81–90 of 174 posts
If you're being recorded for it to go on youtube, and you're doing a Q&A at the end, please repeat any questions that are asked for the benefit of the mic and those watching on youtube. Thanks
When rehearsing record yourself (i.e. with your phone mounted on the tripod or just against something). I realized, that before that I didn't do full rehearsal, just was repeating the talk in my mind or even if speaking aloud - I was sitting instead of standing, had lots of interruptions, etc. Then watch the recording. It's painful, but worth it. Observe your body language. Try to face the audience, not sit or stand…
I also like to record myself because sometimes I find a good way to explain something, which I want to remember and explain the same way during my talk. It also helps with pacing. Am I too slow or too fast?
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…
I always dislike this advice because 1. I simply don't think its true - there have been many talks where I have become interested 10 minutes in. 2. It puts tremendous pressure on the speaker for some kind of fireworks in their first 10 seconds. Your 10 seconds went badly? Who cares just make sure the next 10 seconds are interesting, or the next.
This way I don't overspend time on tools, but on content.
Hope this helps
Usually the first part of the story of a tech talk explains what the problem is. Many tech talks fail because the audience either doesn't understand the problem, or doesn't believe your problem needs solving. Think carefully who your audience are, and ensure you explain the problem in enough detail that you connect with your audience.
The middle part of a tech talk then is usually spent on explaining your solution to the problem. If you've explained the problem well, that the outline of the solution will basically work should be reasonably self-evident. Many tech talks fail here, because they dive too deep into the details too fast. Again, know your audience, so you know how deep to dive. You can never fit all the details you have in your head into a talk, so think carefully about what the most important features of your solution are, and focus on those. Keep less important details for backup slides you can turn to if asked.
The third part is usually evidence that your solution works. Often this involves graphs. Again, focus on only the most important results - more than about three graphs and your audience will switch off. Explain the experiment, and explain what the axes represent. Way too many people don't spend enough time on this, so no matter how good the data, no-one understood.
Finally, your conclusions. What did you learn? How complete is it? What are its limitations? You're not entirely doing a sales job, and your audience are wise enough to know that your system will have limitations. You should be the one to explain them, rather than have them come out in questions (when they'll start to doubt eveything else you told them). Finally, what future directions do you think should be taken?
Of course, different talks have different shapes. Find what works for you. Sometimes you need to iterate between problem - solution - new problem - revised solution, etc.
When you present, know your first few sentences by heart, because you'll be nervous. After that, it matters less, you'll have settled into the talk, and you'll appear less stilted if you're not reciting a script. Most importantly, turn your excitement dial to 11. If the audience feel you're not excited by the work, why would they be?
Also... nothing can quite prepare you for how shot your nerves can be. It definitely pays to run it through many times as you can with a timer so that you are at least confident in your pacing.
Other than that it's quite fun.
It can be pretty handy to you to include your twitter handle in the top right corner so you get some follows throughout the presentation from people who were interested. At the end link off to 'you can find the slides for this presentation here bit.ly/soloyolo' etc.
It's SO easy to assume knowledge. When I talk about python, I now give a quick intro to the command prompt. I started out assuming everyone knew how to use the command prompt. A lot of times, you forget that the stuff you "just use" may be new to the listeners.
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…
I always dislike this advice because 1. I simply don't think its true - there have been many talks where I have become interested 10 minutes in. 2. It puts tremendous pressure on the speaker for some kind of fireworks in their first 10 seconds. Your 10 seconds went badly? Who cares just make sure the next 10 seconds are interesting, or the next.
The effect is supposedly about lighting up the reptilian brain, and you can drop further limbic system boosts throughout your talk to raise arousal level (heart rate, adrenaline) of your audience, which supposedly keeps their interest high. I learnt this on a demo course, perhaps it's just obvious didactic technique.
I should add it's obviously high stakes but can really make your talk stand out, especially if your talk is within a series of conventionally structured talks.