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The Talk on Talks

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

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  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

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  3. talk
    the
    on
    talks

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  4. @holman

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  5. View Slide

  6. planning
    the

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  7. start early

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

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  9. pick the topic

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  10. you should be an
    expert in the topic

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  11. research-based talks
    is a horrible idea

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  12. storytimeTM

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  13. outlining

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  14. rule of three makes
    for a good talk

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  15. human concentration
    is pretty crappy
    ( )

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

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

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

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  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

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  20. repetition

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  21. the best talks
    are stories

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  22. the best stories
    involve repetition

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  23. builds anticipation,
    focuses an audience

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  24. storytimeTM

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  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

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

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

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  28. View Slide

  29. planning
    recap

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

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  31. building
    the

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  32. good vs. evil
    show & tell

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  33. Killing human beings and getting away with it

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  34. no one can
    read that shit

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  35. make your text
    HUUUGE

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  36. HUGE

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  37. you can’t
    get too big

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  38. design for the
    back of the room

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  39. design it in the
    back of the room

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  40. Killing human
    beings and getting
    away with it

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  41. no one can
    read that shit

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  42. contrast

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  43. dark on light

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  44. light on dark

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  45. code, too:

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  46. !


    do more drugs


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  47. !


    do more drugs


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  48. use color
    to focus

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  49. !


    do more drugs


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  50. !


    do more drugs


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  51. !


    do more drugs


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  52. syntax highlight
    editors, not talks

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  53. Killing human
    beings and getting
    away with it

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  54. no one can re-

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

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  56. choose fonts

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  57. sans-serifs

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  58. google fonts

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  59. lost type co-op

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  60. helvetica

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  61. Killing human
    beings and getting
    away with it

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  62. some won’t
    read all that

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  63. remove more
    words from
    your slides

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  64. remove more
    words from
    your slides

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  65. avoid slide reading

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  66. encourage listening

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  67. Get away!
    with murder

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  68. murder is
    frowned upon

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  69. View Slide

  70. View Slide

  71. wasted
    space

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  72. expand photos

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  73. View Slide

  74. View Slide

  75. I hate trees.

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  76. Tax evasion tips

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  77. Tax evasion tips

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  78. Tax evasion tips

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  79. slide
    transitions
    are stupid

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  80. use them sparingly
    and purposefully

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  81. building
    recap

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  82. use large,
    readable text

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  83. delivery
    the

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  84. how to speak

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  85. be excited

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  86. talks are
    entertainment

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  87. is your talk better
    than a blog post?

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  88. practice

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  89. rehearse a bunch

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  90. record yourself

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  91. record yourself
    it’s super embarrassing lol

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  92. variance

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  93. monotone is the
    fast track to boring

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  94. change up your:

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  95. pauses

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  96. volume

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  97. speed

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  98. movement

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  99. things break

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  100. sound
    battery
    kernel panics
    internet gravity
    fonts
    colors
    notifications

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

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  102. have a copy
    of your slides

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  103. bring adapters

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  104. roll with it

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  105. computers suck;
    humans understand

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  106. storytimeTM

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  107. q&a

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

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  109. pause & think
    about the question

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  110. “I don’t know”

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  111. instant +1 karma

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  112. dealing with jerks

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  113. you have the mic

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  114. “do you have an
    actual question?”

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  115. the audience
    probably hates
    the guy too

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  116. delivery
    recap

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

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  118. public speaking
    is scary

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  119. public speaking
    but also fun

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  120. it’s just a learned skill

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  121. @holman

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