I deeply enjoy sharing WordPress and other tech knowledge in ways that inspire and enlighten. I delight in witnessing beginners’ “lightbulb” moments, as they start to understand concepts and techniques that were previously confusing or fuzzy. Along with giving presentations and workshops, I’m a frequent mentor at Ladies Learning Code, on topics from HTML, CSS, and responsive design to Photoshop and WordPress. Helping new public speakers gain confidence and overcome apprehensions is another passion, which I accomplish through in-person and remote workshops.
Interested in having me present or teach at your event? Connect via Twitter.
Video & Slides
- Watch presentations on WordPress.tv
- View decks on Slideshare
- Watch me present From Shadows to Limelight: How Women Found Their Voice At WordCamp Montreal at WordCamp US 2016:
- Watch me present The Techie Continuum at WordCamp US 2015:
- Watch me present How To Jazz Up Your WordPress Site Without a Lick O’ Code at WordCamp San Francisco 2013:
Selected Topics
WordPress
- Untangling Templates
- Custom CSS in the Site Editing Era
- Don’t Fear the Forums: Lessons from the WordPress support community
- CSS Secrets for Beginners
- From Shadows to Limelight – How Women Found Their Voice At WordCamp Montreal
- The Techie Continuum
- So You Want to Be a WordCamp Speaker (2.5-hr. workshop) – see companion site, Get Speaking!
- WordPress Essentials for Beginners (2-hr. workshop)
- A CSS Adventure
- Getting Comfortable With Child Themes (either half-hour talk or 2-hr. practical workshop)
- Wild About Widgets
- Supporting Your Themes While Staying Sane
- How To Jazz Up Your WordPress Site Without a Lick O’ Code
- Help Me Help You: The art and science of getting good WordPress support
- Passionate About Plugins
- Take Control of Your Templates with WordPress Conditionals
- A Beginner’s Guide to WordPress (developed and often presented with Shannon Smith)
Not WordPress
- Get Speaking: Tackling the tales we tell ourselves about public speaking
- Not Even Remotely Typical: Automattic’s Distributed Workplace
- Business Boosters: 10 practical ways to improve online traffic and increase customers
- Website Success: Essential strategies to get the most from your online presence*
- Deadly Website Sins that Can Kill Your Business… And How to Avoid Them*
- Optimizing Your Website: Strategies for Online Success*
- Put Newsletters & Blogs to Work for Your Business*
*with A.C. Riley
Selected Events
- Learn WordPress Online (2024)
- Learn WordPress Online (2023)
- South Okanagan (BC, Canada) Meetup Group (2020)
- WP Agency Summit (2020)
- Global Diversity CFP Day – Montreal (2019)
- Make Your Voice Heard: A public-speaking workshop for beginners – Montreal All-Girl Hack Night (2018)
- Support Driven Expo (2018)
- Portland WordPress Meetup group (2018)
- WordPress.org Support Team Workshop Series: The Developer’s Guide to Supporting Your Themes (2017)
- WordCamp Halifax (2017)
- WordCamp US (2015, 2016, 2017)
- WordPress Montreal meetup – Child Theming Workshop (2016)
- Montreal Girl Geeks – Make Your Voice Heard: A Public-Speaking Workshop for Beginners (2016)
- WordCamp Montreal (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
- WordCamp Ottawa (2016 & 2017)
- Montreal All-Girl Hack Night (2016)
- Guest workshop facilitator in Graduate Diploma Seminar — Concordia University, Graduate Diploma in Communication Studies (2016)
- WordCamp Vancouver (2015)
- WordCamp OC (2015)
- WordCamp Maine (2015)
- AdaCamp Montreal (2015)
- Press Publish Phoenix (2015)
- Press Publish Portland (2015)
- WordCamp Maui (2015)
- WordCamp New York City (2012, 2014)
- Hacks/Hackers (2014)
- WordCamp Miami (2014)
- Montreal Girl Geeks – panel on non-traditional working environments (2014)
- WordCamp San Francisco (2013)
- WordCamp Ottawa (2013)
- YES Montreal (2013, 2014, 2015)
