book: presentation secrets

structure, slides, delivery

• focus

• contrast

• unity

presentation structure

• Target the audience

• start with a problem

  • Make it sound really really bad

• explain your solution

  • Do not lose the audience

• finish strong

  • What to do next? Big picture, mic drop, etc.

target the audience

the worst: speaking in front of high school class

Example: ng-describe presentation

slides.com/bahmutov/ng-describe

START WITH A PROBLEM

explain your solution

each step should follow organically from the previous one

Learn to present your work

Learning how to speak well is the best next step for your professional career

Learn to present your work

previous slides -

mini presentation

write a blog post (Markdown)

the first slide(s)

the last slide(s)

Why the delivery is difficult

the hardest things:

• jokes
• reading
• asking the audience a question
• switching between tabs
• live coding 

what happens to your brain during speaking?

there is no thinking during the presentation

when speaking in public

• adrenaline rush

• higher heart rate

• sweating

• panic attacks

• flight syndrome

when speaking in public

when speaking in public

brain must control external effects consciously 

try programming

and telling (aloud) yourself when to breath in

until you stop being nervous when speaking

The mini prez showed how

Prepare the focused content

Have an overview slide

Focus on polished start and finish

example: good vs bad slide content

you must organize and prepare the content if you want to deliver a good presentation

example: too much text

1. Audience reads the long text

2. You read the long text

1. quantum mechanics

2. astronomy

3. dog whispering

example: too little text

1. the speaker talks at length on each topic

2. audience has no way of following

example: separate slides

quantum mechanics

latest results suggest that ...

astronomy

a science grew from astrology ...

dog whispering

is complicated

focus: single point per slide

example: amount of content per slide

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Pellentesque auctor accumsan lorem. Nam in venenatis sem, sit amet fringilla metus. Sed laoreet magna sed libero posuere, et facilisis sem fringilla. Proin et fringilla justo. Nunc suscipit eros quam, id placerat felis commodo a. Curabitur sed laoreet dolor, vitae ultricies felis. Vestibulum sollicitudin justo nec mauris tristique, sit amet eleifend lacus varius. Fusce venenatis accumsan lacus, semper iaculis massa faucibus eget.

astronomy

a science grew from astrology ...

tip: put approximately same amount of content per slide

quantum mechanics

latest results suggest that ...

astronomy

a science grew from astrology ...

dog whispering

is complicated

tip: same amount helps keep the timing

example: amount of content per slide

Monitor presentation progress AND time

Use "Speaker view" or timer-bar for HTML presentations

practice exercise

• Prepare 5 minutes presentation on any topic
• Record on video in front of 2 people
• Get feedback and watch the video
• Repeat 2-3 times

finally: How to be best at giving the worst talk