Give A Great Tech Talk 2013

Editor's Notes

• #2: The goal of this tutorial is to improve your presentation skills. Presenting is a skill. While some people have a slightly easier time learning it, anyone can learn it, as generations of Toastmasters have proven. It's just a matter of application of good techniques, and practice.
• #3: Public speaking is a big part of being any kind of an expert today.
• #4: There are a lot of opportunities to give technical talks. I personally give 20 to 30 a year.
• #5: But most of the talks I attend basically suck. At best, they're boring. And not because the speakers don't know their stuff; because they don't know how to present it.
• #6: We can fix this. Anybody can be a good speaker. Anybody who works hard can be a great speaker.
• #7: Schedule for the tutorial
• #8: Of course, 80% – or 90% – of giving a great talk is preparation. I personally put in 7 hours of prep for every hour of speaking. So we're going to spend the majority of the tutorial on presentation.
• #9: There's a bunch of tricks to actually delivering the talk too. To make this fun, I'm going to show you how NOT to do it, and then we can pick that apart.
• #10: Finally, for every person you get to present to personally, 2 to 5 people will watch video, download slides or otherwise see your stuff without you present.
• #11: Example of managing audience expectiations for questions. To control things, we're pusing them to the end of each section.
• #12: This tutorial also involves several participatory exercises. Since these may involve some personal risk for the participant, they'll be rewarded with chocolate.
• #14: Your topic needs to be something you know well and are excited about or your talk can't be great. Excitement is often more important than content.
• #15: The concept of Topic goes beyond just the project or technique you're presenting. What, exactly, do you want to communicate about that?
• #16: This can be like a mad lib. Try to express, in ONE SENTENCE, what you expect to get across during the talk. If you can't do it, there's probably something wrong with your talk concept.
• #17: For example, here's the one-sentence construction of this tutorial.
• #18: In exercise #1, we give one speaker three random topic cards. They pick one to talk about, and then we pull apart why they chose that topic and what they were trying to communicate.
• #19: A couple of DONTS: don't be a sock puppet. Present your own stuff. If necessary, present your own version of someone else's stuff.
• #20: DONT make the mistake of signing up for a talk on something in-progress which you “plan to complete before the conference”. No matter how well you think you're faking it, your audience can tell you have a big empty hole.
• #21: When is your talk? TIme and day? What is it before/after? Is there a break? Will the audience be tired? And how long is it?
• #22: There are 4 basic timeslots. Scale your cotent to the timeslot you have; don't try to cover too much or too little for it.
• #23: Example fo same topic in 3 different timeslots with different scopes of coverage each.
• #24: The biggest thing is to correctly target your audience with your talk. You have to know who they are and speak to them, not some generic audience.
• #25: Know whom you're talking to. If you haven't been to the conference before, try asking the organizers for demographic information. An audience of 22-year-old brazillian drupal developers is very different from an audience of 60-year-old midwestern professors.
• #26: Your audience is going to have expectations about what they will learn. You need to figure out those expectations and try to fullfill them. Otherwise they will be frustrated and hate you.
• #27: An example of giving the same core content to 3 different audiences. This is about a new query analysis tool for PostgreSQL. OSB is mostly web developers and younger hackers. They don't care so much about database internals or theory. They're more interested in making their apps work better.
• #28: pgCon is a bunch of database gear-heads who are already familiar with the problem and the existing tools. They want only technical details and a demo of the new tool and how it can be used.
• #29: SIGCSE is a bunch of computer science educators, many of them older. They expect a more academic presentation of topics. Note the passive voice in the title. And you need to relate your topic to education and theory, NOT to production environments.
• #30: This exercise has two parts. In part 1, we have the audience collectively analyze the audience for Linux Collab and LinuxCon. In part 2, we have speakers give the same talk twice, for different audiences each time.
• #31: Preparing for a talk is a multi-step process. It'll take you quite a bit of time; at least 5 hours for every hour presented, and ofter up to 12. We probably spent a combined 35 hours preparing this tutorial.
