Effective public speaking
How to structure your content
for maximum impact
book: presentation secrets
structure, slides, delivery
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focus
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contrast
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unity
presentation structure
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Target the audience
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start with a problem
- Make it sound really really bad
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explain your solution
- Do not lose the audience
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finish strong
- What to do next? Big picture, mic drop, etc.
target the audience
the worst: speaking in front of high school class
the best: speaking at Kensho, meetup or conference
Example: ng-describe presentation
START WITH A PROBLEM
explain your solution
each step should follow organically from the previous one
cut the content mercilessly
you have the authority!
Learn to present your work
| multiplier | |
|---|---|
| Learning something | 1 |
| Teaching someone | 1 |
| Explaining something to a group | N |
finish strong!
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)
smooth start and strong finish are very important
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
there will be no brain capacity left
when speaking in public
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adrenaline rush
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higher heart rate
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sweating
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panic attacks
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flight syndrome
when speaking in public
speech speeds up
things do not come out right
important steps are left out
when speaking in public
leaving only part of the brain for "normal" thinking
brain must control external effects consciously
try programming
and telling (aloud) yourself when to breath in
find the word with the longest sequence of "o"s in a list of words.
function Ooooo(words) { ... }
Ooooo(['foo', 'booo', 'bar']); // 'booo'until you stop being nervous when speaking
Your slides MUST help you achieve "automatic" delivery
you will have to control your body's response
The mini prez showed how
Prepare the focused content
Have an overview slide
Focus on polished start and finish
Next slides: a few tips for automatic delivery
content is the king
you must organize and prepare the content if you want to deliver a good presentation
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
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Audience reads the long text
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You read the long text
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quantum mechanics
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astronomy
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dog whispering
example: too little text
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the speaker talks at length on each topic
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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
min 3
min 6
min 9
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