Conference speaking is something that occurs to me occasionally, but then I have a good laugh at myself. I think of myself as one of the worker bea who is busy implementing all the snazzy solutions. In the unlikely event that I was asked to speak I would run around in circles with the question ‘What could I speak *about*’ rather then ‘OMG, I have to speak in public!!’
Topic would defeat me, rather than presentation.

More than once, when teaching CSS techniques, I’ve had someone say, “Oh that’s [insert male name here]’s solution.” And my response has varied from “Yeah, whatever,” to “And I’m sure about a hundred other developers discovered the same thing for themselves at some point.”

Meri and others are spot on when it comes to the need to mentor and encourage other women. Beyond that, it’s probably a matter of finding time to be self-congratulatory.

But i think it boils down to a lot of facts and I for example do the same with my speaking appearances – I know a lot about many things but am not that guru in one special thing.

But I do feel comfortable for many reasons (main reason: I am done when I go on the conference) with my pre conference podcasts. I would assume there are more ways than just speaking on such events to get peoples attention.