This article was written after the DotAll Conference 2018. The developer community I refer to is the incredibly supportive Craft CMS community.
The room was packed, with standing space only. I could see tired, expectant facial expressions in the audience. It had been four years since I’d last spoken at a tech conference, and I recalled my conclusion: technical presentations are too polarising – half of the audience loses the thread at some point, while the other is left longing for more depth and detail.
As I was introduced, I felt that familiar rush of excitement combined with self-doubt. I took a deep breath, reminding myself that I was as prepared as I could ever be and to “stick to the script”.
The essence of presenting at tech conferences is that your presentation should deliver a clear and meaningful message and should specifically:
Speak To Your Audience – engage them with stories and experiences they can relate to.
Educate Them – give them something novel and beneficial to take away from your talk, regardless of their technical ability.
Wow Them – evoke emotion so that what you say is retained.
Before we look at each point in detail, I must admit that speaking to large groups of people does not come naturally to me. The days and weeks leading up to a presentation used to be nerve-racking. I would feel incredible pressure to deliver something sensational, which resulted in obsessive preparation.
Fortunately, with practice and over time, it has improved, and I can now enjoy the process. I’ve tried to break it down into a few general principles that I believe apply to every speaker in every situation.
Key Takeaways #
1. Speak To Your Audience #
Understanding your audience is pivotal. It determines not only the topic you present but the way you present it, the level of detail you go into, etc. The best approach is to get to know the individuals that represent your audience. I generally speak at conferences based around a developer community, so I often already know a good portion of the attendees personally. If you don’t have the good fortune of knowing your attendees, find a way to connect and converse with them as soon as possible. Ask them questions that will give you the most insight: What are they struggling with? What would they like to learn more about? What would they be fascinated to hear?
Preparing a presentation is never a task that gets done. It is a creative process that comes to fruition when you utter your first word on stage. I generally begin preparing from the moment I’m invited to speak until the day of the presentation. Those few days before a presentation are critical. This is your opportunity to meet other speakers and attendees in person, gauge the atmosphere of the conference, and identify current trends and topics of interest. This is not the time to rewrite your presentation. Still, it is an ideal time to set the tone for your opening and closing remarks, tweak a slide here and there, and add some tastefully humorous comments about other speakers or in-jokes about the conference.
Creating rapport with the audience is extremely important. Humour and a sense of light-heartedness help the audience (and you) relax so that they are open to what you have to say. However, building suspense is just as important. Creating suspense at the beginning and bringing it to a resolution at the end of your presentation plays an important part in keeping your audience engaged. Your presentation is a “performance”, after all, making you part-educator and part-entertainer.
2. Educate Them #
Teach your audience something new. Besides the social opportunities that conferences provide, people generally attend to learn. Leaving a conference wishing you had learned more is disappointing.
What you share can be simple and practical. It doesn’t have to be profound, but it should open up new possibilities, ideally inspirational and pragmatic. Your audience has, after all, spent a significant amount of money and taken a few days off work to be there. Speak about what you do best, what you know inside-out, what you are most passionate about. Don’t bullshit them, and don’t pretend to be something you are not. Be genuine, be humble, be you.
3. Wow Them #
Captivate your audience: tell them a story, take them on a journey, and send them away with a new-found sense of wonder. That magical, child-like feeling when something seemingly impossible becomes suddenly plausible, is what you’re after. There’s no need to perform tricks on stage, but a little magic will evoke their emotions and leave a lasting impression.
Wowing an audience takes creativity and charisma. It can take the form of telling a compelling story or giving a live demonstration. While live demos can be risky (so have a backup plan just in case), nothing is more engaging or interactive. Whatever your method, it should arouse their curiosity before revealing an underlying message.
Don’t let all this talk of “wowing” distract you from the fact that your message is the essence of your presentation. Your energy is the vehicle for getting that message across to a room full of people. Elicit suspense, wonder and emotional engagement.
Below are some practical tips that I find helpful when preparing presentations.