• #32: you start with freeform notes. These are our notes from Googledocs while we were designing this presentation. It gave us an idea of the points we wanted to cover and how to consolidate them.
• #33: Once you know what you are covering your presentation needs a “story” or a plot to string it together. Otherwise it can seem random and chaotic. There's really only 6 “stories” for technical presentations.
• #34: an explanation of each of the 6 stories, with an example.
• #35: an explanation of each of the 6 stories, with an example.
• #36: an explanation of each of the 6 stories, with an example.
• #37: an explanation of each of the 6 stories, with an example.
• #38: an explanation of each of the 6 stories, with an example.
• #39: an explanation of each of the 6 stories, with an example.
• #40: Longer timeslots may call for more than one “story”.
• #41: For example, here's the “stories” associated with this tutorial. Well, some of it anyway.
• #42: For this exercise, we have two speakers talk about the talks they are doing, and make up a story to go with them. Then they pick an alternate story and explain how it would go.
• #43: Once you have a story, you can write a script with timings for your presentation.
• #44: Timings are especially important if you're covering a lot of material. You need to break down the presentation by item to know if you are getting behind. Only then can you work on slides.
• #45: In the next section we explore slideless presentations, starting with an audience exercise and then moving on to the options around slideless presentations, including: demos video whiteboards & easels audience exercises
• #46: For this example, we ask someone to do a mental exercise about having to present with no slides.
• #47: It's fashionable for the presentation blogs to obsess over Steve Jobs's slides and technique. But you don't have to be Steve Jobs to use good slides.
• #48: In PragPub magazine, Andy Lester advises starting with the Big Three, unless your needs are really specialized. And he's right.
• #49: So, what do you do if your needs are really specialized? For instance, what if your talk is nearly all code and demos of text commands?
• #50: Scott Chacon has a nifty project called Showoff that's geared toward presenting code and shell sessions. It works by serving up a local web page, which you then view in a full-screen browser.
• #51: The advanced slidemakers are probably better for serious career presenters. And yet, I can't wean myself off of LibreOffice.
• #52: ditto.
• #53: Some conferences require you to use a specific, overly busy slide theme. Call the organizers and ask for an exception. Show them you've done your homework. You might even stealthily use your own, cleaner version for your actual talk (but don't alienate the organizers). Worse is when your employer asks you use their theme. We'll cover that in a minute
• #54: Huge obnoxious employer themes say one thing to your audience: “Sellout!”. They can't pay attention to your slides. And there's no space.
• #55: You can rework employer branding to be inobtrusive.
• #56: It can be fun to organize a presentation around an “accessory theme” which is an idea that is only tangentally related to the topic of the talk, like comic books or mountain climbing.
• #57: We went with a “Grand Prix” theme for the 9.2 presentations.
• #58: THis was an example of an accessory theme which worked.
• #59: This is a notorious example of a bad accessory theme.
• #60: It was bad not just for being highly offensive, but because it made for a bad talk.
• #61: While we're at it, let's try hard not to alienate large portions of our audience. You want your talk to be famous, but not for the wrong reasons.
• #62: In four words.
• #63: There's lots of readability research on dark vs. light backgrounds. But little of that has to do with showing code on a projector. You can make either of these work; anecdotally, light on dark is a little more legible.
• #64: There's lots of readability research on dark vs. light backgrounds. But little of that has to do with showing code on a projector. You can make either of these work; anecdotally, light on dark is a little more legible.
• #65: When you're thinking about color visibility, you might take a page from the medieval playbook. Back then, heralds knew how to make sure contrast was visible 100 feet away. They used a set of rules based on “colors” and “metals”.
• #66: In this scheme, metals are gold (yellow) and silver (white). Everything else is a color. You can put a color on a metal or a metal on a color, but not a metal on a metal or a color on a color.
• #67: For a modern example of this phenomenon, see your local highway department. All the signs in this intersection are either metal on color, or color on metal.
