The document provides tips for planning and delivering presentations at technical conferences. It discusses choosing a topic you are enthusiastic about, preparing your slides and rehearsing your presentation, tailoring your talk for the audience, handling questions, and following up after the event. The overall message is to focus on a compelling topic you are excited about, prepare thoroughly, relax and have fun during the presentation, and engage with other presenters and attendees.

1. Planning and Executing
Presentations at Tech Events

2. Our goals
● Discuss the CFP ● Discuss slideshow tips
● Discuss delivery● Discuss conference
mechanics

3. So, you want to present on a topic...

4. What are you thinking ???!!!!!

5. Why should
a person speak
at technical
conferences??

6. Why I Give Presentations

7. Why I give presentations
● I get enthused about a topic.

8. Why I give presentations
● I get enthused about a topic.
– When I’m excited, people
sense it and get interested
too.

9. Why I give presentations
● I get enthused about a topic.
– When I’m excited, people
sense it and get interested
too. (I hope)

10. Why I give presentations
● I get enthused about a topic.
● I want to help people grow.

11. Why Dave Gives Presentations
● I get enthused about a topic.
● I want to help people grow.
– I enjoy something and love it
when others enjoy it too.

12. Why I give presentations
● I get enthused about a topic.
● I want to help people grow.
● I want to pay back the
fantastic presentations that
helped me grow.

13. Why I give presentations
● I get enthused about a topic.
● I want to help people grow.
● I want to pay back the
fantastic presentations that
helped me grow.
● Research.

14. Why I give presentations
● I get enthused about a topic.
● I want to help people grow.
● I want to pay back the
fantastic presentations that
helped me grow.
● Research.
– I become ten times the expert
I was before I started.

15. Why I give presentations
● I get enthused about a topic.
● I want to help people grow.
● I want to pay back the
fantastic presentations that
helped me grow.
● Research.
● In getting comfortable
presenting, I improve my own
communications skills.

16. Why I give presentations
● I get enthused about a topic.
● I want to help people grow.
● I want to pay back the
fantastic presentations that
helped me grow.
● Research.
● In getting comfortable
presenting, I improve my own
communications skills.
– This makes me a more
effective software engineer /
team lead.

18. Why I give presentations - Benefits
● Others gain enthusiasm to be
curious
– Community progress
● Curiosity fosters growth
● Others will pay it forward too
● Strong motivation to become
a better SME
– Personal growth.
● Honing the soft-skills of an
effective Software Engineer
– Career growth.

21. The Three Virtues
● Laziness
– If I think it’s of value I’d like
others to carry the torch too,
not just me.
● Impatience
– The status quo is never good
enough. We can always do
better, learn more, find better
ways.
● Hubris
– It’s fun for me.
– I’m proud of the cool things
going on around us.

22. What other problems are we solving?
● People get into innovation / growth ruts.
– This helps the presenter get out.
– This helps us find new outlooks.

23. What other problems are we solving?
● People get into innovation /
growth ruts.
● A broad range of topics promotes
enlightened thinking.
– I may never use a given topic at
work. Learning and speaking about
it empowers me with new ways to
think about real problems.

24. The Idea

25. CuriosityCuriosity

27. We Must Be Curious!

28. That interesting thing that...
...you played with;
...you tinkered on;
...you prototyped;
...you thought about but had no time for;
...you worked on;
...you contributed to;
...you read about;
...you studied;
...you broke;
...ruined your day;
...ruined someone’s night;
...you had an epiphany about while sleeping;
...you did;

29. ...that is your talk.

31. Getting Started
● Speaker Bio ● Talk Title
● Talk Description

33. Getting Started
● Speaker Bio
– Brief.
– Interesting.
– Establish authority.
– The opportunity for tasteful
humor is often missed.
● But must be accessible.
– Tailor for your audience.
– Honest.
● Talk Title (ideas)
– Pose a question.
– Assert an answer.
– State what the attendee will gain.
– Tweetable.
● Talk Description
– Brief.
– State the problem or challenge.
– State the talk objective.
– State the attendee’s takeaway.

