Speaker Support of Awesomeness - Open Source Bridge 2014

Once upon a time, I was terrified of public speaking. I went from having stage fright to being a stage presence who speaks at conferences. I run a support group for old and new speakers called the "Tech Conf Speaker Support of Awesomeness." I want to talk about what we do, why we do it, and how well it's worked out so far. This talk is about speaking for the first time, improving your talks, and how conference organizers and attendees can help too.

Transcript

1. Speaker support of presented at OSBridge 2014
2. Supporting New Speakers
3. New speakers Consumers
4. Consumers? Event organizers Attendees People at home
5. Why? How? Tips & Tricks
7. Why should we care?
8. We want awesome talks
9. awesome talks
10. awesome talks Expand your knowledge Challenge preconceptions Leave you feeling inspired
11. awesome talks Expand your knowledge Challenge preconceptions Leave you feeling inspired
12. awesome talks Expand your knowledge Challenge preconceptions Leave you feeling inspired
13. What’s not awesome?
14. same people
15. same talks
16. same topics
17. same way
18. same conferences
19. ! year 2012
20. after year ! year 2012 2013
21. after year after year ! year 2012 2013 2014
22. Even with great speakers, it can get boring.
23. Sometimes they want to take a break.
24. And they’re not all great speakers…
25. SPEAKER LAW OF INERTIA
26. SPEAKER LAW OF INERTIA A person who speaks
27. SPEAKER LAW OF INERTIA A person who speaks will continue to speak
28. SPEAKER LAW OF INERTIA A person who speaks will continue to speak unless acted upon
29. SPEAKER LAW OF INERTIA A person who speaks will continue to speak unless acted upon by an outside force.
30. I want us to be that outside force
31. new speakers shake up the status quo
32. homogenous the status quo is
33. homogenous
34. homogenous is boring
35. diversity
36. diversity is interesting
37. diversity of passions
38. diversity of ideas
39. diversity of experiences
40. diversity of backgrounds
41. don’t forget the elephant in the room
42. diversity of speaker lineups
43. THIS IS A DRAMATIZATION
44. THIS IS A DRAMATIZATION Any resemblance to real events or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
45. VanillaTechConf is excited to announce the speaker lineup for 2014!
47. We are disappointed in the homogenous speaker lineup.
48. We tried, but we couldn’t find any other speakers.
49. NOT GOOD ENOUGH!
55. It doesn’t have to be this way…
56. Supporting new speakers can help.
57. Don’t worry
58. Don’t worry This isn’t a unicorn talk
59. Why should you become a speaker?
60. public speaking is good for you
61. public speaking is good for you* *with exceptions
62. Improve confidence
63. After speaking in front of 100s of strangers, a lot of other things seem way less scary
64. Promote your ideas
65. Promote yourself
66. Meet awesome people
67. Be the change you want to see
68. Before you start looking for excuses…
69. I’m not a big name.
71. Not needed for a CFP
72. Call F P
73. Call For P
74. Call For Proposals
75. I’m not an expert.
76. what you think you need to know
77. what you actually need to know
78. You are an expert on your experiences
79. Experts aren’t always the best for the job
80. expert
81. beginner expert
82. beginner expert
83. I don’t have anything interesting to say.
84. this is my skeptical face
85. Impostor Syndrome
86. I’m afraid of public speaking.
88. Give & Get Support
89. Event Organizers
94. Experienced Speakers • Plant the seed • Provide advice • Mentor • Start a support group
95. Tech Conf Speaker Support of
96. Brainstorming
97. Selecting Events
98. Proposal Writing
99. Expectations Management
100. Suckin’ at something is the first step to being sorta good at something.
101. Expectations Management
102. Talk Preparation
103. General Support
104. Individuals
105. Start Small
106. Lightning Talks
107. Lightning Talks 5 mins
108. Speaking at work
109. User Groups
110. >14,350 clubs in 122 countries
112. Don’t alienate your audience
113. So easy your mom can do it
114. So easy your mom can do it
115. It’s not open mic night
116. Don’t live code
117. Don’t read us your blog post
118. Slides
119. Keep It Simple
120. YOUR SLIDES ARE NOT AN EYE CHART
121. don’t use tiny text
122. use big text
123. use huge text
124. use ridiculously massive text
125. <code> on slides
126. def merge_sort(m) return m if m.length <= 1 middle = m.length / 2 left = m[0,middle] right = m[middle..-1] left = merge_sort(left) right = merge_sort(right) merge(left, right) end def merge(left, right) result = [] until left.empty? || right.empty? if left.first <= right.first result << left.shift else result << right.shift end end result + left + right end ary = [7,6,5,9,8,4,3,1,2,0] p merge_sort(ary) # => [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
127. def merge_sort(m) return m if m.length <= 1 middle = m.length / 2 left = m[0,middle] right = m[middle..-1] left = merge_sort(left) right = merge_sort(right) merge(left, right) end
128. def merge_sort(m) return m if m.length <= 1 middle = m.length / 2 left = m[0,middle] right = m[middle..-1] left = merge_sort(left) right = merge_sort(right) merge(left, right) end
