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
   

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2. Image Credits: twitter.com/gdiphilly twitter.com/droidconNYC www.writespeakcode.com
   

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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
   

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4. Image Credit: unsplash.com
   CALL FOR PROPOSALS
   ABSTRACTS & BIOGRAPHY
   PREPARATION
   

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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
   

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6. CALL FOR PROPOSALS
   Image Credit: unsplash.com
   

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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
   

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8. Credits: androidstudygroup.github.io/conferences , www.cfpland.com
   

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9. ABSTRACTS & BIOGRAPHY
   Image Credit: unsplash.com
   

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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
    

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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/
    

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12. TYPES OF TALKS
    Tutorials & How-To
    Case studies
    Distributed Knowledge
    Ideas & Keynotes
    Discussions & Panels
    Workshops
    

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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
    

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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.
    

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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.
    

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16. Image Credit: louvre.fr, mauritshuis.nl
    

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17. REJECTED?
    Ask conference organizers for feedback
    Try another conference or meetup or DevFest
    Focus on quality over quantity
    

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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
    

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19. PREPARATION
    Image Credit: unsplash.com
    

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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
    

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21. QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
    Why am I giving this talk?
    What will the audience gain from this talk?
    

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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?
    

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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?
    

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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?
    

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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?
    

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26. CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS
    Will send speaker guidelines
    Tweet or post on social media about you
    

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27. PRESENTATION
    SOFTWARE
    

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28. GENERAL LAYOUT
    Introduction
    About you
    Agenda or Why
    3-5 sections
    Takeaways
    Q&A
    

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29. GETTING STARTED
    WITH CONFERENCE
    SPEAKING
    November 16-17, 2020 | DroidCon Americas
    #dcamericas
    Yash Prabhu
    Sr. Engineering Manager
    @YashVPrabhu
    YashPrabhu
    Image Credit: unsplash.com
    

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30. IMAGES & ICONS
    Unsplash
    BlackIllustrations
    WOCInTech
    Noun Project
    Material Design
    SmartArt
    

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31. CODE
    Walk through code line by line
    @Preview
    @Composable
    fun PreviewTodoRow() {
    val todo = remember { generateRandomTodoItem() }
    TodoRow(todo = todo, onItemClicked = {}, modifier = Modifier.fillMaxWidth())
    }
    

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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())
    }
    

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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
    

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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
    

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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
    

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36. PRACTICE
    EDIT
    PRACTICE
    Image Credit: unsplash.com
    

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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
    

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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
    

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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
    

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40. VIRTUAL DELIVERY
    Angle your camera and lighting
    Remove distractions and notifications before hand
    Sound-proof
    

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41. “Think conversation
    not performance”
    Garr Reynolds
    Author of Presentation Zen Series
    Image Credit: www.wocintechchat.com
    

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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
    

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43. Credits: yprabhu.com, speakerdeck.com/yprabhu
    

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44. TIME
    Image Credit: unsplash.com
    

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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
    

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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
    

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47. TAKEAWAYS
    Image Credit: unsplash.com
    

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48. 4 8
    

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49. TAKEAWAYS
    Set a speaking goal
    Brainstorm abstracts
    Apply to speak at a conference near you
    Speak at a meetup
    

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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
    

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51. BONUS
    

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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?
    

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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?
    

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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
    

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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
    

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