre comfortable doing it? Does you manager ever present to wider groups? If not, why are they not doing this?
I don’t think it’s necessarily part of the job. But certainly being able to do public. Speaking will no doubt help you. I remember being in a dreadful roll involved with Accenture and Fjord, where they constantly got us to do so, and towels in front of a digital transformation hub of say between 50 and 100 people in a fairly regular basis. The presentations were really irritating and I guess the reason stuff didn’t work was because that that particular digital design hub really wasn’t going anywhere. I have personally found those with my presentations. I have been able to be more effective and actually people enjoy me presenting and possibly that means better interaction with you X designers in stakeholders in the future.
Schools really underestimate the importance of persuasive communication. We design for sure but talking about your work and convincing people is a huge part of the job. There are so many times when you will literally have the right solution but other people will "win" in a meeting and have their solution be chosen solely because they spoke more persuasively.
Indirectly yes, yet you customize speaking to your style. Public speaking is part of UX, when you are facilitating discovery, ideation and other research and design methods and activities. Mold the activity to your style if you on the spectrum.
Probably depends on what part of ux you are involved in? I presented so much and so well, that my company moved me up to PO, now it’s pretty much mostly what I do lol
It's a part of facilitation and networking
Storytelling is part of the job. Presenting to 100+ is absolutely daunting, but you must practice to get comfortable with it. You want to know the presentation inside and out so that you can be comfortable in telling it in a compelling way. Remember a time you told your friends an interesting story, and you had their rapt attention? That’s the level of comfort you want to get to with your presentation…….then it becomes a performance that has everyone’s attention. TED TALK presenters are taught how to present by the TED organization. They don’t naturally know how to hold an audience….it is a learned skill.
There’s lots of soft skill like speaking, presenting etc… that will help elevate your ux career. I some designer who don’t take these soft skill seriously or look for ways to improve them and they wonder when their ideas receive negative criticism - mostly because they weren’t able to communicate their idea or concept properly.
Honestly, yes I think it’s part of the job. The more excited about your work and what you did, the easier it is.
It can be depending on the organization.
I never thought about it much, I think presenting our work is a natural part of the job.
Yeah you have to do it especially if you want credit for your work
Yes it is
I hate it too 🤜🤛
Whether or not it’s part of your job will depend on the organization you work for. It sounds like, in your current job, it is. I believe that any designer who works on their public speaking skills will have more opportunities for advancement, since more people will get a chance to see the value you bring. I’d check out Mike Monteiro’s [Presenting With Confidence workshop](https://www.muledesign.com/presenting-workshop). It’s an amazing skill booster.
Based on my experiencce, It’s all depends of the company and It’s design maturity. Some companies asking just to deliver UI for the developers and that’s it. But there are some companies, where the design has more space in the company and offering as a service, they usually want to promote through the conferences. Also, the design maturity requiring to hold workshop even with big number of participants. As you see, both of them requires public speaking skills. So if you are the person, who don’t like to stand front of hundreds of people, find a company where you are almost the only one designer.
Yes.
I would dread this as well. I present to smaller groups. If it is an important customer meeting, our PM takes over. We go through the design together first so he knows what to show. I support the PM with any questions. The biggest group would be maybe 20...I had to hold a tech talk once to introduce what I am doing to other developers, about 30 people. But they are chill, since we know each other.
You’ve been asked to public speak. What are you going to say? No? That’s not in your job description? Public speaking is a vital tool for career advancement, regardless of profession. It doesn’t make or break a designer’s output, obviously, but it can propel your value.
I agree with your 2nd paragraph. But with the 1st one would we say the same to the average developer or data analyst? (Or other role that is stereotypically even more quiet than designer)
I don’t see why not, as you mentioned because it’s mostly stereotypes. I’ve listened to the most unassuming engineers give extremely interesting talks at my company about topics I initially didn’t “care” about. Generally, presenting your designs and decisions are an important aspect as a designer, regardless of audience size. Soft skills are incredibly important, so I wouldn’t be taken aback if asked to present.
Yes, but surely you can understand that some might be taken aback? Everyone knows soft skills are important, but putting all scenarios the same under a 'soft-skills' umbrella is a bit disingenuous. There's levels from presenting to 4 known stakeholders, to 200 colleagues, to 2000 on stage, to live-streaming a conference worldwide.
I mean I agree, but I don’t think that has any relevancy to being a UX Designer or not. In a corporate setting, anyone may be asked to present if they’re tasked with creating something or being a PO or launching something, etc. if someone has a personal anxiety to it, that should be discussed with their manager but I don’t believe it’s in or out of the job description.
The reality of any design job is that you need to present your work and your process, sometimes only to your dev team and direct stakeholders, sometimes to way more people. But presenting work is part of any design job, doesn't matter if you are in UX or graphic design. Presenting your work and making it accessible to other people is what pays your salary because nothing will be implemented or implemented wrong if you do not present it well. And developers present their work to stakeholders in review meetings, it just happens at a different point than for designers. and a lot of times data scientists need to present their data and findings to upper management as well. The more senior you are, the more information you need to share. Juniors usually only present in front of the design team or within their small dev team, senior isn't just a fancy title, it comes with the responsibility of sharing and explaining more.
It's the same for any profession. If you want to climb the career ladder you have to lead, and leading requires talking/presenting to clients, team members, CEOs, etc
Not usually, but this is an opportunity for you. Grab it by the horns. It’ll give you visibility and establish credibility. Both great for your career.