- Rehearse out loud, but don't overdo it.
- Planning a talk in your head and saying the words out loud are two different skills. Make sure you practice your talk.
- Rehearse out loud to help you write the talk, not just when you’re “done.”
- Decide if you want to have notes, and add them to your slide deck, or put them on paper.
- Give at least a part of your talk in front of another human and get feedback. Make changes based on that feedback.
- Spell check your slides.
- Have a backup copy of your slides in case of issues with the internet.
- Many presentation platforms have an option to export your slides as a PDF.
- Keep the text on each slide short and powerful. Ideally, each slide could be a tweet on its own.
- Credit your sources (code or design samples, images and gifs, etc.) especially if the material is copyrighted.
- Include a slide that lists relevant resources from your talk.
- Ensure your final slide says “Thank you” and shows your contact info (twitter, github, dribble, personal website, etc.).
- What will you do if the screen goes out? Network dies? Video won’t play? Your live demo stops working?
- Record a screencast and have it saved on your computer if you are planning a live demo.
- Silence notifications on your computer and your phone.
- Use the microphone. This is required so that people with impaired hearing can hear you and so you can be heard on the video recording or if there is live-captioning.
- Get closer to the microphone than you think you should (1-3 inches)
- Don’t lean on the podium.
- Don’t use the podium to shield you from the audience.
- Open your body language.
- Talk slower than you think you should.
- Add your slide deck and contact info to this github repo: https://github.com/developdenver/2019-dvlpdnvr-talks
- Great speakers thank their attendees and share their resources, so if you have a twitter account, send a tweet thanking people who attended and share your resources, including your slide deck. Use the hashtag #dvlpdnvr.
- Celebrate! Preparing and giving a conference talk is a lot of work and you’re done! 🎉