129. def merge_sort(m) # Return if already sorted # Split into left and right # Sort left and right ! # Merge end
130. def merge_sort(m) # Return if already sorted return m if m.length <= 1 # Split into left and right # Sort left and right ! # Merge end
131. def merge_sort(m) # Return if already sorted # Split into left and right middle = m.length / 2 left = m[0,middle] right = m[middle..-1] # Sort left and right ! # Merge end
132. def merge_sort(m) # Return if already sorted # Split into left and right # Sort left and right left = merge_sort(left) right = merge_sort(right) ! # Merge end
133. def merge_sort(m) # Return if already sorted # Split into left and right # Sort left and right ! # Merge merge(left, right) end
134. def merge(left, right) result = [] until left.empty? || right.empty? if left.first <= right.first result << left.shift else result << right.shift end end result + left + right end
135. def merge(left, right) result = [] until left.empty? || right.empty? if left.first <= right.first result << left.shift else result << right.shift end end result + left + right end
136. def merge(left, right) result = [] until left.empty? || right.empty? if left.first <= right.first result << left.shift else result << right.shift end end result + left + right end
137. def merge(left, right) result = [] until left.empty? || right.empty? if left.first <= right.first result << left.shift else result << right.shift end end result + left + right end
138. def merge(left, right) result = [] until left.empty? || right.empty? if left.first <= right.first result << left.shift else result << right.shift end end result + left + right end
139. def merge(left, right) result = [] until left.empty? || right.empty? if left.first <= right.first result << left.shift else result << right.shift end end result + left + right end
140. Don’t put important content at the bottom
141. High Contrast
142. Crappy Projectors
143. Color Blindness
144. Project Results
145. Project Results
146. Supporting Imagery
147. The Noun Project
152. flickr
154. Pop Culture
156. ALL THE MEMES!
157. ALL THE MEMES!
158. ALL THE MEMES!
159. ALL THE MEMES! such meme wow
160. ALL THE MEMES! such meme wow
161. ALL THE MEMES! such meme wow
162. ALL THE MEMES! such meme wow
163. ALL THE MEMES! such meme wow
164. ALL THE MEMES! such meme wow
166. Practice.
167. Practice. Practice.
168. Practice. Practice. Practice.
170. Memorize what's important. The rest you make your own.
171. Only way to do that keep sayin’ it… and sayin' it… and sayin' it…
172. Playtest your talk
173. Playtest your talk June 13 - playtest June 25 - real talk
174. Plan for technical difficulties
175. Become a Speaker
176. Support New Speakers
177. Julie Pagano @juliepagano Thank you!
178. Additional Resources
179. Blog Posts • I Support Speakers and So Can You - http://juliepagano.com/blog/ 2014/04/27/i-support-speakers-and-so-can-you/ • Presentation Skills Considered Harmful by Kathy Sierra - http:// seriouspony.com/blog/2013/10/4/presentation-skills-considered- harmful • http://weareallaweso.me/ • http://cognition.happycog.com/article/so-why-should-I-speak-publicly • http://writing.jan.io/2013/05/10/how-to-give-the-killer-tech-talk---a- pamphlet.html • http://blog.pamelafox.org/2013/08/why-do-i-speak-at- conferences.html
180. Talks About Talking • Conference Submissions and Presentations by Matthew McCullough - Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=fJz4JJIchaY&feature=youtu.be - Slides: https://speakerdeck.com/ matthewmccullough/conference-submissions- and-presentations
181. Presentation Tools Many beginners may be unsure what to use to create a presentation. Below are some tools I’ve used before. I don’t think there’s a “right” tool. Pick the one that is easy for you to use and meets your needs. • Keynote (Mac only) • PowerPoint (Windows and OSX) • Google Drive Presentation (browser) • Reveal.js - http://lab.hakim.se/reveal-js/ (browser)
182. About Pycon • PyCon 2014 - Summer Update - http:// pycon.blogspot.com/2013/08/pycon-2014- summer-update.html • PyCon 2014 - Thanks! - http://pycon.blogspot.com/ 2014/04/pycon-2014-thanks.html • Conference Recap: PyCon 2014 - http:// juliepagano.com/blog/2014/04/14/conference- recap-pycon-2014/
183. Other Conferences PyCon isn’t the only conference doing outreach to support new speakers. Here are some others: • https://thestrangeloop.com/attendees/diversity- scholarships • Beating the Odds — How We got 25% Women Speakers for JSConf EU 2012 - http:// 2012.jsconf.eu/2012/09/17/beating-the-odds-how- we-got-25-percent-women-speakers.html
184. Imagery Resources Places to find imagery for your talks: • The Noun Project - http://thenounproject.com/ • Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/search/? q=test&l=cc&ct=0&mt=all&adv=1 • Wikimedia Commons - http:// commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
185. Example Early Speakers • Nell Shamrell - Behind the Curtain - Madison Ruby 2012 • Behind the Curtain: Applying lessons learned from years in the Theatre to crafting software applications. • http://www.confreaks.com/videos/1093- madisonruby2012-behind-the-curtain-applying- lessons-learned-from-years-in-the-theatre-to- crafting-software-applications