• #68: We're not going to give you an ironclad “thou shalt not” point size. Start with master slides that go down to about 36 pt or so. If you find yourself needing to make the font smaller to fit more words, consider breaking the slide up.
• #69: Don't be a font junkie.
• #70: Cute specialty typefaces seem attractive when you're making slides. But they're darned hard to read. Stick with a simple, common font like Arial, Times, etc.
• #71: The easiest way to restrict yourself to a simple palette of slide types is to use your software's master slide feature. This is also the place to add a template for slides that contain code snippets.
• #72: You need to carefully consider which code snippets you're going to show on your slides.
• #73: This example is too much to absorb. It also uses a color theme that's good on screen, but hard to read on a projector. Green on white is particularly projector-unfriendly. The grey comment doesn't provide enough contrast.
• #74: Here's a small part of that slide, reformatted to fit the screen and skinned with a higher-contrast theme.
• #75: Here's an example of a query which is way too big to fit on one slide. How to present it? Snippet expansion.
• #76: “Zoom” into the first part and redact the other parts.
• #77: Then the 2 nd part
• #78: Then the 3 rd , etc.
• #79: Some general tips on presenting code, recapped.
• #80: Wow, that's going to be a lot of work, isn't it?
• #81: For other editors, you can get a similar effect by running the Pygments syntax highlighter as an external program. We suggest setting up a keyboard shortcut for this.
• #82: Here are a few reasonable defaults for the TextMate editor. Don't miss the Create HTML command, which hands syntax-highlighted code over to a browser window – so you don't lose your colors when you copy / paste.
• #83: You're not going to be able to show all your code in your talk. There will always be more that your audience will want to see later. So don't forget to throw in a GitHub or Bitbucket link.
• #84: You can't possibly know if the presentation is going to work or not unless you rehearse. Run through it, at regular speed, out loud. Really! You'll discover major things which need to be changed that way. And test your timing.
• #85: There's various ways to rehearse, depending on what presentation skill you really need to work on.
• #86: Then there's a bunch of prep you need to do at, or just before, the conference.
• #87: Just before the conference, make sure you know the environment you're presenting in. Also follow up with conference organizers.
• #88: Take a look at the room before you have to present in it. Note any adjustments you need to make.
• #89: Test the projector! Don't find out your laptop doesn't work with it 5 minutes before you present.
• #90: Now's the time to turn your laptop into a presentation machine.
• #91: Don't forget to use the facilities. No way you can get through a presentation hopping around. You should be in your room at least 15 min before the presentation.
• #92: Remove everything which might distract your audience while you're presenting.
• #93: Of course, you need to actually deliver the presentation as well as preparing it.
• #94: Lightning talks can help you become a good speaker.
• #95: Lightning talks are the “sprints” of the speaking world. They help you improve all of your speaking skills, and build confidence, with a low time commitment.
• #96: You've all seen presentations which suck. You may have given them. While suckitude comes in a lot of flavors, I've found that there's 7 characteristics which all sucky presentations will have some or all of.
• #97: Step 1 is to hide behind the podium. Don't come out for anything! Especially don't walk out and interact with the audience. That podium or table protects you. Just sit behind it and read your notes.
• #98: Always have an about us slide. It's useful either as a way to bore the audience or as a form of boasting. Hint: if the audience doesn't know who you are before they walk in the room, they don't care. Also have picture. Since they may need to ID you to the police.
• #99: Even better is the corporate about us slide. The ideal version recounts the entire history of the company starting at Genesis. With this, you can waste enough time that you don't have to have any presentation content.
• #104: The third habit caters to a select portion of the audience at the expense of everyone else.
• #105: It's what I call “presenting for the blind”.
• #106: Read the slide verbatim in a monotone.
• #107: You can't be a really bad presenter without screwing up the slides themselves. The best way is this one.
• #108: DR. Bronner jams every square millimeter of his soap labels full of bizarre propaganda. You should treat your slides the same way! Leave no square inch of whitespace!
