How to Present on Crypto and Blockchain as a Rookie 101
Never would I have thought that in just 9 months of working as a fresh graduate, I would be presenting in a webinar about a topic that I was not extremely savvy in. But there I was. (At least it was virtual)
First, let me introduce myself. My parents named me Liu Yi Yun — a name which I genuinely liked as it was meant to have the same meaning as the first Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Lee Kuan Yew (however, I later found out that they miscounted the strokes of the Chinese letters, altering the meaning of my name completely!). 2 months after graduating from university, I miraculously got myself a job in a crypto exchange (Coinstore.com) as a brand marketer and somehow landed myself into the peculiar situation of presenting at a webinar. Damn.
Unrelated, but here’s a peek into my past (and my reluctance towards crypto)
In the past, the subject of crypto and my impression of it had come and gone every so often. I still remember the time when Bitcoin had just launched in 2009, I was 10. My mother was discussing “digital currencies” with her colleagues and I remembered saying, “That’s dumb, why would anyone want to buy something that doesn’t even exist?”.
When I was 14, I overheard my parents squabbling about Bitcoin, only to find out years after that my father had lost quite a sum of money investing in it. He swore to never touch cryptocurrency again after that.
16 was the age I first came across a fascinating concept on the Internet called an NFT. It intrigued me for a few minutes but I eventually came to the conclusion that I wasn’t artistic enough, not to mention, the whole concept was too complicated for me to grasp.
When I was 18, a friend of mine was promoting a browser that I only decided to use 4 years later. He was babbling on about all sorts of complex topics such as being able to earn crypto while using the browser, ad blockers, security, and bandwidth which all sounded foreign to my ears and didn’t interest me then.
At 19, my mentor at that time explained to me what blockchain was. He was not a fan of cryptocurrency and the blockchain and was prattling on about how cryptocurrency is not regulated which makes it extremely dangerous and volatile.
I only started warming up to the concept of cryptocurrency at 20. People around me started to talk about investing in stocks and crypto, putting your eggs in different baskets, and gaining maximum returns, or at the very least getting back some sort of return. However, I did not start investing.
Into the crypto (rabbit) hole, I go
Between 2020 and 2021, Elon Musk was hyping up Dogecoin, pushing many people worldwide to invest for the first time. I could’ve entered the market at $0.08USD but my thickheaded self only chose to only enter at $0.33USD. But hey, the silver lining was getting hired by my marketing manager at Coinstore.com in 2021 though I really had not expected to be working in the crypto industry.
At that point in time, Coinstore.com was only 1 month old and I had minimal knowledge of cryptocurrency. We started everything from scratch, building the social media channels from the ground up while trying to comprehend and understand how cryptocurrency and exchanges work. I would not say I’m an expert in the field, but I can’t deny that my knowledge of the industry did increase a fair bit.
So, you could only imagine my face when my marketing manager told me to present at a webinar in 2 months! If you asked what I felt back then, I honestly wouldn’t know what to say. I only knew that I was going through a range of emotions. One that stood out most? Confusion.
I may be overreacting, but this was a pretty big deal to me as I believed I was underqualified to teach an audience about the industry. Hell, it took me 2 months to understand how the blockchain worked, and even now I’m unsure if I had fully grasped the concept.
Preparation but mostly procrastination
Thankfully, it was not a huge webinar filled with professionals, for if it were, I would’ve pretty much rolled into a ditch and died. Instead, it was a virtual webinar for a local art school’s career week — Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). The virtual webinar was held over a span of 3 days with many other huge establishments such as Shopee, the Ministry of Education, Mediacorp, and Linkedin presenting.
I had approximately 2 months’ time to brush up on my understanding of crypto and blockchain, create the slides for the webinar and write a script for the presentation. Time works differently for different people, and 2 months wasn’t exactly a long time for me. Instead of frantically conducting research and creating slides, I spent most of my time procrastinating.
It was during this period that Coinbase’s video, ted talks, random crypto and blockchain videos, and even more ted talks became my best friends (I’ve only linked a few as there were too many). I wanted to convey the basics of crypto and blockchain in a fashion that I’d be able to understand if I was in the audience 5 years back.
