How Giving Lightning Talks Every Week for a Year Completely Transformed My Life

As an “inexperienced engineer and entrepreneur on the brink,” I challenged myself to give a lightning talk (LT) every week for a full year. The changes brought about by this challenge went far beyond just improving my technical skills.

To be honest, at first, I felt like crying every time I thought, “Do I really have to speak again this week…?” Now, it has reached a point where I “can’t imagine a life without LTs”—proof that people truly can change.

Background Behind the Challenge

Facing My ASD Traits

As an adult, I was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Difficulties with communication have always been a challenge throughout my life.

The Path to Entrepreneurship

My transition went from music to engineering, and then to becoming an entrepreneur. Along the way, my desire to realize “communication free of misunderstandings” grew stronger.

Having spent my earlier years in music, I had never written a single line of code until four years ago. Now, I write code while running a company. You never know where life will take you.

Six months after leaving my job, the borrowed funds were gone in the blink of an eye. Even when attending entrepreneur events and engineer networking meetups, simply participating only increased the number of business cards I exchanged; it led to neither work nor meaningful connections. That was when I thought, “Right, I should be the one speaking.”

The Journey Over One Year

Q1: Facing the Fear

My very first presentation was at an LT event held at an engineer café. I presented an app I had built as my programming school graduation project. My slides were clumsy, my voice was strained, and my hands were shaking. Even so, after finishing the roughly five-minute presentation, the room applauded, and someone asked, “How did you build that?” That was the moment I realized how rewarding putting yourself out there could be.

Q2: Forming the Habit

Preparing for weekly LTs became part of my daily routine, creating a natural rhythm for learning. By booking speaking slots in advance, the power of deadlines forced me to produce: “I have to build something.”

Q3: Connecting with Communities

I searched relentlessly for events where I could speak every week across connpass, Peatix, and Discord, both online and offline. With every new speaking opportunity, my connections within the community expanded as well.

Q4: Transforming into a New Version of Myself

My body had reached a point where it could no longer survive without LTs. It was the exact moment my life was completely derailed in the best way possible.

What I Gained

• Even for technologies I knew nothing about, chased by deadlines, I began learning them from scratch and turning them into working deliverables.
• Slide preparation, which initially took over three hours, became something I could finish in about 30 minutes by focusing on the key points.
• The sheer act of persisting gave me confidence.

The Connection to Cor.Inc.’s Mission

This experience connects directly to our company’s mission: “Realizing ‘communication free of misunderstandings’ through AI technology.”

It was the moment a personal struggle turned into a passion for solving a societal problem. When I realized, “If I’m struggling with this, aren’t other people struggling with it too?”, my sense of purpose as an entrepreneur was born.

To anyone thinking, “There’s no way I could give an LT…”, you’ll be fine. Everyone feels that way at first.