On not giving talks anymore

I gave conference talks for about four years. Then I stopped, on purpose, and I haven’t missed it once.

The talks were fine. Some were good. But the format asked me to be certain on a schedule, in a room, with a clicker in my hand — and the older I get, the less that matches how I actually think. I arrive at things slowly, sideways, and usually in writing.

Writing lets me be wrong in a draft nobody sees. It lets me change my mind between paragraphs. It doesn’t require a hotel. If you enjoy the stage, keep it — it’s a real skill and a generous one. It just turned out not to be mine.