<p><em><strong>What turns a nervous first-timer into a confident conference speaker? Let&#39;s find out.</strong></em></p><p>This the last Foojay Podcast of 2025 and also the last one with interviews recorded at the Devoxx and JFall conferences. Maybe you're already thinking about your goals for 2026: organizing a meetup, submitting your first conference talk, or taking a bigger role in the Java community. If that sounds like you, this episode is for you.</p><p>I talked with the people behind these conferences and developers at different stages of their speaking journey. At Devoxx, I spoke with Stephan Janssen, who has been organizing Devoxx for 20 years, Susanne Pieterse, about what makes conferences valuable for learning, and Daniël Floor, a developer just starting out with public speaking. At JFall, I caught up with organizers Martin Smelt and Brian Vermeer, Berwout de Vries Robles, who coaches new speakers, and Annelore Egger about her journey from developer to conference speaker.</p><p>You&#39;ll hear practical advice about what makes a good CFP, why conference organizers actively want new speakers, and how the Java community is set up to help you get started. Whether you&#39;re thinking about submitting your first talk or curious about what goes into organizing a conference, there&#39;s something here for you.</p><p><br></p><p>00:00 Introduction of topic and guests</p><p>01:33 Stephan Janssen</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanjanssen/" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanjanssen/</a> </li><li>Devoxx Organizer</li></ul><p>07:03 Martin Smelt</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-paul-smelt-8b699a8/" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-paul-smelt-8b699a8/</a></li><li>JFall Organizer </li></ul><p>13:27 Brian Vermeer</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianvermeer/" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianvermeer/</a></li><li>JFall Organizer and speaker</li><li>Tips for speakers, writing a CFP</li><li>Join a JUG! </li></ul><p>21:02 Annelore Egger</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneloredev/" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneloredev/</a></li><li>How to become a speaker</li></ul><p>27:43 Daniël Floor</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dani%C3%ABl-floor-266652208/" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/dani%C3%ABl-floor-266652208/</a></li><li>Taking the first steps into public speaking</li><li>Finding your speaking topic</li></ul><p>31:28 Berwout de Vries Robles</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/berwout-de-vries-robles/" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/berwout-de-vries-robles/</a></li><li>Tips for speakers</li><li>Propose a talk to speak at a JUG</li></ul><p>37:08 Susanne Pieterse</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/susannepieterse/" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/susannepieterse/</a></li><li>Learning at conferences, RAG, and other topics</li><li>Meeting and talking to the presenters and specialists at a conference</li><li>CO-organizer of ML Con and DevOpsCon in Amsterdam</li><li><a href="https://mlconference.ai/" target="_blank">https://mlconference.ai/</a></li><li><a href="https://devopscon.io/amsterdam/" target="_blank">https://devopscon.io/amsterdam/</a></li></ul><p>41:20 Conclusion</p>