Next week, I'll be talking about MonoTouch.Dialog at the Xamarin Evolve conference in Austin, TX. It's been a while since I last presented anything to a proper crowd (I don't count workmates as a crowd - too friendly), so I've been doing some reading for ideas on how to do it better and prepare. Thanks to some of the wonderful UK and US folks, here's a few good lists and tips:
- Guy Smith-Ferrier - How to give great presentations.
- Simon Wolf - Speaking at NSConference
- Dave Addey - Conference speaking tips
Some of the take-aways for me:
- Minimise the slides, and the words on the slides
- Never read the slides - the audience can read it faster than you can (exception: quotes)
- Work out your own style, don't copy other people.
- Be responsible for your own gear (rMBP + VGA adapter: check; Remote clicker: check; Airport Express: check); and for checking that everything works before you go on stage
- Test; Test; Test; And do a dry run first - either film yourself, or to a usergroup or group of friends
- White on black, not black on white.
- Above all, have FUN! (which I fully intend to do!)
If you are going to Evolve, I'll see you there next week! I'm really looking forward to meeting a load of people I only know on the forums or twitter. It'll be a blast!
