Over the last few months I got back into doing talks for meetups & confs.
I took this chance to go through my bookmars of smart people writing about how to do good tech talks and clean it up; and today I want share it with y'all π€ be ready, it's a longish one!
Let's start ππ§΅
1) @hynek's "On conference speaking" - great skeleton on how to approach any talk + ton of insights from an experienced speaker in the #python world
hynek.me/articles/speaking/
2) @reverentgeek's "5 Essential Ingredients for an Awesome Tech Talk" - much lighter tone, good fundamentals to use to review that your talk has all the basics covered
reverentgeek.com/5-essential-ingredients-for-an-awesome-tech-talk/
3) @holman's Tips for Public Speaking (@speakingio) - suuuuuper comprehensive! An entire website of resources, with nice "topic areas" and dedicated per each. Always good to go back to it and get inspired by his approach.
speaking.io/
4) @garybernhardt's "How to prepare a talk" - I love when speakers share their personal approach from start to finish, there's always something to learn.
deconstructconf.com/blog/how-to-prepare-a-talk
5) @shehackspurple's "Presentation Tips for Technical Talks" - it might look a bit of a daunting numbered list, but some true nuggets in there! (also, some good tips for dealing with the audience)
dev.to/azure/presentation-tips-for-technical-talks-1fni
6) @sivers "Cut out everything thatβs not surprising" - short and straight to the point. I like coming back to this to see if my talk lives up to it.
sive.rs/d22
7) @LittleKope's "10 Ways to Help Accessibility at Conferences as a Speaker" - this one is always a MUST. All speakers should keep in mind #a11y, and in this blogpost she shares a LOT of great things to do to help.
dev.to/lkopacz/10-ways-to-help-accessibility-at-conferences-as-a-speaker-5dfp
8) @cfp_land's "The Comprehensive Guide to Speaking at Technology Conferences in 2020" - it's still very useful despite saying 2020 in the title, don't worry! This is great for first-time speakers with those first few parts on the types of confs, etc.
cfpland.com/guides/speaking/
9) @dan_abramov's "Preparing for a Tech Talk" series. I like how he divided each post and his insights. I can't help but feeling that I want to know what that "β’ To be continued" is about π€£ still, great stuff, always good to get more inspiration
overreacted.io/preparing-for-tech-talk-part-1-motivation/
10) @type__error's "Things experienced speakers wish they'd known: Tips for first time conference speakers" - what's to say about this? When I read this back in 2018 I was like "heck yeah, this is great". When I read it now, "heck yeah, this is great".
localghost.dev/blog/things-experienced-speakers-wish-they-d-known/
11) @ThisIsJoFrank's "Public Speaking for Beginners" - last but not least. I wanted to close off with this as it covers the human/performance side; money quote:
"Your audience is on your side, they really do want you to succeed."
medium.com/samsung-internet-dev/public-speaking-for-beginners-8bdee16123ba
Aaaand that's it! I hope at least one of these links is new to you and it will help you in your jorney of preparing your next talk π€
Enjoy the weekend folks!