Crap I'm speaking at [insert conference here]. How do I prepare? • Hacker News Board

Re: Crap I'm speaking at [insert conference here]. How do I prepare?

#41

Post by freework » Tue, Dec 04, 2012, 9:23 PM UTC

Here are my tips:

1. Don't try to write jokes into the presentation. It won't be funny. It will only be funny if the joke comes to you on the spot.

2. Try to write the talk in terms of vague concepts instead of specific wording. WHen practicing, don't worry about how you're going to express a certain concept, just focus on understanding the concept inside and out. Every time I give a talk, the words come out a little bit differently each time. This keeps the talk from sounding robotic.

Re: Crap I'm speaking at [insert conference here]. How do I prepare?

#42

Post by btilly » Tue, Dec 04, 2012, 9:29 PM UTC

adrianhoward wrote: post #37

btilly wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"tell 'em what you're going to be telling them, tell them, and then tell 'em what you told 'em" This is common advice. http://perl.plover.com/yak/presentation/ disagrees emphatically with it. Consider well that mjd both gave a lot of presentations, AND managed to consistently get the top speaker rating at a major conference. His contrarian advice may be worth giving a try.

My personal interpretation of the "tell 'em what you're going to be telling them, tell them, and then tell 'em what you told 'em" advice is to never tell people something the same way twice in the same session. Poor presentations often do something like this: * You should Foo because of X and Y * We did Foo because of X and Y * We've told about Foo. It solves X and Y More entertaining presentations do something like…

Your "how to follow the advice right" looks exactly like mjd's point "Don't repeat; embellish".

Re: Crap I'm speaking at [insert conference here]. How do I prepare?

#43

Post by jamesbritt » Tue, Dec 04, 2012, 9:39 PM UTC

To prepare for a presentation at Ignite Phoenix (which has its own particular set of rules) I used Screenflow to record myself speaking over the automated slide changes.

I wrote out my talk first, as an essay. I then read it and adjusted it based on how well it matched the automated slide changes and how easy/natural it was for me to say it.

I ended up with a video I could play over and over, listen to, and then recite from memory. I also printed my slides on index cards, along with some notes on what was supposed to be said for that slide, and had them with me since, as I it happened, when i gave my talk I needed some prompts.

I also practiced a lot. I hate it, but it helps, so there you go.

Ignite talks are a different sort of animal, where timing is very important (since you have no control over the slide change speed). But I found this approach of use for more casual presentations; it's still a good idea to have a good idea of how much time you will take and how well it all flows.

What I found was that you can start with something that would take 30 minutes to read to a crowd, edit out the cruft, the joke slides, and the amusing-but-unimportant factoids, and whittle you talk down to something punchy and concise.

Most talks are too long. Modulo topic and subject complexity I'd say they should be no more than 20 minutes.

Even if you're not doing an Ignite talk, plan as if you were and be mindful about how and why you make it longer. Don't give people an excuse to be checking Twitter or HN while you're speaking.

Re: Crap I'm speaking at [insert conference here]. How do I prepare?

#44

Post by jakozaur » Tue, Dec 04, 2012, 9:44 PM UTC

dpeck wrote: post #12

Record yourself speaking. Once or twice through and you're going to have a very good idea of the parts you need to work on. Also very helpful to have a "good run" recording saved that you can give a quick listen to if you're asked to do the presentation again. You don't have to find your words all over again.

I do it with iMovie. Moreover, sometimes I rehearse some parts more times. Even more, you can upload the video and ask your friend to watch it.

Probably one of the easiest advice to implement which improves quality a lot.

Disclaimer: I was organizer of event series where ~12 speakers give 5 minute talks.

Re: Crap I'm speaking at [insert conference here]. How do I prepare?

#45

Post by jamesbritt » Tue, Dec 04, 2012, 9:57 PM UTC

freework wrote: post #41

Here are my tips: 1. Don't try to write jokes into the presentation. It won't be funny. It will only be funny if the joke comes to you on the spot. 2. Try to write the talk in terms of vague concepts instead of specific wording. WHen practicing, don't worry about how you're going to express a certain concept, just focus on understanding the concept inside and out. Every time I give a talk, the words come out a little…

It will only be funny if the joke comes to you on the spot.

Self-awareness is key.

Not every amusing thought that springs to my mind is suitable for the public.

On stage and under pressure may not be the best time and place to decide if a joke is funny.

Re: Crap I'm speaking at [insert conference here]. How do I prepare?

#46

Post by deveac » Tue, Dec 04, 2012, 9:58 PM UTC

jnazario wrote: post #6

(speaking as someone who literally gave buttloads of presentations all over the world for over a decade) if you use slides i suggest reading cliff atkinson's blog "beyond powerpoint bullets". in it he lays out ideas, principles and templates for PPTs (and any other preso tools) that tell stories. these are based on cognitive studies, like the number of bullet points you should use based on how much your audience can…

I was trying to distill some good advice for OP, but you said something that struck a chord, and so I'm just going to reiterate it:

>"tell 'em what you're going to be telling them, tell them, and then tell 'em what you told 'em".

