Impressions from giving keynote lectures

I gave my first keynote lecture (virtually) in early 2019 (on topics related to this blog), and my first bridge engineering keynote lecture (also virtually) in 2021. Since then, I have received more invitations to present as keynote speaker at conferences.

In today’s post, I wanted to summarize some of my impressions from giving keynote lectures. I have received fantastic invitations that I have had to decline for a number of reasons (having already too many travel commitments in a given period in the light of my teaching duties, needing to prioritize family and my kid (always priority, anyway), the travel not fitting my schedule, or simply not being able to renew my passport).

When I received the invitation to give a keynote at the Australian Bridge Conference, I was so surprised that I almost deleted the message because I thought it was spam (like those spam messages where they write you as esteemed researcher and you are invited to whatever…). Only as was about to hit the delete button, did I notice that this was a legit invitation.

Often, my first thought when I receive an invitation is: “Why me?”. (Queue feeling like an imposter, on loud volume). And, when they treat me really well during the trip, my inner imposter feelings also show up (a lot). I struggled for years using my title as professor (I still often will just use the dr. title, and not the full prof. dr. ir.) and I recognize that my trepidation around keynotes reflects those same doubts and struggles.

And yet, the keynote lectures have gone well, the trips have been absolutely enriching, and I am still delighted to get a lovely invitation. I should write a letter to my inner imposter to read when necessary, perhaps. Anyway, these musings were something I wanted to share.