A summer of speaking at design events
Practical tips for picking, submitting, planning and presenting.
I set a personal goal this year of presenting by myself and I’ve been fortunate to spend a chunk of my summer speaking and attending design events.
Here’s what I’ve learned about picking and submitting to an event, planning your talk and presenting it.
Picking and submitting
1. ‘what do I have that people will find interesting?’
Imagine taking up 45 minutes of precious conference time, and not sharing anything useful…
Oh the dread.
Which is why we test. Ask people what they found most interesting in the work you’ll be speaking about, what they learned through doing it. Or talk to a brand new person for 3 minutes about it and see what you prioritise.
If in doubt, read Sophie’s post to help you find the thing.
And remember, you can talk about the same thing more than once.
2. Making sure that people will get something useful from the presentation.
Practical tips, things that they can take away and start the next day/week always land well. As do questions to ask yourself while working.
Think of the slides that you’ve taken photos of in the past.
3. Helping the panel to choose you.
Let people know, clearly, what they will get from the talk. Be that a pack or take-away item to help them get started with your technique, a url in their pocket to keep referring back to, a set of questions to ask in their next group meeting. It might be a blog post that you will write and share after analysing the workshop you ran, or it might be a further talk or video that you make.
Planning
4. If I were in the audience, what would I want to be learning?
On a big sheet of paper, I map out the helpful and useful points I want to get across in the presentation, and the types of questions I’d ask the audience.
Then I form these into sections and add the details and images.
5. I need to raise my slide game.
Attending the events means I also got to watch a lot of talks. The quality of design of slides across them was great. I felt a bit embarrassed.
Big images work well to show how you did a thing. Simple, bold colour schemes work when explaining why.
6. Prepare your points in a way you’ll remember.
I write out my speakers notes, learn 2 or 3 important things to emphasise per slide.
I like to practice these out loud in the house by myself. Speaking in front of a mirror feels awkward, but helps you practice the type of presence you want.
7. Know how you’re going to present.
I’ve learned that I’ll not look at speakers notes while presenting. (It surprised me too)
I’m more focused on looking at people in the audience, gauging their engagement and making sure that points are landing. A few past/practice talks have established this behaviour for me, and now I plan for it.
Presenting
8. Have a little time to yourself beforehand to go over your notes one last time.
Doing this in the same room as your presentation is helpful, if possible.
By the time people are arriving into the room, be ready to talk to them. I like asking what else they are hearing/learning at the event, and what they’d like to get from this one.
9. Microphones still feel really odd.
If you’re given a hand held, make sure you hold it near your face. Way nearer than you think you should. Any lower than your chin just won’t help the audience hear you. Adjust your hand-gestures accordingly.
If you’re given a clip-on and it’s battery pack, dressing for it helps. Wrap dresses are not great for this, and cause you worry. Wear something with a back pocket, and some form of collar/lapel. Live your Blue Peter presenter dreams.
If you’re given a Britney mic, take the stage my friend — you are READY.
I also spoke with a clip-on microphone for captions for the first time. It can be quite sensitive to accents, making for some comic moments. But I found as an audience member that my notes were of greater detail.
10. Be honest about why you are doing this and how you are feeling.
I tell people if I’m a bit nervous, as want people to know that they too can present if they are feeling so. Likewise, I pause for breath when I need it, or to collect my thoughts.
I think the rehearsed and scripted Ted talk version of presenting puts a lot of people off submitting. People need to see a more realistic version of what a practising presenter look like.
11. Collect question-askers together.
If there’s a group of people wanting to ask more, gather them together afterwards. That way they can all hear each answer and join in.
Make sure you check that theirs has been answered, or if they want to ask something else instead.
12. Say thank you and use your platform.
Keep chatting and answering questions on twitter. Post your talk and make it understandable for people who were not in the room.
I put up an end message, to say thank you and remind people to stay hydrated (lighthearted) and get their smear test (for real though).
You never know who in the audience needs a wee reminder.
