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Created February 7, 2017 23:44
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Devoxx MA, Speaker BOF (raw notes)
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devoxx-ma-speaker-box-raw-notes.adoc

Devoxx MA, Speaker BOF (raw notes)

Here are raw notes, questions and answers that occured during the Speaker BOF at Devoxx MA.

I’m passionnate and I want to make a difference to a group I’m a member of. (said by a woman)
First non Java conf and that felt non professional. Hard to get contact with people at first but after I manage to get something out of it.
Problem: at some conference, sometimes too many people are (forced) sent by companies and sometimes you met lots of passionate people.
It’s a challenge to find the right words to do this (public speaking).
PHD student: I was forced to give a course about something I didn’t like (and it was seeable because no passion). ⇒ Success also comes with being passionate about the subject.
Being shy is not incompatible with being a public speaker.
I was not confortable to start conversation with new people but giving a talk is a reason to start a natural conversation about a topic.
It’s a way to give back to the community. It allows you to go to conferences even if you’re not rich.
I just wanted to share (even if I’m not a native english speaker).
It’s an excuse to go to conferences. Unconference type is also great to exchange but it’s not common enough.
Beer-like event are nice because there’s no rules, everyone can feel free to share.
Synchronizing coffee breaks is a another way to make people learn from each other!!! Lots of projects emerge from the water cooler.

Two conference are great:

  • joker conf

    • organize rehearsal for speakers

    • first reactions are bad but after speakers tend to like it

    • great to give feedback to speakers

  • java land

    • mentor program (junior speakers mentored by senior speakers)

    • tips about where to look

  • Ted Newer

    • blog posts about public speaker feedbacks

    • against speaker notes

  • Don’t hesitate to ask some peers to review your talk before the event.

  • It requires a lot of preparation

  • I write a lot of speaker notes to prepare.

  • I don’t use them (speaker-notes) a lot onstage and there are here as a safe guard.

  • Notes are a checker to help not forgetting about stuff to say

  • If I forgot something during the talk, it is that it was not important.

  • I still don’t know how to use the damn thing (speaker notes)

  • 3 rehearsals that helped a lot to refine the talk

  • Feedback for speakers is really important

    • If there’s not any, do it yourself

  • I hired an english profesionnal to correct me (and cousin on skype)

  • I also hired an english speaker (the reviewer took notes)

  • I was shy and afraid to be judged on any parts (content and speaking)

  • Once I knew the topic, I felt like it was not interesting or relevant

    • Classic impostor syndrome

  • I asked a friend that is amazing as writing CFP to review it

  • I don’t want to rehearse not to be a machine

    • but as a football player, you have to rehearse if only to count the time

  • I use two laptops

  • I had to rehearse a lot because english is not my native language

    • It’s very scary with peers because they know what you’re saying

    • I put notes on every slide with stopwatch

    • I use keynote: professionnal for visuals

    • I record myself

    • every time I make a mistake, I start from the beginning

    • no speaker notes

    • the order of the slides is my story

  • You need to rehearse with people from the lab

  • Speaker notes would get me lost or frozen on stage

    • Use small details that helps the speaker to remember stuffs

    • but I create a story for transitions between topics

    • write some bullets

  • speaker console is nice !

  • when a proper teacher gives a talk you can see it

  • we should have a goal

    • is this a deep dive talk?

    • what do I want the audience to go back with?

    • should I give them a lot of links for later?

  • red, green, yellow cards at at conference but not much details

    • speakers should given feedback to other speakers

  • should we prefer know show vs

  • changing the gear (insert a joke and then)

  • australian guy did a intermission about surfers in the middle

  • 30min is a typical time for attention

  • do a pause before moving to a new topic

  • what do you do when someone leaves the room?

  • ask questions and votes (every 10 minutes)

  • you need a friend to break the ice

  • I like to have a demo in all my talk

    • you need to pray the demo gods

  • you can sing while it fails

    • or you can just explain what you’re trying to do to fix the problem

  • how to present content for the milenials

    • just admit your failures and be honest

  • make the audience think "I’m like the speaker"

  • google slides with polls

  • ask the organizers about the kind of audience

    • are they tweeting

    • are they asking questions

    • are they interacting a lot or not

    • ask the % of students/profesionals

    • ask the % of language skills/knowledge

    • young audience

  • hard (as organisers) to keep a conference/event free from stars vs beginners pb

  • avoid profanity, use spellchecker

  • I want to change something in people’s mind

    • that’s the (award) of the investment of the talk

    • attendee’s time is valuable

  • it’s always a missed opporunity not to record the talk

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