Thisarticlewas originally published on.cultbyTomasz akomy.
.cult is a Berlin-based community platform for developers.
You might be familiar with the following scenario.
Youve been adeveloperfor a while and youve learned quite a lot along the way.
This is what I personally thought at the beginning of 2017.
The good news is that this is true you’ve got the option to do that.
The bad news: its not easy
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Do not give up.
Its highly unlikely that you will get accepted by the first conference you submit your talk to.
Start with local community events.
Those kinds of events are often recorded, which is a valuable addition to your CFP.
In addition, give a talk at a knowledge-sharing event at work.
Next up: speaking at a conference.
Be prepared to receive lots of unfortunately your talk was not selected for X emails.
Or no feedback at all.
Read thisarticleabout writing a successful conference proposal.
Reach out to your friends and/or colleagues for feedback.
I personally would be glad to review and offer feedback on your future proposals.
One day youll get a your talk was accepted for X conf email.
What do I do now?
Well, you did have slides and everything prepared well in advance before you submitted your talk, correct?
You probably didnt, so lets get to work.
No, you dont need to become a philosopher overnight.
A good practice is to have a go at describe your own talk in five words or less.
They wont do both.
Think about that when preparing your content.
Slides are not there to contain the content of your talk either.
You might not even need words to begin with.
After all, the attendees came to listen to you, not to read.
Use contrasting colors, double-check that people in the back can see your content.
Having 100 slides is much better than having 10. verify its obvious to viewers which item youre currently describing.
verify to have your social media handle on every slide (not only on the first one).
Putting it in the bottom left/right corner is usually a good practice.
DEMO
Oh, well, youre one of those people.
Youre brave (or foolish) enough to do a live demo/coding at a talk.
While live demos can transform a mediocre talk into something greater, proceed with caution.
Three pieces of advice:
Do not assume that you will have Internet connection on stage.
Localhost is like your childhood dog, itll always be there for you.
If your demo breaks on stage, revert to showing the video of the same thing in action.
Shit happens, but a smooth recovery can save the talk.
Practice
Seriously, practice.
A common mistake people make is going through the talk only in their head.
I hate to break it to you, but your inner voice is much more articulate than you are.
This is extra true if youre not giving the talk in your native language.
If you screw something up, do not stop.
Do not take it went really well, nothing to add as an answer.
Theyre trying to be nice, theres always something to improve.
If you feel comfortable with that, record the talk yourself and be your own audience.
Weird thoughts may appear in your head.
Those people are industry veterans, and Im an impostor.
I dont want to do that anymore.
Dont listen to that voice.
If your talk piqued the interest of the conference organizers you belong there.
If youd like to be on stage you deserve that.
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