• #109: Here's a good example of way-the-heck too much text. It's full of acronyms and runs off the page. And what the hell is that picture?
• #110: Dr. Bronner would be proud.
• #111: You can also overcrowd your slides with other things. Five graphs on one page!
• #112: But to really exploit the too much crap theme, you need to use some architecture diagrams. No matter what they are designed to portray, arch diagrams always look like a plate of spaghetti from the back of the room.
• #113: More arch diagrams
• #114: More arch diagrams
• #115: More arch diagrams
• #116: You create expectations in the audience when you post your talk description in the conference catalog. If what you present is very different from the description, then you will frustrate them and they will hate it. Even if it is otherwise a good presentation.
• #117: Covering only half the material you promised is one way to piss people off. Some of them will have attended your talk just to hear the stuff in the other half.
• #118: This is the one I see the most, and the best way to make yourself look like a tool. If you promise working code, you'd better have it … or don't get invited back to that conference.
• #119: See how you've pitched your talk: is it pitched to experts or beginners? If you provide the wrong level of information, people will either be disappointed or confused.
• #121: Like working code, if you promise in-depth hacking you'd better provide it. Otherwise you're a corporate drone. This is the trouble you'll be in if you present on something you don't know about. Marketing slides don't fool people.
• #122: One of the most common presentations mistakes is to lose track of time.
• #123: Your audience has a schedule to maintain, too. And if you only cover half the material in the time allotted, they won't forgive you. Even less if you make them late for lunch!
• #124: Panicking in front of the audience is a guarenteed way to lose them and their opinion of you. Stuff goes wrong while presenting. You need to keep your cool.
• #125: These 6 stages mark the descent into panic and loss of audience. If you find yourself apologizing a lot,you need to get a grip and move on.
• #126: Summary of the flavors of sucking.
• #127: Now, we're going to discuss and compare the sucky techniques and how to do better.
• #128: Get up! Move around! Give your audience a reason to think they couldn't have caught this on the video feed.
• #129: Hint: if the audience doesn't know who you are before they walk in the room, they don't care. The only time an “about me” is appropriate is when you're known for something other than the topic you're presenting, and you have to explain your relevant experience. Then you want to explain ONLY that.
• #130: There's only one cure for that, and that's rehearsal.
• #131: There's a number of things to remember in order not to be a Dr. Bronner.
• #132: Start by making each slide about just one thing. You'll find that your slides will drift to a simple style on their own.
• #133: start by making each slide about just one thing. You'll find that your slides will drift to a simple style on their own.
• #134: Way too many presenters behave like they're paying a fee per slide, and have to make the most efficient use of slides possible. Slides are free! Use as many as you need!
• #143: The other thing to think about is pragmatic. The most common projector or sightline issue is clipping the screen. So you don't want anything important at the edges of it.
• #144: You create expectations in the audience when you post your talk description in the conference catalog. If what you present is very different from the description, then you will frustrate them and they will hate it. Even if it is otherwise a good presentation.
• #145: One of the most important things you can do is make sure to finish your presentation on time.
• #146: You need to pace yourself to the time. Use a timer so you know how you are doing. There are many techologies available: Presenter screens on softtware Clicker remotes with timers iphone presentation control application
• #147: Panicking in front of the audience is a guarenteed way to lose them and their opinion of you. Stuff goes wrong while presenting. You need to keep your cool.
• #148: Keeping your cool is the biggest thing.
• #149: Good presentations require audience interaction, not just slides.
• #150: Most basic audience interation is eye contact. Make fleeting eye contact with several members of the audience. Don't just look down. On the other hand, don't stare at one audience member all the time. You look like a stalker.
• #152: Now that you've gotten out from behind the podium, be aware of your body language. Use “open” body language, not “closed”. Check yourself for various bad habit body language: Covering genitals Flapping hands Hands in pockets Turning away from the audience
• #155: Make sure to ask the audience for responses. At least ask them about who they are and level of experience with topic. Then you can adjust your presentation as you go. A response near the beginning of the talk helps engage the audience.
