pitch perfect

Tools and Tricks of the Tech Talk Trade


Ashley Williams



rule #1:

tell a story


who are your users?

 and what is their world like?


  • Talk about people; you aren't making a product for robots.
  • Explain who your users are; no software is good for "everyone"... so be specific!
  • Know what your users care about; demonstrating that you have a deep knowledge of your users' experience makes you an authority on how to help them.

what problem are you solving?

 and why is it an important problem to solve?


  • Your software should solve a problem for your users; describe that problem.
  • Not all problems are worth solving. Is yours? Why?


why should this problem

 be solved by software? 

-/-

why should it be solved

 by *your* software?


tell a story

Start at the beginning.
Focus on people.

You're solving problems; 
so keep that at the forefront.



rule #2:

show off your data



this is a hackathon 

-/-

 your hack is your product



it's not just about

 working with data, 

it's about making data work for you



  • why did you choose to use the data you are using?
  • where is that data from? how often is it updated?

  • what manipulations are you doing on the data?
  • what correlations did you find?
  • what conclusions or implications does the data demonstrate?



rule #3:

have fun




the best presentations are fun


Take a deep breath.
Tell a joke.
Don't take yourself too seriously.



if you're uncomfortable, 

everyone else will feel uncomfortable


So chill out!



be humble.

No one knows everything.

If you pretend you and your project are perfect:
 you're just gonna sound silly. 

Be honest about what works and what doesn't.
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