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How I do (and don’t) prepare a talk for a tech conference

The speaker shares their unconventional approach to preparing a tech talk, including avoiding excessive self-intro, focusing on examples instead of overarching context, and using flowchart-style tools instead of memes or cultural references.

    #public-speaking
Apr 13, 2024•12m read time•From chelseatroy.com
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My 🌶️ spicy take 🌶️: I don’t like seeing tech talks live.…allow me to describe how I build a talk.1. I do very little self-intro.2. I don’t start with “why you should listen to my talk.”3. I don’t do a lot of memes, gifs, puns, or cultural references.4. I don’t worry about eye contact.5. I don’t show code, mostly.Now let’s talk about what I do instead.1. Instead of starting with self-intro, I consider the start of my talk to be The Hook.2. Instead of providing overarching context, I explain new ideas in the form of examples.3. Instead of gifs, puns, memes, or cultural references, I stay focused on offering tools.4. Instead of focusing on eye contact, I invest in other stage presence concerns.5. Instead of showing code, I focus on talk-friendly content.Regardless of order, throughout my talk prep, I focus on one guiding principle:A final P.S. that I probably shouldn’t put in hereIf you liked this piece, you might also like:
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