Telling them exactly what you're going to tell them provides an incredibly effective anchor for their attention. It gives them a quick mental road map, and the opportunity for them to think about and place each point you make on that map as you move through the presentation.

Re: Crap I'm speaking at [insert conference here]. How do I prepare?

#47

Post by redacted » Tue, Dec 04, 2012, 10:19 PM UTC

pseut wrote: post #28

This won't apply to most people, but if your talk involves any math at all , use LaTeX + Beamer (www.math.binghamton.edu/erik/beameruserguide.pdf) to prepare pdfs of your slides. They will look much better. The beamer user-guide also has a chapter on presentation preparation. You can export outlines from Emacs org-mode as pdf slides via beamer, which can be (depending on the version, etc) a little fiddly but is much…

If you are on a Mac, try LaTeXiT [0] + Keynote.

Type in your equations/math, hit render, drag the PDF (or many other image formats) to your slide.

LaTeXiT gives you the best of both worlds; wonderful rendering of math, with the bonus of using Keynote (which is the best presentation software on any platform in my experience).

[0] http://www.chachatelier.fr/latexit/

Re: Crap I'm speaking at [insert conference here]. How do I prepare?

#48

Post by sambeau » Wed, Dec 05, 2012, 12:22 AM UTC

Learn your talk as a bullet list not as a script. Know each slide and what it means: which bullet points it matches. Assume that you will ad-lib on the day. Put as little of the real text as you can into the slides themselves. Never read anything: not even a quote.

Have a go at doing your slides backwards (or at least your main slides if you tend to have lots of slides per topic). Be sure that you are making a clear message at the end. Then have a go midway (pulp fiction style). Your message should still be clear.

You are fully prepared when you can click through your slides while (mostly) looking forward.

Re: Crap I'm speaking at [insert conference here]. How do I prepare?

#49

Post by jnazario » Wed, Dec 05, 2012, 12:44 AM UTC

freework wrote: post #40

jnazario wrote: post #6

(speaking as someone who literally gave buttloads of presentations all over the world for over a decade) if you use slides i suggest reading cliff atkinson's blog "beyond powerpoint bullets". in it he lays out ideas, principles and templates for PPTs (and any other preso tools) that tell stories. these are based on cognitive studies, like the number of bullet points you should use based on how much your audience can…

I'm curious, how did you et into the 'speaking business'? It seems a lot of these conferences only invite people to speak who have already spoken at large conferences. I did a talk at a local usergroup (5 people attended) and I loved it. I want to give talks at bigger conferences, but my proposals always get rejected. It seems once the ball is rolling, it just keeps rolling. Got any advice?

well, for me it helped to have a company, a team, and projects with great data behind me in an area that few people could address at our level. that and a great PR group, although i preferred to drive my own opportunities (less marketing crap, more technical).

i am, however, off the stage and off the road by choice. couldn't be happier.

Re: Crap I'm speaking at [insert conference here]. How do I prepare?

#50

Post by brc » Wed, Dec 05, 2012, 1:07 AM UTC

freework wrote: post #40

jnazario wrote: post #6

(speaking as someone who literally gave buttloads of presentations all over the world for over a decade) if you use slides i suggest reading cliff atkinson's blog "beyond powerpoint bullets". in it he lays out ideas, principles and templates for PPTs (and any other preso tools) that tell stories. these are based on cognitive studies, like the number of bullet points you should use based on how much your audience can…

I'm curious, how did you et into the 'speaking business'? It seems a lot of these conferences only invite people to speak who have already spoken at large conferences. I did a talk at a local usergroup (5 people attended) and I loved it. I want to give talks at bigger conferences, but my proposals always get rejected. It seems once the ball is rolling, it just keeps rolling. Got any advice?

Keep blogging on the topics you want to speak about. So if you want to speak about X, blog at least once a month about things related to X.

Find out who is doing the speaker selections (even if they are just shortlisting) for the conference. Try and find a way to 'meet' them (this may be online). Find if they have a blog, and comment thoughtfully on their blog. If it's a yearly conference, go to the conference and seek them out and introduce yourself. Go to a session on the topic you want to talk about, and get up, introduce yourself (it feels tacky and awkward, but comes across as very professional) and then ask an intelligent question that will help the presenter cover an aspect they maybe didn't get time to cover. Ideally not a 'gotcha' question.

The aim is that when your submission is on that persons desk, they immediately have a picture in their head of who you are, what you know, and that you can write coherently on the topic at hand.

I followed this prescription and went from nobody wanting me to doing several invited user groups per year and speaking at at least one big conference per year, and also being invited to deliver webinars with quite large audiences.

Finally, don't mess up your big chance when you get it, and beg the attendees to put in evaluation forms if they are there. Hand out candy if you have to.