WordPress has asked all of us who make their livings with WordPress to give back to the community. They suggest 5% of your time — a couple of hours a week. There are plenty of ways to give back: help in the support forums at WordPress.org, organize and participate in meetups, help with WordPress sites at Give Camps…

Here’s something else you can do: present at WordCamp.

Chances are there’s something that you know but which other people don’t know. Maybe there’s a great plugin you know how to use. Or perhaps you have a special way of organizing your blogging calendar. Maybe you have a trick for integrating social media with your WordPress site that other people don’t know.

Think about sharing that knowledge with the rest of the community.

What will you get out of it?

• You might get extra visibility, a job, a lead, or some other measurable return on your investment. We’re not here to promote our companies, but you know what they say about casting bread on the waters.
• You’ll learn things, too. The comments and questions and discussions after your talk will almost certainly teach you something, and then there are other people’s sessions.
• It’s fun. WordCamp is a great place to meet people and to get to know folks you’ve only talked to on Twitter.

And you’ll be doing your part to give back to WordPress, that free tool that makes you money.

Not a speaker? That’s understandable; some say that fear of public speaking is the #1 phobia in the nation. In that case, think about sponsoring, volunteering, or just helping to spread the word!

You can apply to be a speaker here.