- West Island Women’s Centre (2012)
- Social Capital (2012)
- Podcamp Toronto (2012)
- WordCamp Toronto (2010, 2011, 2012, 2014)
- Professional Organizers in Canada – National Conference (2010)
- WXN: Women’s Executive Network (2009)
- The Coaches Training Institute (CTI) Healthcare Community (2009)
- Professional Organizers in Canada – Montreal chapter (2005, 2007, 2012)
- Montreal Girl Geek Dinners (2009 X 2)
- Centre d’entrepreneuriat féminin du Québec (2007 & 2009)
- The Aurora Business Project (2005)
- Women’s Entrepreneurial Networking System (2005 X 2)
Twitter Feedback
- @thabotswana “I always love listening to @zoonini’s presentations! She’s very good at what she does – CSS Secrets for Beginners #wcus”
- @michelleames .@zoonini gives us amazing CSS info and how it’s easy to do in #WordPress at #WCUS
- @CaseyMAJones “Super helpful session, thank you @zoonini! #WCHFX”
- @CatherineCw “Thanks for the great workshop and all the resources! #WCHFX”
- @Ephox “Flatter-nagging is a valuable skill for any @WordcampUS organizer 🙂 -Kathryn Presner #WCUS”
- @mmizejewski “Inspiring talk by @zoonini about empowering women speakers. This is why I ❤ #WordPress! #wcus”
- @SpinBird “@zoonini killed it about #women in #WordPress #wcus”
- @owlpacino “This is a supportive community rather than a competitive, individualistic one.” -Great talk on inclusion by @zoonini #WCUS – at WordCamp US 2016
- @raisaroo “Another great talk. Hope it inspires many into public speaking. #mtlgg #googlemontreal”
- @edesaulniers “Thanks for the inspiring talk @zoonini ! #wcus”
- @McDwayne “Such a great talk with so many great quotes, too many to tweet here, just see slides: http://www.slideshare.net/zoonini/from-shadows-to-limelight-how-women-found-their-voice-at-wordcamp-montreal @zoonini #wcus”
- @andreazoellner “Another super polished presentation by @zoonini !!! I hope the #wcus crowd takes your tips to ❤️. #wcmtl represent!”
- @IlhamLmissaoui “Great tips for #publicspeaking 😊 interesting talk! Thanks @MTLGirlGeeks @zoonini @GoogleMontreal”
- @suziegardner “Sitting in a room full of people discussing imposter syndrome is pretty damn therapeutic. Thanks, @zoonini. ❤️
#WCMTL” - @in_a_pinch “Really loved @zoonini’s talk – I struggle with calling myself a techie too. My 3 wk support rotation @automattic helped 🙂 #wcus”
- @mysweetcate “Great reminder from @zoonini that we all know something someone else doesn’t. Don’t be afraid to help. Be willing to give back. #WCUS”
- @helloLesleyK “Really appreciated @zoonini’s talk on helping out in the #Wordpress community. Not everyone knows everything you do – you CAN help! #wcus”
- @rkoffy “Wish I could fav each slide in that deck!”
- @jgamboa “Great talk by @zoonini on how to get good @WordPress support. #wcyvr” http://pic.twitter.com/YUpfiGRakr
- @lucasartoni “I deeply admire @zoonini’s clarity when she presents code and CSS. She explains complex things with extraordinary simplicity. Kudos! #WCMTL”
- @camden_design “Thanks for such a helpful talk today at Word Camp #wcme15”
- @AngieMc6 “Thank you for your presentation, Kathryn! Glad to know I can place conditions on my widgets 😀 #presspublish”
- @HeidiWeinmann “thanks for demystifying some of the more obscure features of widgets #presspublish”
- @ctully26 “Fascinating session, Kathryn! Still reeling.”
- @AngieMc6 “I’m blowing up with energy and possibilities! #presspublish
- @JoshuaEddings “Design 101: Customize at #presspublish – good stuff!”
- @wysiwygjt “Truly my favorite feature about widgets is the ability to hide/show them on certain pages. #presspublish Thanks @zoonini for a great talk!”
- @NatalieDutil “Great intro to WordPress by @zoonini at @YESMontreal! Definitely friendly and easily digestible info
#womenintech” - @antoniancu @zoonini “Great talk! Second time i see it and still learning new things.”
