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The Talk on Talks

Zach Holman
May 16, 2014
Business
66
30k

The Talk on Talks

Most people are scared to present at a conference, or a meetup, or at a company meeting. Public speaking is a common fear, and many find themselves at night waking up from nightmares involving a disastrous speech. All too often, people think public speaking is something to be afraid of.

THEY"RE TOTALLY RIGHT OH MY GOD PUBLIC SPEAKING IS ONE OF THE MOST STRESSFUL THINGS YOURE EVER GOING TO DO PLEASE HIDE AND AVOID ALL HUMANS AND STRANGER DANGER

Now, that said, sometimes you're stuck. You can't very well turn down the speech at your best friend's wedding now, can you? Or maybe you can because secretly you don't like your friend as much as they think you do. You meanie.

The best public speakers are as nervous as you are. They've just done it before, and they all do certain things much better than you. But you can change that. It's an extremely learnable skill.

That's what this talk is all about.

Zach Holman

May 16, 2014
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Transcript

  1. talk
    the
    on
    talks

    View Slide

  2. Reasons to improve your public

    speaking
    · Speaking at conferences can be exciting

    · You’ll feel more confident speaking at your workplace

    · Your slides won’t look like horseshit

    View Slide

  3. talk
    the
    on
    talks

    View Slide

  4. @holman

    View Slide

  5. View Slide

  6. planning
    the

    View Slide

  7. start early

    View Slide

  8. talk preparation will
    expand to fill all
    available time
    holman’s rule:

    View Slide

  9. pick the topic

    View Slide

  10. you should be an
    expert in the topic

    View Slide

  11. research-based talks
    is a horrible idea

    View Slide

  12. storytimeTM

    View Slide

  13. outlining

    View Slide

  14. rule of three makes
    for a good talk

    View Slide

  15. human concentration
    is pretty crappy
    ( )

    View Slide

  16. rule of three
    section-1
    section-2
    section-3

    View Slide

  17. rule of three
    section-1
    section-2
    section-3
    outro
    intro

    View Slide

  18. rule of three
    section-1
    section-2
    section-3
    supporting point
    supporting point
    supporting point
    supporting point
    supporting point
    supporting point

    View Slide

  19. rule of three
    section-1
    section-2
    section-3
    supporting point
    supporting point
    supporting point
    supporting point
    supporting point
    supporting point
    expand into slides

    View Slide

  20. repetition

    View Slide

  21. the best talks
    are stories

    View Slide

  22. the best stories
    involve repetition

    View Slide

  23. builds anticipation,
    focuses an audience

    View Slide

  24. storytimeTM

    View Slide

  25. If you have an important point to
    make, don't try to be subtle or
    clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point
    once. Then come back and hit it
    again. Then hit it a third time - a
    tremendous whack.
    “
    Winston Churchill

    View Slide

  26. section-1
    section-2
    section-3
    supporting point
    supporting point
    supporting point
    supporting point
    recap slides

    View Slide

  27. recap slides
    section-1
    section-2
    section-3
    supporting point
    supporting point
    recap
    supporting point
    supporting point
    recap

    View Slide

  28. View Slide

  29. planning
    recap

    View Slide

  30. start early
    be an expert
    rule of three
    use repetition

    View Slide

  31. building
    the

    View Slide

  32. good vs. evil
    show & tell

    View Slide

  33. Killing human beings and getting away with it

    View Slide

  34. no one can
    read that shit

    View Slide

  35. make your text
    HUUUGE

    View Slide

  36. HUGE

    View Slide

  37. you can’t
    get too big

    View Slide

  38. design for the
    back of the room

    View Slide

  39. design it in the
    back of the room

    View Slide

  40. Killing human
    beings and getting
    away with it

    View Slide

  41. no one can
    read that shit

    View Slide

  42. contrast

    View Slide

  43. dark on light

    View Slide

  44. light on dark

    View Slide

  45. code, too:

    View Slide

  46. !


    do more drugs


    View Slide

  47. !


    do more drugs


    View Slide

  48. use color
    to focus

    View Slide

  49. !


    do more drugs


    View Slide

  50. !


    do more drugs


    View Slide

  51. !


    do more drugs


    View Slide

  52. syntax highlight
    editors, not talks

    View Slide

  53. Killing human
    beings and getting
    away with it

    View Slide

  54. no one can re-

    View Slide

  55. it’s a little
    harder to read
    it but it’s okay
    a little bit

    View Slide

  56. choose fonts

    View Slide

  57. sans-serifs

    View Slide

  58. google fonts

    View Slide

  59. lost type co-op

    View Slide

  60. helvetica

    View Slide

  61. Killing human
    beings and getting
    away with it

    View Slide

  62. some won’t
    read all that

    View Slide

  63. remove more
    words from
    your slides

    View Slide

  64. remove more
    words from
    your slides

    View Slide

  65. avoid slide reading

    View Slide

  66. encourage listening

    View Slide

  67. Get away!
    with murder

    View Slide

  68. murder is
    frowned upon

    View Slide

  69. View Slide

  70. View Slide

  71. wasted
    space

    View Slide

  72. expand photos

    View Slide

  73. View Slide

  74. View Slide

  75. I hate trees.
    “

    View Slide

  76. Tax evasion tips

    View Slide

  77. Tax evasion tips

    View Slide

  78. Tax evasion tips

    View Slide

  79. slide
    transitions
    are stupid

    View Slide

  80. use them sparingly
    and purposefully

    View Slide

  81. building
    recap

    View Slide

  82. use large,
    readable text

    View Slide

  83. delivery
    the

    View Slide

  84. how to speak

    View Slide

  85. be excited

    View Slide

  86. talks are
    entertainment

    View Slide

  87. is your talk better
    than a blog post?

    View Slide

  88. practice

    View Slide

  89. rehearse a bunch

    View Slide

  90. record yourself

    View Slide

  91. record yourself
    it’s super embarrassing lol

    View Slide

  92. variance

    View Slide

  93. monotone is the
    fast track to boring

    View Slide

  94. change up your:

    View Slide

  95. pauses

    View Slide

  96. volume

    View Slide

  97. speed

    View Slide

  98. movement

    View Slide

  99. things break

    View Slide

  100. sound
    battery
    kernel panics
    internet gravity
    fonts
    colors
    notifications

    View Slide

  101. sound
    kernel panics
    internet gravity
    fonts
    colors
    notifications
    battery
    & PROJECTORS!

    View Slide

  102. have a copy
    of your slides

    View Slide

  103. bring adapters

    View Slide

  104. roll with it

    View Slide

  105. computers suck;
    humans understand

    View Slide

  106. storytimeTM

    View Slide

  107. q&a

    View Slide

  108. what if you
    don’t know
    the answer?

    View Slide

  109. pause & think
    about the question

    View Slide

  110. “I don’t know”

    View Slide

  111. instant +1 karma

    View Slide

  112. dealing with jerks

    View Slide

  113. you have the mic

    View Slide

  114. “do you have an
    actual question?”

    View Slide

  115. the audience
    probably hates
    the guy too

    View Slide

  116. delivery
    recap

    View Slide

  117. be excited
    practice a bunch
    use variance
    roll with the punches

    View Slide

  118. public speaking
    is scary

    View Slide

  119. public speaking
    but also fun

    View Slide

  120. it’s just a learned skill

    View Slide

  121. @holman

    View Slide