I came to find that the topics I want to talk about — the topics I can prattle on about, with no preparation — are topics that are difficult for organisers to justify. I had a sense about this, which I previously mentioned…
Ultimately, submitting Only The Fun Things™ means I am less likely to be given the opportunity to speak at conferences. I can’t pretend the choice isn’t there, just like I can’t pretend that clicking those “I need flights and accommodation” checkboxes means I am that much more expensive to invite.
Everything has a cost. Preparing these talks has a cost. For those hours and days; I will not be able to work on something else. If it’s a subject I wouldn’t work on in my free time, why would I work on it for a conference? Maybe that means I don’t get to travel to share the ideas. Maybe that means I need to set myself deadlines for when I just film the thing myself and publish it on the internet.
Regardless, I don’t want to invest time and effort into presenting things I don’t care about. That’s dishonest to the audience as much as it’s unpleasant to me. I believe the main reason anyone has ever enjoyed a talk I’ve given: it has been because they can tell I care about it.
They’ve also been able to tell when I’ve not enjoyed the talk. Oh boy.