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Ask HN: What are the things keep in mind while giving/preparing for a tech talk?

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Re: Ask HN: What are the things keep in mind while giving/preparing for a tech talk?

#111

Post by chengiz »

framebit wrote: post #105

A little bit of stage fright is generally healthy. It shows that you care enough to be concerned and you're not getting too cocky. That's an old lesson I learned doing (of all things) middle school acting class and it's proven itself to be true over and over again. Think about your slide and presentation style. For example, I have enormous decks for most of my talks (think like 55 slides for 30 minutes) but I burn th…

I think the 5 steps is too "high school" and overrated for the adult world. Sometimes there is no time nor audience patience for cliches like "how you're going to tell them" and "how you told them". Intro, content, what's next. That's all that matters.

Re: Ask HN: What are the things keep in mind while giving/preparing for a tech talk?

#114

Post by chengiz »

mrweasel wrote: post #93
joshfraser wrote: post #66

People decide in the first 10 seconds whether they're going to listen to you or use your session to catch up on email. So make your intro good. Catch their attention. Surprise and intrigue them. Memorize and practise your intro over and over again so when you walk on stage you can get comfortable without having to worry about the specific words you're saying. Memorize your conclusion too so you can bring it home with…

Somewhat off topic: I always wondered why people would bother showing up for a talk or conference if they're going to be on their phone or laptop during the entire thing. Last time I went to a conference I was actually a little surprised by the number of people at the talks who where clearly working during the entire thing. Why bother, you most likely pay for the plane ticket, the hotel and the conference it self, an…

I've done it. Sometimes you go to a 20 minute talk because the premise was interesting, but it's different from what you thought or too arcane, or the presenter has an accent you cannot understand, and it's too late to look up the program to attend another talk you might have attended instead. So you just pop up the laptop and check email. Why not?

Re: Ask HN: What are the things keep in mind while giving/preparing for a tech talk?

#115

Post by hprotagonist »

mrweasel wrote: post #93
joshfraser wrote: post #66

People decide in the first 10 seconds whether they're going to listen to you or use your session to catch up on email. So make your intro good. Catch their attention. Surprise and intrigue them. Memorize and practise your intro over and over again so when you walk on stage you can get comfortable without having to worry about the specific words you're saying. Memorize your conclusion too so you can bring it home with…

Somewhat off topic: I always wondered why people would bother showing up for a talk or conference if they're going to be on their phone or laptop during the entire thing. Last time I went to a conference I was actually a little surprised by the number of people at the talks who where clearly working during the entire thing. Why bother, you most likely pay for the plane ticket, the hotel and the conference it self, an…

>I always wondered why people would bother showing up for a talk or conference if they're going to be on their phone or laptop during the entire thing.

Nearly all of the interesting things at conferences happen between the talk sessions. Usually, at a bar. Usually, at about 11 o’clock at night. The reason is a lot of people go to conferences has everything to do with networking, and politics. Sometimes, they actually go to talks too.

Re: Ask HN: What are the things keep in mind while giving/preparing for a tech talk?

#116

Post by framebit »

chengiz wrote: post #111
framebit wrote: post #105

A little bit of stage fright is generally healthy. It shows that you care enough to be concerned and you're not getting too cocky. That's an old lesson I learned doing (of all things) middle school acting class and it's proven itself to be true over and over again. Think about your slide and presentation style. For example, I have enormous decks for most of my talks (think like 55 slides for 30 minutes) but I burn th…

I think the 5 steps is too "high school" and overrated for the adult world. Sometimes there is no time nor audience patience for cliches like "how you're going to tell them" and "how you told them". Intro, content, what's next. That's all that matters.

That's why I said "as a starting point."

The five paragraph form itself is a beginner's tool: any good essay will deviate.

However, one nugget to borrow from the five paragraph form is the centrality of the thesis statement. Having a thesis for your talk is _crucial_ IMO. It doesn't have to explicitly stated, and it could be as simple as "I'm going to convince you that $FEATURE is awesome," but you need a focal point. You could restate what I'm saying here as honing your elevator pitch for you talk or in any number of different phrasings, but the idea is the same: a short statement that sums up the absolute core idea of your talk and provides a focus for you and your audience. Anything that doesn't fit your thesis is a good candidate for trimming.

Re: Ask HN: What are the things keep in mind while giving/preparing for a tech talk?

#117

Post by chengiz »

koolba wrote: post #104

Finish your slides at least a few weeks before the talk and dedicate a time slot equivalent to the talk (ex: 1-hour => 1-hour, 30-min => 30-min) per week doing a dry run. This is particularly important to get the timing correct. If you're repeatedly short or long then adjust accordingly. Version control your slides. This is particularly useful if you end up giving the same talk more than once as you can tweak things…

I could not disagree more with your first line. For one it's utter fantasy. For tech talks where you need to present results, sometimes results dont arrive until the morning of. Secondly, there should be a measure of proaction - gauge the audience and adjust the talk accordingly. In fact, I'd go the complete opposite, keep adjusting your slides until you're comfortable. But yes, do time yourself. Generally IMO a minute per slide is a good ballpark. This means your slide is not too empty or too full, and you can talk about the material in the slide without reading the slide out.

Re: Ask HN: What are the things keep in mind while giving/preparing for a tech talk?

#118

Post by protomyth »

khazhou wrote: post #24

If you're projecting from your own laptop, shut down any apps that might give bouncing notifications. Really, just shut down all apps. And don't have your browser open with bookmarks tab and window tabs showing. Don't spent 10 minutes on the introduction. A very common mistake is people step too slowly through the setup material. Just lay out the problem and GO. In fact, even throughout the talk, assume the audience…

I took to the habit of logging in with a "Presentation" user, so no weird things would pop up.

Re: Ask HN: What are the things keep in mind while giving/preparing for a tech talk?

#119

Post by jxy »

framebit wrote: post #105

A little bit of stage fright is generally healthy. It shows that you care enough to be concerned and you're not getting too cocky. That's an old lesson I learned doing (of all things) middle school acting class and it's proven itself to be true over and over again. Think about your slide and presentation style. For example, I have enormous decks for most of my talks (think like 55 slides for 30 minutes) but I burn th…

There's really nothing wrong to read your slides. The trick is coming up with more explanations.

Re: Ask HN: What are the things keep in mind while giving/preparing for a tech talk?

#120

Post by pacohope »

Stick to the topic, and don't go meta. Leave out things like "when I was preparing to submit this talk proposal" or "as I was creating the slides for this talk." Talk about the topic, don't talk about the talking.

Know the language and culture of your audience. If it's a mixture of people who don't speak English (or whatever language) as their first language, take care to avoid colourful metaphors that make sense to a native speaker but which confuse non-native speakers. I've confused people with expressions like "inside baseball" or reference to "Goldilocks values" (not too much, not too little). Good metaphors are valuable. Metaphors that depend on too much cultural context are unhelpful.

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