Getting Started with Conference Speaking

Ever wondered why you should try public speaking OR how you can get the confidence to present on a stage  OR how you can  speak at a conference?  Conference speaking  usually starts with writing an abstract about a topic that you are passionate  about OR want to tell a story about  which gets reviewed by a conference’s program committee upon submission. If you get accepted, the next steps are  preparing your content & slides ,  practicing, presenting  virtually or on stage  and convincing the audience to see your point of view on a subject  matter.  Come to this talk to  learn how you can write abstracts, where  you can  submit them & how you can  practice  being  a public speaker, presenter and  story teller  all in  under  40minutes  from someone who’s spoken at over a dozen conferences.  With this knowledge , you can  apply to  speak at any meetup or  conference, maybe even at  a  DroidCon  near you!

Transcript

1. GETTING STARTED WITH CONFERENCE SPEAKING November 16-17, 2020 | DroidCon Americas #dcamericas Yash Prabhu Sr. Engineering Manager @YashVPrabhu YashPrabhu Image Credit: unsplash.com
2. Image Credits: twitter.com/gdiphilly twitter.com/droidconNYC www.writespeakcode.com
3. WHY PUBLIC SPEAKING? Personal & Professional Growth Gain Confidence Gain Leadership skills Become a better storyteller Meet new people Build your community Make industry connections Image Credit: unsplash.com
4. Image Credit: unsplash.com CALL FOR PROPOSALS ABSTRACTS & BIOGRAPHY PREPARATION
5. HOW IT WORKS CONFERENCE PUTS OUT A CALL FOR PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS ARE SUBMITTED FOR REVIEW BY PROGRAM COMMITTEE SPEAKERS PRESENT AT CONFERENCE Image Credit: Microsoft SmartArt
6. CALL FOR PROPOSALS Image Credit: unsplash.com
7. HOW DO I FIND CALL FOR PROPOSALS? Follow conferences or thought leaders (GDEs) on Twitter/LinkedIn Attend local meetups or GDGs Sign up for Android Weekly Sign up for conference newsletters or CFP aggregators
8. Credits: androidstudygroup.github.io/conferences , www.cfpland.com
9. ABSTRACTS & BIOGRAPHY Image Credit: unsplash.com
10. BRAINSTORM Look at past talks at the conference for inspiration Take a pencil to paper (30 min) Write down everything you are an expert on for each prompt Get feedback on your abstract from colleagues and friends
11. PROMPTS What’s a talk you would like to see at a conference? What would the audience gain from this talk? What new technology do you want to learn more about? What’s the most recent problem you have solved at work? What did you work on the last 6 months – 1 year? What’s your hobby? What lessons are shared between your hobby and your job? Credit: lucybain.com/blog/2016/conference-proposal-ideas/
12. TYPES OF TALKS Tutorials & How-To Case studies Distributed Knowledge Ideas & Keynotes Discussions & Panels Workshops
13. WHAT DOES AN ABSTRACT LOOK LIKE? When ViewModels Go to Die: Saving ViewModel State Sumayyah Ahmed, Android Engineer, Comcast Contrary to our hopes, ViewModel lifecycles are not infallible. The Android OS can kill running processes, which means killing your ViewModel and all the state that you’ve saved in it, spelling impending disaster for your Activity or Fragment. Luckily, we have a new tool to maintain a seamless user experience even through process death – SavedStateHandle. This talk will use code examples to demonstrate: • How to use SavedStateHandle to gracefully save and resurrect your ViewModel state through process death • How to leverage Jetpack to automate state restoration with SavingStateLiveData
14. WHAT DOES A BIOGRAPHY LOOK LIKE? DroidCon Americas Yash Prabhu is a Senior Engineering Manager who leads the Mobile Infrastructure team at Comcast NBCUniversal. Previously she led the Android team at Warner Bros. Digital Labs where her team was responsible for building Android apps for streaming services such as DC Universe, Cartoon Network Boomerang & DramaFever. Yash also co-organized GDG Philadelphia and volunteers at various local tech groups as an instructor and mentor. She's also a 4-time speaker at DroidCon NYC including the keynote talk in 2019. Yash Prabhu is a Senior Engineering Manager at Comcast NBCUniversal who’s been writing Android apps since 2010.
15. WHAT DOES A BIOGRAPHY LOOK LIKE? Lead Dev Yash Prabhu is a Senior Engineering Manager who leads the Mobile Infrastructure team at Comcast. She has interviewed over 100+ candidates in her career and strives to make the interview process better for all in the tech industry.
16. Image Credit: louvre.fr, mauritshuis.nl
17. REJECTED? Ask conference organizers for feedback Try another conference or meetup or DevFest Focus on quality over quantity
18. TIPS Brainstorm! Keep a document or GitHub page of all your abstracts and biographies Reuse your abstracts. Submit multiple! Keep track of your accepted and rejected talks Ask for feedback Tweak your bio for the conference Have a professional picture Image Credit: unsplash.com
19. PREPARATION Image Credit: unsplash.com
20. BRAINSTORM Take a pencil to paper (30-60 min) Write down everything you know about the subject Group them into 3-5 sections Transfer notes to slides
21. QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF Why am I giving this talk? What will the audience gain from this talk?
22. QUESTIONS FOR CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS IN-PERSON What is the set up of the room? What is the expected audience size? What time should I arrive before my talk? Will there be a confidence monitor? Can I view my speaker notes?
