Simple, but not obvious, tips on preparing a report for a cool conference.
This year, more than ever, we have a thorough approach to the work on AppsConf , a conference for mobile application developers. First of all, we have a big and cool program committee. Seriously, in the end, to select about 60 reports, 20 top professionals in all imaginable areas of mobile development have been working with applications since April. More than 70 reports have already passed through their hands (eyes and ears) , based on which some advice has been formed about what is good and what is bad for performance.
These councils are naturally not connected with the theme of the conference, but relate to any presentation from a specialist to specialists.
I recommend reading even to those who consistently fall into the top speakers, and especially those who want to go there. At the same time and get acquainted with some members of the Program Committee.
Alexander Zimin 5 years in iOS development. He works in Badoo, is engaged in development, marketing and product management.
Tip number 1. Rehearse the report without slides, and after that start work on the
presentation.
Why. Of course, there are exceptions, but more often than not speakers who rehearse reports immediately after presentations turn into commentators on their slides. The audience perceives such a presentation is much worse than the report, in which the slides simply complement the story.
Tip number 2 . Make the content on the slides going step by step.
Why.People tend to be distracted during the report. To make it easier for listeners to understand what you are talking about at the moment, it is worthwhile to make the content on the slides (for example, a list) appear in stages.
Tip # 3. Do not try to fit all the details in one report.
Explanation. Quite often, if you have thoroughly delved into the topic, you want to tell about all the pitfalls and details, give 100 comments on each slide: they don’t have to write to this variable 0, because this can lead to such and such consequences. For some reason, it seems to the speaker that if he doesn’t tell about such a detail, then people familiar with the topic among the audience will think that the speaker is incompetent.
Why.Do not confuse reports and articles. It is quite difficult to understand all the information by ear, so the task of the report is primarily to entice those present in the topic, as well as to share their history and tips. Excessive information during the report makes it very difficult, and drives the listener into boredom. If you need to add details, it is better to do this as a separate post and add a link to the slides.
For example, this advice is specially inflated with unnecessary details in order to show
how much more uncomfortable it is than others .
Stas Tsyganov in mobile development all conscious development life. In addition to the main iOS platform, I added features for Android and WP. Now he is working as a mobile development manager at Tutu.ru. It is co-host of the podcast about Podlodka mobile development.
Board number 1. Do not be a slave to your slides!
Why . By itself, the format of a speech at a conference implies the communication of the speaker with the audience. The speaker is the main protagonist of the speech, it contains most of the strengths and weaknesses of the speech. Even with a cool speaker’s not the most useful speech, the audience is satisfied, while a boring speaker can “fill up” a different topic.
The main purpose of the slides is to help the speaker convey thoughts that are difficult to
express in words .
Council number 2. No problem - nothing to listen.
Why. One of the most serious problems of draft versions of reports even of large conferences is that there is no problem, contradiction, conflict in them, if you like. The speaker just tells the stories of life. And the listeners and so on the report of cases on the throat, then scroll through the FB tape, then in the chatika answer.
It is necessary to hook the listener - it is foolish to expect that he will catch on himself. Rare exceptions can be stories from a very large company or a well-known speaker.
The problem is the first thing to be formulated when preparing the report . If you come up with it later, then the problem will turn out to be “plastic”, and half the speech will have to be thrown out, because it has nothing to do with the above problem.
Tip number 3 . Do not try to tell the story of your life.
Why. You are bursting, you want to talk and not stop. You're great, you know so much, if you tell them everything that you know, they will love you and applaud uncontrollably. No, they will not do.
Get it together, do we have a problem? If not, then it is necessary to formulate it. What if there are several problems? It so happens that the speaker essentially talks about two unrelated topics, while not really revealing any of them. Yes, and with the conclusions of the problem, under which of the topics to draw a line? Throw away all unnecessary , focus on one topic and prepare it well.
Tip number 4. Never speak.
Why.Seriously, there are a lot of other ways of expression. For example, you can write an article on Habr, or in a personal blog. You can go to PeerLab, in a bar with the developers. Throw out the stream of consciousness in the Telegram. Speech is one of the most difficult ways to tell the world something. How was it? - "If you can not write, do not write."
By the way, this advice perfectly answers the question: “How to choose a topic for a speech?”.
Nikolay Nesterov 5 years in mobile development. Develops for Android in Avito.
Tip number 1. The main thing in the report is the goal.
Why: Answer the question: “Why do people need my report?” The ideal purpose of the report is to benefit the listeners. "Here is my new architecture Z, I will talk about the possibilities, compare with X and Y and voice all the pros and cons of this approach."
Help to systematically look at the problem and show a new approach. Compare, mark, where it became better, and where - worse. Be honest . The solution is not suitable for any projects? Be sure to talk about it - save a few weeks and a few thousand lines of code to someone from the audience. You shouldn’t sell people a magic tablet: “Here’s a new Z architecture, and I’ll tell you how it will solve all your problems and make the world a better place.” Exciting, but not fair: talk about the limitations of your approach.
And you should not just dump a bunch of information: "Here is the new Z architecture, and I will retell its documentation for half an hour." It is meaningless, your listeners with the same or even better effect could just read the documentation.
