So, You Want to Give Your First Code Camp Talk?

1. Boston Code Camp 12 (Waltham, MA) 17-Oct-2009 So, You Want to Give Your First Code Camp Talk? Getting you over the hump and in front of an audience Boston Azure User Group http://bostonazure.org @bostonazure Bill Wilder http://blog.codingoutloud.com @codingoutloud Boston West Toastmasters http://bwtoastmasters.com

2. Outline • Audience • Why give talks? • Goal of this talk • Preparing your tech talk • Delivering your tech talk • How to get better • Action!

3. 1. Audience

4. Who is this talk for? • You know who you are! • You know something or are willing to learn • Have some interest in giving a Tech Talk • Willing to do some work

5. 2. Why give talks?

6. Top 10 “Blunders” by Enterprise Architects #3. Not engaging the business peeps #2. Insufficient understanding and support from stakeholders #1. The Wrong Lead Architect #7. Not … Communicating the Impact #10. Not Spending Enough Time on Communications Source http://www.sdtimes.com/link/33787 The top 10 enterprise architecture blunders By Alex Handy, September 25, 2009

7. 3. Goal of this talk

8. This talk will… • Encourage & Educate Get you over the hump and in front of an audience Not intending to cover all facets of tech talks! Emphasis on approach & effective use of tools.

9. 4. Preparing your tech talk

10. Preparing a Tech Talk in 2 Steps • STEP 1: Prepare the “tech” • STEP 2: Prepare the “talk”

11. Five Cardinal Sins (from “Presenting to Win” by Jerry Weissman) • No Clear Point • No Audience Benefit • No Clear Flow • Too Detailed • Too Long

12. STEP 0: What is it about? • Concise, twitter-sized summary • “the sentence”, “the headline” • “the core message” (Making Things Stick) • Lets you know what to leave out • Clarify your non-goals

13. Preparing Your Talk Speech template(thanks to Derek Perkins) • Begin with a strong opening & end with strong close • State your premise • Make your point and give an example to support it • Finish with a summary and strong conclusion/call to action

14. Do Not Race the Audience • According to Yahoo! Answers, the average person can read 300 words per minute. So this is a test. It is a long text blob that Bill, your speaker today, will not actually pay attention to. • Please start pretend coughing once you finish reading this sentence so Bill knows you got here. Start coughing now. Please don’t stop! • Now please also raise your hand as though you are in high school and wish to ask a question.

15. Tech Talk Tip Use Progressive Reveal • PowerPoint will allow you to expose one bullet at a time if you wish to limit read-ahead • Your audience CAN READ FASTER THAN YOU CAN TALK. Do not read the slides to them. DEMO?

16. Slides are Slides You give a “talk” – not a “read” • They do not need to stand alone • There are better tools for stand-alone docs • There are better tools to handle notes • The audience reads faster than you speak

17. Tech Talk Tip Use Multiple Monitor Support • By default, you see the same content on projector as on your laptop • Use PowerPoint’s “Notes” feature; see notes but don’t show to your audience • In PowerPoint: • Slide Show > Set Up Show… DEMO?

18. Designing Your Slides • Have an organized structure • Whether you make it explicit or not • Single Responsibility Principle (SRP) • Slides are cheap • Slides do not have to be all text • Fine to have code samples in your slides

19. You are Not Steve Jobs • But that’s okay! • Steve is a brilliant speaker • … but remember to find the right level for your audience

20. Guy Kawasaki: 10-20-30 Rule • 10 slides, in 20 minutes, using 30-point font • This is a “classic” that you may run into • Reasonable guideline for Code Camp? • 10 slides for PPT content in 20 minutes • Complemented by 45 minutes of Code examples • And 15 minutes of Q&A • Only count “content slides” in the 10 slides • 30-point font both for readability and limits words • (Code also needs to be readable)

21. How long should it be?

22. Tech Talk Tip Spruce up with Images • Finding images you are allowed to use legally for free on images.google.com • Filter by license • Import them into PowerPoint • Provide proper attribution • Note: I am not a lawyer  DEMO?

23. 5. Delivering your tech talk

24. How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall? while (presentation_quality < suck_threshold) { Practice(); } • “I’ve never seen someone over-prepared” –Bill’s Uncle Peter c. 1988

25. Pre-Talk Check-List (1/3) For the Humans • Bottle of water • Have I checked in? • Do I have any give-aways (e.g., books)? • Do I have Wi-Fi access key (if needed)? • Way to take notes • Consider taking off your conference badge to reduce opportunities for distraction [From Jeffrey Veen - http://www.veen.com/jeff/archives/000483.html] • Turn off my cell phone

26. Pre-Talk Check-List (2/3) Computer Hygiene • Reboot in advance – clean boot • Firewall, Anti-Virus – disable • Anything that will create a pop-up – turn off • Any unneeded applications – close • Do I need Internet/web access? Check for it. Do I have access key? Beware false access.

