Top Ten Things New Speakers Should Remember

By David Bisset

I’m David and along with being a remote developer, I also have been involved in speaking and organizing meetups and conferences for the past 15 years. You come to appreciate that these events, especially when they are open and welcoming, help communities grow and thrive.

Speakers play a big part in sharing stories and knowledge, sparking new thoughts in the minds of their listeners, and sparking conversations in the community. But for those eager to share but timid because they are new or not as experienced, it can be a challenge.

As a result, here are some things I would like to share that have helped me and others as we have given talks to crowds of all sizes and types throughout the years – a list that even “experienced” speakers use as reminders.

I hope it’s of some benefit and take comfort that by speaking you are benefiting your community and you have the support of others who are also bravely doing the same.

Top Ten Things New Speakers Should Remember:

  • Practice makes perfect but don’t over do it. If it makes you feel better have a script in your notes in the presenting app if possible but aim to be comfortable enough not to have read from them constantly. But feel nice you have something to fall back on if your mind goes blank.
  • Get honest feedback from friends, family, your local meetup or anyone you feel comfortable with. Don’t wait until you are completely done with your presentation. Depending on the subject, get feedback from friends and the community about your subject – you might find a particular angle or point that is worth bringing up. Record yourself giving the presentation and examine the video afterwards (some even listen without the video to focus on the audio). 
  • Strive to make slides high enough contrast and large enough font for those not sitting in the front row to be able to read it comfortably. Don’t stress on having fancy designs or cute animated GIFs – clear and easy to read slides that stress the main points of your talk have a longer shelf life.
  • Confirm with conference organizers if someone will be recording your talk and taking photos. You’ll want this later for personal and promotional purposes. Don’t wait until after your talk to ask these! Ask a good friend or (worse case) fellow conference attendee
  • Have a backup of your slides on a USB drive you bring with you (having an online backup doesn’t hurt and could be faster to pull up potentially but always bring a physical backup).
  • If your talk needs Wi-Fi for some reason (demoing a website) plan for the unfortunate scenario if internet isn’t available. Have a backup plan (perhaps a screenshot or a video recording of whatever you were about to do live).
  • Confirm with conference organizers about Wi-Fi, power, and adapters that might be needed. Even if they claim to have all of that available, plan just in case they don’t. Have your own adapter or dongles for your laptop. Even if they have an adapter sometimes, they don’t (well) with all laptops.
  • If you are concerned about ending on time – especially if you plan on taking questions – figure out a way for you to be alerted comfortably as you speak. Some use the trick of setting a phone vibrate alert. This might be useful even if there is a room moderator tracking your time or not.
  • Give thought when you want to share your slides. Often speakers upload this prior to the talk and share the URL in an opening or closing slide. Removes the “where can I find your slides” question. Also, you can tweet this information out (set a scheduled tweet to remind people near the close of your talk perhaps). Consider multiple formats for your slides (PDF, html) and even more than one language if it makes sense (part of a multi-language conference for example).
  • Relax. You should consider your first conference talk – no matter how much you practice – as a “practice talk”. In other words, don’t stress yourself out. Expect to make mistakes (seasoned speakers make lists of things after many of their talks). Setting proper expectations might help you dealing with stress and imposter syndrome before, during, and after the talk. But you have a story to share. You got this.