Tip number 2. Start from the end.
Why.First write a conclusion - the most important part of the report. The conclusion follows from the goal. Express your idea at the end: listeners will remember it. Think of the main part of the report as a preparation for the conclusion. All pieces of code, graphics, lists, and memesics should prepare listeners to ensure that the idea easily enters their head and remains there for a long time.
Roman Mochalov in iOS development for 5 years, works at Improve Digital. Two years ago, he began to organize the Novosibirsk iOS mitap and still can not stop.
Tip number 1 . Prepare not a presentation - prepare a story.
Why.Experience suggests that it is not interesting for people to listen to unstructured text and to see slides suitable for words. Therefore, you need to prepare a story. You should not just describe the problem, but also make from this a story that the audience will be interested to listen to.
A good report, like a good movie, has a plot (introduction), a main action (problem) and a denouement (moral / conclusion / advice). Try to make your presentations in this three-step format. At the very first stage, try to interest the listener. Usually people leave the report after the first five minutes if they are not interested. Interest your viewer, and he will answer you in return! In the main part of the story, disclose the problem you are talking about. This is not an introductory block, there should be details of your case, a solution to the problem. At the end there must be a conclusion - a short piece of advice that the audience will take from your report.
Yegor Tolstoy.I manage the Avito client-side platform development, I run Podlodka podcast and several Telegram channels about development and management. Dog ate on the organization of all events on mobile development.
Tip number 1. Do not speak together.
Why. This is bad for the viewer . Usually the level of skills of the speakers is very different, and the speech of one normal speaker will be divided into the shoals of another. Listeners have to switch context more often, and this is difficult. It is not clear whom to follow, to whom to look, to whom to listen. In short, some cons.
This is bad for speakers. You complicate and do not fully control the process of preparation. You blur the viewers attention.
This is bad for a conference.. The chances of someone being overlaid are multiplied together, increasing the overall risks.
In 99% of cases, a joint statement is done in order to entertain the pride of someone from the team. To make the audience suffer, the main speaker and the organizers for the sake of a sense of belonging of one person - such a thing Of course, there are times when such reports come in. But it should be a fundamentally different format, and not “I will read the first section, you will read the second,” supported by the extensive experience of both speakers and their teamwork.
In short, if the idea of speaking with a colleague seems good to you, then you are greatly mistaken.
Tip number 2 . Use the last slide correctly.
Why.Usually the last slide is displayed on the screen as long as possible. It is on him that all the attention of the audience is focused, while someone asks a boring and uninteresting question to no one. So why make it empty and useless? For whom is the inscription "Q & A"? The audience even without this will understand that the speaker has finished, and the moderator will determine whether it is possible to ask questions.
Instead, put on the last slide the central idea of your speech, the main idea that listeners should take out. This could be a couple of theses, some kind of scheme, a table. It will be carefully examined, read and remembered - take advantage of this.
In the spoilers a few examples:
Yes, you are right, some of the tips have a lot in common. And this is absolutely no coincidence - we all face the same shortcomings at various events. I bet you noticed that? Do not repeat the mistakes of others.
These councils are naturally not connected with the theme of the conference, but relate to any presentation from a specialist to specialists.
I recommend reading even to those who consistently fall into the top speakers, and especially those who want to go there. At the same time and get acquainted with some members of the Program Committee.
Alexander Zimin 5 years in iOS development. He works in Badoo, is engaged in development, marketing and product management.
Tip number 1. Rehearse the report without slides, and after that start work on the
presentation.
Why. Of course, there are exceptions, but more often than not speakers who rehearse reports immediately after presentations turn into commentators on their slides. The audience perceives such a presentation is much worse than the report, in which the slides simply complement the story.
Tip number 2 . Make the content on the slides going step by step.
Why.People tend to be distracted during the report. To make it easier for listeners to understand what you are talking about at the moment, it is worthwhile to make the content on the slides (for example, a list) appear in stages.
Tip # 3. Do not try to fit all the details in one report.
Explanation. Quite often, if you have thoroughly delved into the topic, you want to tell about all the pitfalls and details, give 100 comments on each slide: they don’t have to write to this variable 0, because this can lead to such and such consequences. For some reason, it seems to the speaker that if he doesn’t tell about such a detail, then people familiar with the topic among the audience will think that the speaker is incompetent.
Why.Do not confuse reports and articles. It is quite difficult to understand all the information by ear, so the task of the report is primarily to entice those present in the topic, as well as to share their history and tips. Excessive information during the report makes it very difficult, and drives the listener into boredom. If you need to add details, it is better to do this as a separate post and add a link to the slides.
For example, this advice is specially inflated with unnecessary details in order to show
how much more uncomfortable it is than others .
Stas Tsyganov in mobile development all conscious development life. In addition to the main iOS platform, I added features for Android and WP. Now he is working as a mobile development manager at Tutu.ru. It is co-host of the podcast about Podlodka mobile development.
Board number 1. Do not be a slave to your slides!