• #156: Jokes are really vital to wake up the audience, especially after lunch But are the hardest thing … you have potential to derail the whole presentation if your joke is especially bad or offensive. Don't use a joke without “testing” it. Especially on someone of another gender/culture.
• #157: Jokes are really vital to wake up the audience, especially after lunch But are the hardest thing … you have potential to derail the whole presentation if your joke is especially bad or offensive. Don't use a joke without “testing” it. Especially on someone of another gender/culture.
• #158: You can take questions any way you like, the audience just has to know what to expect. For UGs and workshops questions throughout preso work better. For formal presentations, especially with short time, questions at end tend to work better.
• #159: You'll always get some questions you can't answer. Don't BS. Say “I don't know that right now, let me get back to you after the presentation.”
• #160: You know this guy, or you will. He sits towards the front, asking questions, interrupting. Insisting on tangents. Remember that your presentation is for the whole audience, not just him. Ask him to save his questions for after the talk. If he won't, rudely ignore him.
• #161: This is a different kind of problem audience member. This is the person who could give your presentation better than you, knows more than you. Two things you can do: (1) pretend they're not there, (2) address questions to them – but not too much!
• #162: Of course, you've seen the audience participation exercises elsewhere in this talk. The imporant thing about audience participation is to scope it correctly; you can't let it derail your talk if it doesn't work well. Be ready to drop back to something else. Do NOT have open-ended solicitations. Always have a simple set of responses in mind, or a very carefully defined task.
• #164: Demos always crash. In unpredictable, unrepeatable ways. No matter how much you prepare. You need to be mentally prepared for this.
• #165: Presentation Laptops fail in interesting ways. Software you're demoing develops new and novel bugs at the podium which you will never see before or again. And conference internet never ever works if you need it for your preso.
• #166: Demo only stuff you know well and can repeat reliably. Do not demo the latest new features just checked in the night before. Test your laptop, projector, etc. on the demo. Run the demo at least 10 times. Rewindable Virtual machines like VMWare, Vbox, Parallels allow you to restore your demo machine to “predemo” state. Even better, you can fake your demo … more later. Have an alternative demo in case one fails. And never do demos which depend on other demos working.
• #167: Modern vm technolgy has made it much easier to rehearse and rerun demos without needing to do a lot of cleanup/setup.
• #168: Thanks to advancing technology there are a lot of ways to fake your demos. First there's screenshots – mainly good if demo fails. Video is a better way to fake a demo, especially if demo depends in internet. For text-console demos, there are several techniques: Bash history Recording shell sessions using script or ttyrec and playing them back. Interactive “fake” shell programs like Perl's IO::Prompt.
• #169: Don't forget that there are lots more people who want to see your slides, but couldn't be there in the room with you. There are several things you can do for these folks
• #170: If you've given a really good talk, people will want to continue Q&A with you. Take them out into the hallway.
• #171: No, not talking about that kind of sharing. Don't get analysis paralysis when you're deciding where to post your slides. Just stick with one of the most common options.
• #172: Obviously, there's your own website.
• #173: Despite their name, speaker notes are not for the speaker.
• #174: You don't want your speaker notes to read like this. Just have a couple of sentences to give people an idea of what you said.
• #175: SlideShare is the granddaddy of presentation hosts. Two of its nicest features are audio sync (where you mark when the slides should advance) and embedded YouTube video (so home users can still see your demo).
• #176: When you post your presentation, you can either include the speaker notes at the bottom of the page, or you can use your software's built-in audio recording ability.
• #177: You can also just export your whole show as a movie and upload it to YouTube. Google for one of the various tutorials on getting the screen resolution just right.
• #178: some additional tips for sharing.
• #179: if it's a good talk, you'll give it again. Plan to track your slides, materials, notes, and keep track of the changes to them.
• #180: And here's an example of some of those sharing tips. Hope you enjoyed it!