34. Know your audience

35. The Call for Papers
● Investigate the dates.
– Some conferences have multiple pick-rounds.
– Don’t wait until the last minute because you’ll discover something you
need.

36. The CFP submission
should address
the target audience.

37. Preparation

38. Study

39. Make it work

40. Make it work reliably

41. Make it work visibly

42. Make it interesting that it works

43. Make it work BIG

44. Strongly reconsider
the temptation to
use audio in slides.

45. Animated GIFs are distracting.

46. An AV slide may be appropriate, but must be
absolutely infallible

47. Show only what is needed to demonstrate your
point.

48. It is often better to use screen captures than live
vim sessions

49. Some conferences require slides in advance.
This makes “live demos” impossible.

50. Live demos are difficult regardless.

51. If you must do a live demo, tmux can help...
sometimes.

52. Focus on a topic.
Eliminate the distractions.

53. Examples should be fun.

54. Compose your slides early.
You may be required to submit them.

55. Presentation Flow

56. An early slide should state who you are, briefly.

57. Another early slide should thank your employer,
or plug your favorite project or cause.

58. Introduction: Works for me....
● Title slide
● One or two slides helping
establish the goal for the
presentation.
● One slide about you
● One slide about your pet
cause or project.
● Back to the slide establishing
the goal for the presentation.
● Proceed.

59. Keep ample notes in the note field of your
presentation software.

60. Print your notes or export them to a tablet.

61. TEST YOUR CODE SAMPLES

62. Seek to support assertions with evidence
or authoritative sources.

63. Rehearse
Re-read
Recall your thought process
Review

64. If you have to rush,
you have too much material.

65. Wrapping up: Works for me...
● One or two slides reviewing
what we learned.
– Solicit additional questions
here.
● One slide listing
acknowledgments, or sources
of additional information.
● One slide promoting your pet
cause or project again.
● A final slide with your contact
information and a link to the
Slideshare.

66. Before the event

67. Review your presentation and its notes.

68. Save your slides in multiple formats to your
laptop, a thumb drive, the cloud.

69. Upload your slides to Slideshare, privately.

70. On your last slide, post a link to your slideshare
slideshow.
Make it public after the event.

71. Find out about
● Will you be using your own
equipment?
● Will your equipment work
with their equipment?
● Is there a speaker’s lounge
with sample equipment?
● What adapters will you
need?
● What is the aspect ratio of
the projector?
● Can you test audio before
the presentation?

72. At the event

73. Arrive early

74. Visit the speaker’s lounge.
Test your equipment.

75. Attend a few talks.

76. Attend the talk in the
same room preceding your talk.

77. Attend the talk in the
same room preceding your talk.
(This means you must be prepared)

78. During your presentation

79. Try to have fun.

80. Set a relaxed, light-hearted tone.

81. Take your time

82. Really, slow down and take your time.

83. Make sure you have a beverage.
It is a prop.

84. Let concepts sink in.

85. When eyes glaze over...
● Ask for a show of hands.
● Pull out an example or
demonstration.
● Seek a corroborator.
● Decide quickly whether to go
back one or two slides and
run through again, or to
move on to something more
exciting.

86. It’s ok to take a breather

87. Be cognizant of video recording

88. Laser pointers
may be helpful

90. Don’t forget tmux for live demos

91. Canned live demo software exists.

92. After the presentation

93. Indicate where you’ll be for the next few minutes.

94. Pay it forward; help the next presenter plug in.

95. Exit and take any discussion to the hallway.

96. After the conference

97. Thank the organizers

98. Blog

99. Topics we covered
● Curiosity doesn’t
kill cats.
● The CFP ● Preparing slides.
● Follow up.● Have fun during
the presentation.
● Familiarize
yourself with the
venue