186. Example Early Speakers • Stephen Ball - Deliberate Git - Steel City Ruby 2013 • In Deliberate Git I'll share how to use Git to write detailed commits that craft a cohesive story about the code without giving up a good programming flow. • https://speakerdeck.com/sdball/deliberate-git • https://vimeo.com/72762735
187. My Speaking Timeline Throughout the talk, I mention that people should start small and can progress over time. I thought it might be interesting to share a timeline of my progression as a speaker over time, but it didn’t fit in the time for the talk. I’m leaving it here in case it interests you. You can find links to slides and videos from these talks on my site: http://juliepagano.com/speaking/
188. My Speaking Timeline • April 2012 - Lightning talk at work retreat (first talk) • July 2012 - Lightning talk at PghRb • August 2012 - Lightning talk at Steel City Ruby • January 2013 - Speaking support group created • February 2013 - Lightning talk at PghRb • June 2013 - Conference speaker at Pittsburgh TechFest (first conference talk)
189. My Speaking Timeline • August 2013 - Conference speaker (alternate) at Steel City Ruby • September 2013 - Conference speaker at Nickel City Ruby • April 2014 - Conference speaker at PyCon • June 2014 - Keynote speaker at OSBridge (first keynote)
190. Attribution
191. Attribution • Presentation designed by XOXO from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/presentation/23951/ • Happy designed by Julien Deveaux from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/happy/43940/ • Neutral designed by Julien Deveaux from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/neutral/43949/ • Calendar designed by Daniel Llamas Soto from the Noun Project - http://thenounproject.com/term/calendar/38232/ • Happy designed by Julien Deveaux from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/happy/43961/
192. Attribution • Man designed by Simon Child from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/man/22453/ • Man designed by Simon Child from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/man/22486/ • Man designed by Simon Child from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/man/22466/ • Man designed by Joshua McMahan from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/man/13856/ • Man designed by Simon Child from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/man/22473/
193. Attribution • Man designed by Simon Child from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/man/22956/ • Neutral designed by Julien Deveaux from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/neutral/43968/ • Sick designed by Julien Deveaux from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/sick/43969/ • Angry designed by Julien Deveaux from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/angry/43964/ • Surprised designed by Julien Deveaux from the Noun Project - http://thenounproject.com/term/surprised/43962/
194. Attribution • Surprised designed by Julien Deveaux from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/surprised/43962/ • Dialog designed by Reed Enger from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/dialog/6070/ • Thought designed by Adam Zubin from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/thought/35709/ • Chicken and Egg from Wikimedia Commons - http:// commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: %E0%B9%84%E0%B8%82%E0%B9%88%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%81%E0 %B9%88.jpg • Baseball Field designed by Erik Wagner from the Noun Project -
195. Attribution • Baseball Field designed by Erik Wagner from the Noun Project - http://thenounproject.com/term/baseball-field/25079/ • Chat designed by Mister Pixel from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/chat/36835/ • Brainstorm designed by Bastien Ho from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/brainstorm/20036/ • Lightning Bolt designed by daisy binks from the Noun Project - http://thenounproject.com/term/lightning-bolt/9601/ • Microphone designed by Eric Bird from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/microphone/28757/
196. Attribution • MST 3K - free vector by the-biggest-lebowski on DeviantArt - http:// the-biggest-lebowski.deviantart.com/art/MST-3K-free- vector-91900530 • User designed by Lil Squid from the thenounproject.com - http:// thenounproject.com/term/user/26020/ • User designed by Lil Squid from the thenounproject.com - http:// thenounproject.com/term/user/26017/ • User designed by Rémy Médard from the thenounproject.com - http://thenounproject.com/term/user/2553/ • User designed by Lil Squid from the thenounproject.com - http:// thenounproject.com/term/user/26028/
197. Attribution • Speech Bubble designed by Pascual Bilotta from the Noun Project - http://thenounproject.com/term/speech-bubble/9513/ • Calendar designed by James Keuning from the Noun Project - http://thenounproject.com/term/calendar/9826/ • Dead designed by Julien Deveaux from the Noun Project - http:// thenounproject.com/term/dead/43902/ • Merge Sort in Ruby from Rosetta Code - http://rosettacode.org/ wiki/Sorting_algorithms/Merge_sort#Ruby