- @gwenzez “When why and how to use child themes with @zoonini Learning so much! #WCTO #wordpress”
- @JanetBarclay “Thanks @zoonini for the great info! Neither too basic nor too technical. #WCTO”
- @zigorzag “Thrilled to combine @Toastmasters & #wcnyc – 2 of my favorite subjects @karmatosed @zoonini session well done”
- @rosiemedia: “@zoonini just created a child theme in minutes! Wowza! I’m inspired to do this for reals! #wcmia”
- @megankellly “Nice job! The child themes seem totally approachable!”
- @martha: “Cracking us up within the first 5 minutes AND no code involved in the skill she’s teaching us, @zoonini is my new BFF! #wcsf”
- @HaikuDeck: “Currently loving @zoonini’s charming slides at #wcsf #nicelydone”
- @Sally_K: “Great presentation about WP plugins by @zoonini Thank you! #wcsf #wordcampsf WordPress women rock!”
- @Osborneabit: “Many thanks for very useful presentation re plug-ins at Wordcamp SF this afternoon.”
- @LarenNetWorks: “Listening to @zoonini at #wcsf, and enjoying it immensely.”
- @designsimply: “@zoonini is knocking it out of the park and her WorkCamp SF talk! Super engaged audience. :-)”
- @LizJukovsky: “Beginners Guide to WordPress crazy informative! Pumped! #pcto2012”
- @CaronSue: “At #PCTO2012 WordPress for Beginner’s with @Canadian88 and @pronosher – Amazing presentation! So helpful! #PCTO12”
- @shelleypringle: “Thanks @zoonini for informative presentation on WordPress #PCTO2012”
- @CaronSue: “Thank you for your great presentation this morning. I’m excited to get started with WordPress! #pcto2012 Really enjoyed your presentation style…concise, informative and very natural!
- @kevincpmak: “Thanks for the useful session today! I’m going to try out some of the plugins you have recommended! #pcto2012”
- @matinee_ca: “Many thanks for the tips on WP – including where to get answers about my new-ish theme #PCTO2012”
- @Shiny_Ideas: “Thanks for such interesting and helpful presentations at WordCamp on the weekend! #wcto11”
- @thisismyurl: “Your presentation was an absolute hoot, I couldn’t recommend it more to users of any tech level.”
- @imiebelanger: “I have to say I was so impressed with your presentation today; very thorough and well structured 🙂 #wcto”
- @SharHops: “Kathryn, you are a breath of fresh air for our newbies. #wcto”
- @InsolentTrumpet: “Great presentation on WordPress for n00bz by @zoonini and @cafenoirdesign – really helpful. #wcto2010”
- @MichaelNus: “Excellent and easy presentation at #wcto2010 Looking forward to the slide show posts”
- @ataner: “#wcto2010 The wordpress for newbies was cute :)”
- @elisabethbucci: “This was a great presentation at WordCamp Montreal 2010. Thanks so much for putting it together!”
Feedback on Getting Comfortable with Child Theming workshop at WordCamp Ottawa (June 2016) and WordPress Montreal Community Meetup (November 2016)
- This was excellent. Thanks so much to Kathryn for hosting this useful and valuable workshop!
- Great workshop ! I learned a lot tonight. Thanks everyone who contributed to the event. Specal thanks to [TAs] Richard and Sonia.Thank you for giving me the help and encouragement.
- Well paced to let us figure stuff out.
- Great workshop! Amazing suppot staff! Superb team! I will have to go over it a few times to work it but learned a lot and will use it.
- Really great workshop. Wow, I feel like I learned a lot. Great speaker.
- This, along with setting up my own server, is what I most wanted to learn about, so highly valuable!
- So much great info. And fantastic live support.
- Extremely helpful, thank you! Great to have extra TAs circulating.
- Good pace and great explanation.
- Detailed and speaker was excellent and clear.
- Everything was laid out in the slides and well explained.
Anonymous Survey Feedback on “WordPress Essentials for Beginners” workshop at YES Montreal, December 2014
- Kathryn was an excellent presenter and gave a good combination of high-level and deep dives for a well-rounded seminar. She was very flexible at adapting her flow to the posed questions, and also knowing when to cut things short due to time or inability to succinctly answer questions in this forum. Very professional! I will definitely attend/recommend your other events.
- I can strongly recommend your series to other persons. It was really well done.
- A great introduction to WordPress with easily digestible information. I felt I could walk away and really start something.
Kathryn Presner