Julie Kenny
I am an experienced speaker and Distinguished Toastmaster with a background in software development. I appreciate the need for clear communication for all and the challenges faced in achieving it.
As well as running Softly Inspired I deliver talks on women from our computing history and relax by writing poetry.
Softly Inspired
Softly Inspired offers online courses, coaching and training programs on public speaking and presentation skills.
Online courses are developed with the software development industry in mind.
Courses provide clear, usable and practical advice which can be put into practise in a timely manner.
My background
I’ve been involved in software development, data and consultancy for a long time. Initially I worked on accounting and sales order systems. After 2000 I moved into Business Intelligence; mostly digging into databases and moving data around. Software is fun and it remains a passion of mine but I what I did not enjoy for most of that time was public speaking. I was terrified and avoiding it as much as I could. To be honest any speaking to groups of people wasn’t fun at all, even in meetings where I knew everyone around the table.
Eventually, I found a way to conquer my fears and discovered a new passion. I actually enjoyed public speaking. Communication between people is how we inspire and engage others. Its how we get our ideas heard and accepted. It’s how we inspire each other. In the end it’s what we must do to work together, share and build expertise.
Why Softly Inspired?
Public speaking includes all those times when we are trying to share our passion for a cause, present our project at a technical conference or just give a clear team update. Life becomes simpler and more enjoyable when you know that you can say what you mean with confidence. I still remember how much sleep I used to lose when I had a presentation or meeting coming up, my mission is to help others find their voice and a good night’s sleep as I did.
So the name Softly Inspired has evolved from these two aspects of my life. I started in software and am now inspired to help others overcome the difficulties I did in finding my voice.