The webinar was one hour long and I was expected to speak for approximately 30–40 minutes, with the remainder of the time allocated to Q&A. Eventually, I titled my presentation “The Next Technological Revolution: Crypto & Blockchain”, because, in my opinion, that sounded amazing.
I’d like to think that my efforts (of only completing the slides 3 days before the deadline and only remembering to write the script one night before) paid off. I ended up with a 60+ page deck that explained crypto in the simplest way I could possibly think of.
Here it is:
https://pitchdeck.figmatic.com/slides/kxqyr4ns87518?token=b1VXUmwtbXpiSS0/eXQ=
D-day
“I didn’t think you were nervous, you acted completely fine these past few days.” — a friend of mine.
Of course, I would be nervous! Presenting crypto in an arts establishment isn’t exactly normal! What if none of the students was interested? What if no one came and my efforts go down the drain? These were the thoughts that constantly flooded my brain a few days prior to the webinar.
I would like to think of myself as realistic though my friends describe me as negative. But I guess it’s due to this said “negativity” that I’m always able to brace myself for the worst, and this time was no exception. My solution to no-shows was to just continue. The show must go on!
Coinstore.com was scheduled to present on the first session on the last day of the webinar. That gave me time to conduct a test run for the slides and ask the host some questions. Fortunately, the host was a sweet lady who was patient enough to entertain my ridiculous questions, but unfortunately for her, became my emotional dumpster for a short 5 to 10 minutes. What can I say? It’s easier to tell your troubles to strangers sometimes.
I asked her about the average number of students that joined the previous webinars to which she responded, “Around 15 to 20 people. But students usually trickle in between classes”. That’s not too bad, but what if no one comes to the webinar that I’m presenting? Overthinking. Overload.
The time finally came and I started presenting. I was so embarrassed as I stumbled on my words, and there were a few awkward pauses. I even may or may not have bitten my tongue on accident. But worst of all, my laptop was extremely laggy that it messed up my whole flow! Noooo, my transitions!
But eventually, I got used to it and everything felt normal after. In the middle of my presentation, I even mustered up the courage to check the number of attendees. It remained over 20 the whole entire time! I was really surprised.
The Q&A was the tricky part. Especially when you’re not in a position to make decisions. But it was heartwarming to see a bunch of people asking questions. There were over 20 inquiries! Nevertheless, I pushed through and although it wasn’t perfect, it was enough.
So, how did I end the webinar?
“I did not expect such… welcome… welcoming attendees!”
Yes, I laughed at myself too.
The Aftermath
My efforts did pay off. People started to apply for Coinstore.com’s design and animation openings and I had to schedule a bunch of interested interviewees! This was definitely an eye-opening experience and I honestly would do it again. If you’re curious about the contents of what I’ve presented, feel free to read this article.
Here is a list of things I’ve learned about myself when handling this project:
- Procrastination will probably stay with me until the day I die
- Crypto and blockchain are really cool
- I would like to continue staying in the crypto industry
- This is just the beginning of my adventure of presenting in webinars
- There will always be people who will support you. You just have to do your best!
If you’ve made it this far, thank you! If you’re a fresh graduate like me and were pushed to present in a webinar, you got this. Sometimes, procrastinating leads to creativity! Don’t believe me? Watch this Ted Talk.
Oh, and shameless plug, if you’re not afraid of being in front of the camera and interested in doing content creation for TikTok or YouTube, contact us! We’re hiring! Also, check out our platform! We’re a pretty new crypto exchange so there may be some inconveniences here and there, but I promise that we are trying our hardest to improve the platform and provide users with the best crypto platform.
Find me here:
Liu Yi Yun | Brand Marketing Executive
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liuyiyun/
Contact me for opportunities:
Telegram: @liuyiyun
About Coinstore.com
It’s never too late to start diving into the world of cryptocurrency. Whether you’re young or old, a pro or a newbie, Coinstore.com welcomes you to our arcade where we learn together… the fun way! We make cryptocurrencies available for everyone in a sleek, exciting, and simple fashion, equipping you with experience and techniques to buy, sell and trade on the go.
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