Introducing Ellie Patten — Front-End Engineer at Geckoboard

Ellie recently spoke at our ‘Overcoming Fear’ event. Here is Ellie’s experience of what it’s like to speak at one of our events.

Triangirls
Nov 2 · 4 min read
Image of Ellie with the text ‘Ellie Patten — Frontend Engineer’
Image of Ellie with the text ‘Ellie Patten — Frontend Engineer’

It all started when Triangirls hosted a public speaking workshop at the start of the year. I was there partly for the food (it was amazing), but mostly because like a lot of people, I’m absolutely terrified of public speaking. And yet, for some reason, I’ve kind of always wanted to do more of it.

At the workshop, I watched Ella present an inspiring talk about facing her own fear of public speaking, which was followed by a mini-workshop during which we were encouraged to set public speaking goals, however small, for the year ahead.

Filled with inspiration thanks to Ella’s talk, I decided to set my public speaking goal for the year — and I decided to go big — making a pact with Christina (who I was working with at the time) that I would give a talk at a meetup by the end of the year. I was already feeling weirdly energised, despite my fear, just by the idea of standing up there as Ella had done and sharing something (though I didn’t know what yet) with other people who just might need to hear it.

The next hurdle to face was choosing a topic, and actually, this came easier than I expected. Since I work with Rachael, I’m lucky enough to get a little sneak peek of Triangirls’ future plans, and when Rachael told me Triangirls would be hosting a meetup on ‘facing your fears’ at Halloween, I knew it would be the perfect place for me to start. At this point, I still didn’t have a topic planned, but I knew too well that fear was a topic I had plenty of experience with, so I committed right there and then to taking a headline spot, volunteering before my brain could even register what I was signing up for.

By the time Halloween came closer, I’d figured out my topic. ‘Quiet is not a dirty word’, deciding that I wanted to talk about one of the biggest contributors to the anxieties and fears I’ve felt since I was a teenager, this idea that being quiet or introverted was somehow less valuable than being outgoing or extroverted. I decided to talk about how I learnt that being ‘quiet’ doesn’t have to be a weakness, and share some tips on helping introverts to thrive in the workplace.

As you can imagine, I was pretty nervous by the time the day of the event came around. I was completely outside of my comfort zone (you might have guessed, I’m a total introvert and usually hate being the centre of attention), but I also knew that Triangirls is far from the room full of the tech-bros from my nightmares, ready to question my credentials and ‘boo’ me off the stage.

Instead, I couldn’t have asked for a better audience for my talk. I’ve been given the advice before to plant someone in the audience who will smile and nod at what you’re saying to encourage you, but at Triangirls, I didn’t need to. Afterwards, I even had a few people approach me to tell me how much they liked my talk, or how relatable it felt to them. It was all very unexpectedly validating — and a relief.

Giving that talk, I really felt the ‘women supporting women’ vibes from the room, with everyone there ready to listen, learn, support and share. I’m so glad I gave my first ever full-length talk at Triangirls, not only because I was able to choose a topic that really meant something to me, but because the meetups just have such a great atmosphere and message.

I’ll wrap-up with a piece of advice. If you’ve ever had that niggling thought that maybe it would be kinda cool to give a talk at a meetup someday, now’s the time to commit. Just send that email, put your hand up, whatever it involves. Do it the moment you have that spark of excitement before you can talk yourself out of it.

And if it scares you or you don’t feel ready? Well, that probably means you’re ready.


Stories like Ellie’s is one of the many reasons we love to run events for the Women in Tech community. If you are interested in public speaking or have a topic you’d love to talk about at a Triangirls event get in touch! You can send us an email: hello@triangirls.com or send us a tweet — Triangirlsocial

Triangirls

Triangirls

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F*ck ups, masturbation and pay negotiation — Not your average women in tech event. A femme-friendly community, we meet monthly.

Triangirls

F*ck ups, masturbation and pay negotiation — Not your average women in tech event. A femme-friendly community, we meet monthly.

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