Structuring your Presentation #
Begin with a strong opening – create suspense by tantalisingly describing the “big idea” you will reveal during your presentation. Then introduce yourself – keep it brief and personal. Next, build your case with a few key points, each backed by a story. Build up to a climax with your “wow” moment, and finally, summarise your message and close strongly.
Slides #
Your slides should support what you have to say, not the other way around! Avoid the temptation of jumping the gun and designing slides straight away. Doing so is a waste of time and a distraction until you have a clear idea of what and how you want to communicate. Although you should research and collect data for your presentation at an earlier stage, don’t make the mistake of building your presentation around your slides.
Research #
Researching your subject matter is the groundwork for preparing your presentation. Begin as early as possible by reading, investigating, experimenting and conversing with your peers. Expose yourself to as many real-world applications and people in the field as possible. I cannot overstate the importance of having direct conversations. This is the best way to get out of your head and appreciate different perspectives on any given topic, building a solid case and delivering a meaningful message.
Practice #
Practising a presentation is easy; we just tend to avoid it. This is a trap. By the time you speak on stage, you should be well-versed in your delivery. Choose your words purposefully, lighten your mood and be animated. You can practice by visualising yourself going through the presentation; performing it to an empty room; recording (and watching back) a video of yourself; practising in front of people (especially those prepared to give constructive criticism). I recommend doing them all. Each time you go through your presentation, you will gain valuable feedback.
Keep it Lean #
A bloated presentation will comatose your audience and obscure the focus of your message. Cut out any parts of your presentation that don’t directly support the thread of your message – even if they took days to prepare. Practice your pacing so you can move quickly over less important parts and spend more time on those that deserve emphasis. Time your delivery so you finish under rather than over your time limit. Less is more. It will also give you a buffer for technical issues, ensuring you have enough time to deliver your wow moment and a strong conclusion.
Understand How the Brain Works #
Understand that how we communicate ideas and concepts differs from how we receive them. When we explain an idea, we do so using the neocortex, the most recently evolved part of the brain. It processes complex issues and presents them using language and reason. On the other hand, when we receive an idea, we do so using the reptilian brain – the oldest part of the brain in evolutionary terms. It filters all incoming messages, generates most of our “fight-or-flight” responses and produces strong, basic emotions. As a result, when you get up on stage, your audience may start out sceptical and weary rather than the desired curious and attentive.
This is how Oren Klaff explains it in his excellent book, “Pitch Anything”:
As you are pitching your idea, the croc brain of the person sitting across from you isn’t “listening” and thinking, “Hmmm, is this a good deal or not?” Its reaction to your pitch basically goes like this: “Since this is not an emergency, how can I ignore this or spend the least amount of time possible on it?”
This filtering system of the crocodile brain has a very short-sighted view of the world. Anything that is not a crisis it tries to mark as “spam”.
If you got a chance to look at the croc brain’s filtering instructions, it would look something like this:
- If it’s not dangerous, ignore it.
- If it’s not new and exciting, ignore it.
- If it is new, summarize it as quickly as possible – and forget about the details.
And finally there is this specific instruction:
- Do not send anything up to the neocortex for problem solving unless you have a situation that is really unexpected and out of the ordinary.
These are the basic operating policies and procedures of our brains. No wonder pitching is so difficult.
Final Prep #
For the most part, final preparations go without saying. Nevertheless, I have witnessed conference speakers paying little attention to their physical and mental state on the day. Your final prep should ensure that you are well rested, well nourished, well dressed and mentally sharp. Of course, travel, nerves and anxiety affect your mental state, but that is what mental preparation and mindfulness are for.
In Conclusion #
Although presenting at conferences still takes a huge amount of preparation and work, I have become more grounded and self-assured in my intention and what I can offer. There will always be those who like what I say and those who don’t, which reminds me of the great ending to Bob Dylan’s “Talkin’ World War III Blues”:
Half of the people can be part right all of the time
Some of the people can be all right part of the time
But all of the people can’t be all right all of the time
Forget about people-pleasing and focus on being genuine and enjoying yourself. The fact that you have the courage to get up on stage in the first place proves strength of character, a willingness to be wrong and a desire to share your wisdom, which is commendable.