I can’t stand those people that put #keynotespeaker, #influencer and #thoughtleader all over their social media profiles –  if you have to tell people that you lead thought, then you probably don’t. So, while I’m definitely not a thought leader and feel a bit weird saying I’m good at something, I have done a fair amount of public speaking and I quite like doing it too.

I’ve given presentations to some scarily-large audiences over the past few years, and have probably delivered talks at around 60-70 events now (that still doesn’t stop me getting sweaty palms just before, of course). I’ve been lucky enough to do so in places like Dublin, London, Las Vegas, Paris and New York, spanning everything from hour long technical workshops to hosting and MCing entire conferences. Highlights include the keynote session at SCIP in Madrid, receiving a perfect score from every member of the audience at at DataIQ and, erm, the speech at my wedding.

My career has darted all over the place, with the unintended benefit being that I’ve given talks on all kinds of unrelated topics. These include social media, marketing, analytics, market research, mobile, AI & machine learning, cyber security, malware, phishing, network technology, growth strategies, SaaS, competitive intelligence, human-computer interaction, gaming, playtesting and … my wife.

Here’s an example of me doin’ my thing at Digital Journeys 2015.

 

Also, here’s some nice things people have said about my talks:

“I particularly liked Joel Windels session on the changing mobile threat landscape – quite an eye-opener! ”
– Head of technology, Carpmaels & Ransford

“Joel’s presentation was one of the highlights for me. Great presentation, delivered with humour and stage presence.”
– Jefferson Davis, Adestra

“That was excellent! You should be a TED speaker”
– Merlin Stone, Professor of Marketing at St. Mary’s University

“There was a clear consensus among attendees I spoke to that yours was their favourite presentation – they were all talking about it”
– Liberty Hutchinson, Jellyfish

“That presentation I saw at Securing the Law Firm last year was very very good and has really stuck in my mind”
– IT director, leading law firm

“Ah, that’s disappointing: we had great feedback about Joel and his engaging presenting style, is he not available to present this year?”
– Lauren Piper, Mobliciti

If you don’t like the sound of those people, then that’s fine. Maybe you’re more like the one person that thought I was only ‘mildly good’ at a marketing event I spoke at in 2016 🙁

Anyway, if you’d like to include me as a panelist, speaker, webinar guest or any other kind of event participant, I’d love to hear from you.