How to give talks (at conferences)

Choosing a topic

What are you passionate about?
What have you done in the past?
What am I interested in learning about?
Speak to colleagues or organizers?
Check submission guidelines (and don't forget about the submission deadline).
- Does the conference have a theme?
- Are there several tracks (what are they about)?
- Check the CoC to avoid surprises.
- Most submissions come just before the deadline -- you can stand out if you send yours early.

Experience report: we did this and this is what happened...
Lightning talk: quick summary, story...
Subject matter talk: get deep into a particular substance topic
Co-presenter talk: can combine with any other for more fun, also makes it less stressful because you have two people to take care of things.

Stories work well. Humans are wired for stories.

If you don't know how to start, just introduce yourself and explain how you got to be talking about this.
Or use an essay hook:
- Relevant (and not obvious) statistical fact,
- Meaningful advice (that's expanded upon in the talk),
- Definition (of the key concept),
- Strong statement,
- Dilemma,
- Famous quote,
- Question,
Pixar rules -- more applicable to fiction, but some also apply to non-fiction and talks:
- Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.
- Once upon a time there was ... Every day, ... One day ... Because of that, ... Because of that, ... Until finally ...
- You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.
- What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.
- Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.
- When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.
- Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.

Title: short and catchy.
Abstract or description: tell people something that will make them come and don't make it too long.
Learning outcomes: what will people take away (see Bloom's taxonomy). What is unique about this talk?
Short bio: what would the organizers and listeners want to know about you? Be true, but no need to be extra humble here.

Keep it as simple as possible, but not simpler
- Think about talking without slides -- what's missing? Add slides to fix.
Think about what types of slides you need and design them consistently. Usually it's something like:
- Basic slide: a bit of text
- Text + Picture
- Text over picture
- Bullets (navigation) -- rarely
- Title
- Quotes (optional) -- you can put a picture of the person whom you quote
- Screenshots, diagrams, stuff...
Use easy to read colors and font:
- Common fonts also make it less likely that you'll have technical problems when presenting on an unfamiliar computer.
Don't use more than 7 words per line and definitely don't put blocks of text on the slide.
Pictures should clarify your point, not just be funny. Funny is nice, but helpful is much more important.
Use animation, if you must, but don't overdo it.

Posture:
- Tall, confident, open -- claim the space on the stage.
- Don't slouch.
Hand movements:
- Comfortable, energetic, in control.
- Don't overblow gestures, don't make closed hand gestures.
Voice control:
- Volume: practice with your voice, gain the fluency,
- Omission: just take a breath instead of mmmmmm,
- Intonation: try humming the sentences while preparing and check how it sounds.
- Clarity: also slow down (so time your talk in advance).
- Energy: match it to the narrative arc or the talk.
Practical things:
- Mute your notifications,
- Prepare the connectors, screen sharing, etc.
- You can come early and do a tech check (can people hear you well, can they see your screen). Works remote or in-person.
Confidence:
- Practice, practice, practice :D
- Prepare notes, also it's ok to have visible notes. You probably don't want to read from a script.
- People want you to succeed!
- Mistakes happen, it's ok. Let it go.