Everything is too long • Hacker News Board

Re: Everything is too long

#11

Post by crystalis » Sat, Nov 21, 2009, 1:01 AM UTC

jonsteinberg wrote: post #3

kortina wrote: post #2

20-30 minutes of content is plenty to satisfy me. I really enjoy the ignite format, where the slides are on a 30sec timer, but they do too many presentations. We need events where there's lots of pressure on the attendees to keep the presentation tight and fewer presentations in the whole event.

I find that people consistently use 10 words to say what can be said in 3.

I enjoy, and by enjoy, I mean don't enjoy, how you said something specific, leading people not only to reply with three word responses that don't capture your meaning, but also to upvote all the stupid responses that don't actually say precisely what you meant.

Re: Everything is too long

#12

Post by ubernostrum » Sat, Nov 21, 2009, 1:08 AM UTC

forinti wrote: post #6

ramchip wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They talk excessively.

They blabber.

Peccavi.

Re: Everything is too long

#13

Post by jamesbritt » Sat, Nov 21, 2009, 1:30 AM UTC

kortina wrote: post #2

20-30 minutes of content is plenty to satisfy me. I really enjoy the ignite format, where the slides are on a 30sec timer, but they do too many presentations. We need events where there's lots of pressure on the attendees to keep the presentation tight and fewer presentations in the whole event.

Every speaker should try the Ignite/Peka Kucha format.

In fact, if you're planning a talk, first do a 5/6minute version with fixed slides. You'll be forced to really think about what you want to say.

Then start adding what you think might still be needed. It probably won't be as much as you thought. What might otherwise have been a sluggish 45 or 60 minute talk is instead a tight 20-minute gem.

I was fortunate to be part of the MoutainWest RubyConf advisory team last year, and was one of the people pushing for shorter talks. I'd much rather see more topics presented in 20 or 30-minutes sprints than the usual 45 or 60 minute talk.

There are so many ways to get information out to people that you really don't need to explain it all in one shot. People start tuning out anyway.

Cover the essential concepts, point out some striking features, give a fast demo, drop the stand-up comedy patter, give URLs for more info. Then make your self available for questions later.

Re: Everything is too long

#14

Post by ramchip » Sat, Nov 21, 2009, 6:22 AM UTC

crystalis wrote: post #11

jonsteinberg wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that people consistently use 10 words to say what can be said in 3.

I enjoy, and by enjoy, I mean don't enjoy, how you said something specific, leading people not only to reply with three word responses that don't capture your meaning, but also to upvote all the stupid responses that don't actually say precisely what you meant.

Sorry. Having checked out reddit yesterday, I can see what you want to avoid. The pressure was strong, however :)

Re: Everything is too long

#15

Post by pbhjpbhj » Sat, Nov 21, 2009, 2:12 PM UTC

trimski wrote: post #7

jonsteinberg wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that people consistently use 10 words to say what can be said in 3.

"Omit needless words," as William Strunk, Jr. wrote.

Shouldn't it have been along the lines of the "eschew obfuscation" quote:

"Omit all the needless words, lexical expressions and verbage that are not required and so can be removed."

Or such.

Re: Everything is too long

#16

Post by atiw » Sat, Nov 21, 2009, 8:40 PM UTC

Exactly !! The ironic part is startup founders and VCs are probably the people who need to network more and learn more from these conferences.....however, we startup founders need to work on our startups too....and more than anyone else, I think.