This document provides tips for becoming an effective conference presenter. It discusses finding a topic to present on, writing a proposal to submit to conferences, creating presentation materials, writing the presentation, and delivering the presentation. The key steps covered are finding an exciting topic, researching it, crafting a compelling proposal, developing slides and other visual aids to enhance the story and message, writing the presentation to have a clear structure and narrative arc, and practicing delivery techniques to engage the audience. The overall goal is to give attendees a memorable experience that leaves them feeling they learned something valuable.

1. Supercharging Public Speaking
Chris Heilmann Christian.heilmann@microsoft.com, Onsite, April 2017

2. By the end of today you will have
everything to be a conference
presenter organisers love to work
with and attendees love to learn
from.

3. You will learn how to concentrate
on what makes you a great
presenter and avoid what holds
you back.

4. Hello – who are you?

5. Create opportunities

6. Create opportunities
Find something that excites you

7. Create opportunities
Start hoarding materials about the subject

8. Create opportunities
Find conferences that would like to hear about that

9. Create opportunities
Write a good call for paper proposal

10. A good call for papers proposal
1. Has a snappy title that sparks interest but also
explains what the talk is about – don’t be a poet
2. Has a short explanation what the talk will be
about, who it is for and what they will learn –
don’t be James Joyce
3. Has extra information for conference organisers
on how long you want it to be and why you are
the right person to give that talk.

11. 1. Find a topic to talk about
2. Find a conference
3. Write a talk proposal
Exercise (15 minutes):

12. Help conference organisers

13. Help conference organisers
Be easy to work with, and you’ll get offers to speak

14. Help conference organisers
1. Have an online post or cheatsheet with your bio,
contact details, speaker photos, links to previous
talk recordings and your speaking terms.
2. Be as clear as possible there. You don’t want to
have to fight organisers about the details of your
conference participation and who pays for what.
3. Conference organisers are busy people. They
don’t want to hunt for your real name, location
and availability. Be concise and factual.

15. Create your own presenter
cheatsheet.
Blueprint:
https://christianheilmann.com/cheatsheet.html
Homework:

16. BREAK
(10 minutes)

17. Create great *talk* slides

18. Create great *talk* slides
Slides are wallpaper and sticky notes for your talk

19. Your talk is much more than slides:
1. It is a story you tell
2. It is the way you explain why you care
3. It is how you perform on stage
4. It is resources people can look at to validate what
you said.
5. It is materials people can use and learn from in
their own time
6. It is the call to action you leave the audience with

20. Slides are there to amplify your
story and make it more
memorable.
Your talk needs to work without
them.

21. Find and create talk materials

22. Find and create talk materials
Create screencasts and screenshots to show

23. Find and create talk materials
Find images and videos you are allowed to use

24. Find and create talk materials
Create your own materials to use

25. Create talk collateral

26. Create talk collateral
Consider your talk as a follow-up post and notes

27. Create talk collateral
Create code examples that work without the talk

28. Create talk collateral
Collect 3rd party resources validating your points.

29. Create talk collateral
Upload your slides somewhere

30. Make Sure you are Understood
(Accessibility and international concerns)

31. Make sure you are understood
Mind your speed and language – keep it simple

32. Make sure you are understood
Avoid jargon, pop and culture specific references

33. Make sure you are understood
Provide a transcript and a thesaurus for translators

34. Make sure you are understood
Do your homework – work with locals to learn customs

35. Prepare materials of a
five minute version of
your proposed talk
Exercise (20 minutes):

36. BREAK
(10 minutes)

37. Write a great talk

38. Write a great talk
All good stories have an arc
Intro
Why?
Wow!
How?
Wow!!
Where next?

39. Write a great talk
Unpacking Bullets

40. Write a great talk
Simplifying language

41. Write a great talk
Avoiding problems by minding your language

42. Write a great talk
Credit where credit is due

43. Prepare your five
minute talk
Exercise (30 minutes):

44. BREAK
(10 minutes)

45. Deliver a great talk

46. Deliver a great talk
How to get past stage fright

47. Deliver a great talk
What to do when things go wrong

48. Deliver a great talk
Body language tips, what to avoid on stage

49. Deliver a great talk
How to deal with hecklers

50. Deliver a great talk
Things not to do under any circumstances

51. Get ready to deliver
your talk.
Exercise (10 minutes):

52. Let’s see what you got...

53. Thank you!