23. QUESTIONS FOR CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS IN-PERSON Can I walk around on stage? What kind of microphone will be provided? Will there be a separate Wi-Fi for speakers? Will a remote/HDMI adapter be provided? (Always carry your own) How much time do I have for the talk?
24. QUESTIONS FOR CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS IN-PERSON Will there be Q&A after the talk? Can I interact with the audience? Can I test my setup before hand? Will the talk be recorded and released later? Who is my contact at the conference? Is there a Code of Conduct?
25. QUESTIONS FOR CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS VIRTUAL What video conference tool will we be using? What should the resolution of my presentation be? Can I test my setup before hand? Will someone keep track of my time? What tool will we use for Q&A? Who is my contact at the conference? Is there a Code of Conduct?
26. CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS Will send speaker guidelines Tweet or post on social media about you
27. PRESENTATION SOFTWARE
28. GENERAL LAYOUT Introduction About you Agenda or Why 3-5 sections Takeaways Q&A
29. GETTING STARTED WITH CONFERENCE SPEAKING November 16-17, 2020 | DroidCon Americas #dcamericas Yash Prabhu Sr. Engineering Manager @YashVPrabhu YashPrabhu Image Credit: unsplash.com
30. IMAGES & ICONS Unsplash BlackIllustrations WOCInTech Noun Project Material Design SmartArt
31. CODE Walk through code line by line @Preview @Composable fun PreviewTodoRow() { val todo = remember { generateRandomTodoItem() } TodoRow(todo = todo, onItemClicked = {}, modifier = Modifier.fillMaxWidth()) }
32. CODE Highlight your code when you are talking about it @Preview @Composable fun PreviewTodoRow() { val todo = remember { generateRandomTodoItem() } TodoRow(todo = todo, onItemClicked = {}, modifier = Modifier.fillMaxWidth()) }
33. LIVE DEMOS Make sure you have backups Make use of Android Studio - File templates Live templates Use video recording tools - Vysor RecordIt QuickTime Player Image Credit: material.io
34. TIPS Create and reuse your intro template Have 3-5 sections Images > Words Give credit for images and ideas Highlight code Use animations judiciously Add conference hashtags and social media handles Don’t go below 24 pt. text size Image Credit: unsplash.com
35. DRY RUNS Present out loud Time yourself Remove non-essentials Be mindful of segues Record yourself at home 3x Don’t look at your speaker notes on your final practice Wear what you would wear on conference day Present at a meetup or at work to solicit feedback
36. PRACTICE EDIT PRACTICE Image Credit: unsplash.com
37. BEFORE THE CONFERENCE Send your questions to organizers Prepare your slides and delivery Carry your speaker equipment Post on social media about your upcoming talk Back up slides Logitech R400 2.4GHz Wireless Presenter
38. 10 MINUTES BEFORE Make sure you are presentable Get to the room where you are presenting Take deep breaths Remember why you are giving this talk Visualize your slides Credit: hbr.org/amp/2020/11/the-upside-of-your-public-speaking-jitters
39. DELIVERY IN PERSON Speak slowly Keep an eye on time Carry a bottle of water Carry a remote Be present, prepared and passionate Take off your badge and chunky jewelry
40. VIRTUAL DELIVERY Angle your camera and lighting Remove distractions and notifications before hand Sound-proof
41. “Think conversation not performance” Garr Reynolds Author of Presentation Zen Series Image Credit: www.wocintechchat.com
42. AFTER THE CONFERENCE Upload your slides to SlideShare or SpeakerDeck Meet audience members and other speakers Go back and watch your talk Ask conference organizers for feedback Share the video of your talk on social media Update your speaker timeline
43. Credits: yprabhu.com, speakerdeck.com/yprabhu
44. TIME Image Credit: unsplash.com
45. TIME SPENT IN WRITING A NEW TALK WRITING, SUBMITTING ABSTRACTS AND RESEARCH 2-5 HOURS SLIDE DESIGN 2-10 HOURS PRACTICE 3 HOURS Image Credit: Microsoft SmartArt
46. TIME SPENT IN DELIVERING A TALK SPEAKING TIME 5-40 MIN Q&A 5-10 MIN PRESENTING TALK AGAIN 3-4 HOURS Image Credit: Microsoft SmartArt
47. TAKEAWAYS Image Credit: unsplash.com
48. 4 8
49. TAKEAWAYS Set a speaking goal Brainstorm abstracts Apply to speak at a conference near you Speak at a meetup
50. GETTING STARTED WITH CONFERENCE SPEAKING Q&A November 16-17, 2020 | DroidCon Americas #dcamericas Yash Prabhu Sr. Engineering Manager @YashVPrabhu YashPrabhu Image Credit: unsplash.com
51. BONUS
52. WHAT IF I fear public speaking? I have an accent? I don’t have answers to questions asked or there’s a heckler? I speak too fast? I am sick or late or my laptop crashed? I am wrong?
53. MORE FAQS What if no one’s paying attention? What if no one attends my talk? What if someone has given the same talk before? Can I give the same talk multiple times? How much time should I spend on slides? How much information should I reveal in my abstract?
54. 5 4 RESOURCES BlackIllustrations.com Unsplash.com WOCinTechChat.com Yash Prabhu - how I prepared for my first big talk Lucy Bain - Conference Proposal Ideas CFP Land - Guide to Conference Speaking
55. 5 5 RESOURCES Questions to ask conference organizers – Marcin Wichary Confessions of a public speaker – Scott Berkun Presenter Zen & The Naked Presenter – Garr Reynolds Android Studio Live Templates – Big Nerd Ranch Android Studio File Templates – Rebecca Franks @riggaroo