27. Pre-Talk Check-List (3/3) Lock & Load • Load up all samples • Load ZoomIt (Ctrl-1) • Remote Control • Code snippets queued up • Slide deck at the ready • Visual Studio font size, layout, colors • Load up any web sites I will reference (have browsers open if needed)

28. Rules of Engagement When do you want to entertain questions? • On the fly • At specific intervals, milestones • At the end • Recommendation: On the fly, with possibility of short deferral if in deep

29. In the Beginning… • Ask audience to turn off their cell phones • Or say “phasers on stun” to sound more scifi • Don’t say “turn off pagers” • Begin! - Start on time (or within very short grace period) – respect the time of the people already in the room

30. How will you make me care? • “Use as many stories as you can to make the content interesting” –Derek Perkins • “Use the word ‘you’ much more than you use the word ‘I’. Helps you to ensure the speech is about them, not you.” –Patricia Fripp

31. Some Classics • Know thy audience • Not entirely a “Delivery” concern • Dress for success • Know the physical space

32. Tech Talk Tip • Unchain yourself from the keyboard • Wireless mouse may do fine • Fancy wireless presenter is fancier • Many presentation coaches advise you stand to the (audience’s) left of the display • Probably does not apply for Code Demos, but useful during slides.

33. Tech Talk Tip Going to the Dark Slide • PowerPoint has capability to show blank screen (black or white) [B, W, or Remote] • Useful during mental breaks, questions • “A blank screen from time to time also makes images stronger when they do appear.” http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2005/11/the_zen_estheti.html

34. Tech Talk Tip • Make Your Demo Code Readable • 11 Tips from Scott Hanselman: http://www.hanselman.com/blog/11TopTipsForASuccessfulTechnicalPresentation.aspx • Lucida Console, 14 to 18pt, Bold • Consider a Zooming utility DEMO?

35. Social Engineering – Manipulating Your Audience for Fun & Profit • For when a compelling talk is not enough! • Put an Easter egg in your slides, challenge them to find it • Announce there will be a book give-away or raffle at the end • Withhold hand-outs until the end • Threaten to take a group photo at the end • Provide food at the end • Lock the door

36. 6. How to Get Better

38. Toastmasters Deliberate Practice – just like Jerry Rice! • Directory on http://toastmasters.org • Many local clubs • Boston West Toastmasters • My club! http://bwtoastmasters.com • Offering a free 6-months for unemployed* • 2nd & 4th Monday of the month 7:30-9:00 PM • Meets in Needham, MA

39. Requirements for Giving a Talk • Know or learn something • Prepare a talk • Practice the talk • Deliver the talk • Rejoice • Repeat • WARNING: some steps require w-o-r-k !]

40. You can observe a lot by watching

41. Upcoming Local Events • Presentation Camp Boston – Sat Oct 24, 2009 @ NERD (55 free tickets still available as of last night) • http://PresentationCampBoston.org • Scott Berkun speaking on his new book Confessions of a Public Speaker – Thu Nov 5 in evening @ NERD • http://microsoftcambridge.com/Events/RefreshBostonScottBerkun/tabid/207/Default.aspx

42. 7. Action

43. Where Can You Talk? • Code Camps (Boston, NH, VT, CT, NY, …) • http://thedevcommunity.org • Your Company • Lunch & Learn • User Groups • http://bostonusergroups.org/, http://bugc.org/ • http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen/ (see far right) • http://blogs.msdn.com/jimoneil/pages/area-user-groups.aspx (map) • http://meetup.com/, http://upcoming.yahoo.com/

44. Interest in.. ??? • Workshop at a Code Camp • Learning more about Toastmasters? • “Techmasters” style Toastmasters club • Starter-template for giving a talk • What else do you need before you can get started on your first Code Camp talk?

45. Boston Azure User Group • Meeting #1: Thu Oct 22 @ 6:30 @ NERD • Brian Lambert from Microsoft Azure + … ASP.NET MVC + … a little Database table storage + … plus some Blob action = Awesome • http://bostonazure.org/ - get on mailing list

46. Boston Azure User Group • Meeting #2: Thu Dec 3 @ 6:30 @ NERD • Mike Werner from Microsoft • Michael Stiefel • New and Shiny PDC announcements • http://bostonazure.org/ - get on mailing list • You need to talk at a future meeting

47. Let me know when you’ve given your first Tech Talk

48. Check for posted slides, any other follow-up at: http://blog.codingoutloud.com Questions? Or feedback for me?

49. More than a good idea… • Ever need to give a “talk” just because? • Go on a sales call? Work at a trade-show? • Do they let you speak?  • Give your status in a morning stand-up? • Speaking roles at meetings? • Will you ever go on a job interview? • Ever need to convince [ peers | manager | team ] of something?