Why . By itself, the format of a speech at a conference implies the communication of the speaker with the audience. The speaker is the main protagonist of the speech, it contains most of the strengths and weaknesses of the speech. Even with a cool speaker’s not the most useful speech, the audience is satisfied, while a boring speaker can “fill up” a different topic.
The main purpose of the slides is to help the speaker convey thoughts that are difficult to
express in words .
Council number 2. No problem - nothing to listen.
Why. One of the most serious problems of draft versions of reports even of large conferences is that there is no problem, contradiction, conflict in them, if you like. The speaker just tells the stories of life. And the listeners and so on the report of cases on the throat, then scroll through the FB tape, then in the chatika answer.
It is necessary to hook the listener - it is foolish to expect that he will catch on himself. Rare exceptions can be stories from a very large company or a well-known speaker.
The problem is the first thing to be formulated when preparing the report . If you come up with it later, then the problem will turn out to be “plastic”, and half the speech will have to be thrown out, because it has nothing to do with the above problem.
Tip number 3 . Do not try to tell the story of your life.
Why. You are bursting, you want to talk and not stop. You're great, you know so much, if you tell them everything that you know, they will love you and applaud uncontrollably. No, they will not do.
Get it together, do we have a problem? If not, then it is necessary to formulate it. What if there are several problems? It so happens that the speaker essentially talks about two unrelated topics, while not really revealing any of them. Yes, and with the conclusions of the problem, under which of the topics to draw a line? Throw away all unnecessary , focus on one topic and prepare it well.
Tip number 4. Never speak.
Why.Seriously, there are a lot of other ways of expression. For example, you can write an article on Habr, or in a personal blog. You can go to PeerLab, in a bar with the developers. Throw out the stream of consciousness in the Telegram. Speech is one of the most difficult ways to tell the world something. How was it? - "If you can not write, do not write."
By the way, this advice perfectly answers the question: “How to choose a topic for a speech?”.
Nikolay Nesterov 5 years in mobile development. Develops for Android in Avito.
Tip number 1. The main thing in the report is the goal.
Why: Answer the question: “Why do people need my report?” The ideal purpose of the report is to benefit the listeners. "Here is my new architecture Z, I will talk about the possibilities, compare with X and Y and voice all the pros and cons of this approach."
Help to systematically look at the problem and show a new approach. Compare, mark, where it became better, and where - worse. Be honest . The solution is not suitable for any projects? Be sure to talk about it - save a few weeks and a few thousand lines of code to someone from the audience. You shouldn’t sell people a magic tablet: “Here’s a new Z architecture, and I’ll tell you how it will solve all your problems and make the world a better place.” Exciting, but not fair: talk about the limitations of your approach.
And you should not just dump a bunch of information: "Here is the new Z architecture, and I will retell its documentation for half an hour." It is meaningless, your listeners with the same or even better effect could just read the documentation.
Tip number 2. Start from the end.
Why.First write a conclusion - the most important part of the report. The conclusion follows from the goal. Express your idea at the end: listeners will remember it. Think of the main part of the report as a preparation for the conclusion. All pieces of code, graphics, lists, and memesics should prepare listeners to ensure that the idea easily enters their head and remains there for a long time.
Roman Mochalov in iOS development for 5 years, works at Improve Digital. Two years ago, he began to organize the Novosibirsk iOS mitap and still can not stop.
Tip number 1 . Prepare not a presentation - prepare a story.
Why.Experience suggests that it is not interesting for people to listen to unstructured text and to see slides suitable for words. Therefore, you need to prepare a story. You should not just describe the problem, but also make from this a story that the audience will be interested to listen to.
A good report, like a good movie, has a plot (introduction), a main action (problem) and a denouement (moral / conclusion / advice). Try to make your presentations in this three-step format. At the very first stage, try to interest the listener. Usually people leave the report after the first five minutes if they are not interested. Interest your viewer, and he will answer you in return! In the main part of the story, disclose the problem you are talking about. This is not an introductory block, there should be details of your case, a solution to the problem. At the end there must be a conclusion - a short piece of advice that the audience will take from your report.
Yegor Tolstoy.I manage the Avito client-side platform development, I run Podlodka podcast and several Telegram channels about development and management. Dog ate on the organization of all events on mobile development.
Tip number 1. Do not speak together.
Why. This is bad for the viewer . Usually the level of skills of the speakers is very different, and the speech of one normal speaker will be divided into the shoals of another. Listeners have to switch context more often, and this is difficult. It is not clear whom to follow, to whom to look, to whom to listen. In short, some cons.
This is bad for speakers. You complicate and do not fully control the process of preparation. You blur the viewers attention.
This is bad for a conference.. The chances of someone being overlaid are multiplied together, increasing the overall risks.
In 99% of cases, a joint statement is done in order to entertain the pride of someone from the team. To make the audience suffer, the main speaker and the organizers for the sake of a sense of belonging of one person - such a thing Of course, there are times when such reports come in. But it should be a fundamentally different format, and not “I will read the first section, you will read the second,” supported by the extensive experience of both speakers and their teamwork.
In short, if the idea of speaking with a colleague seems good to you, then you are greatly mistaken.
Tip number 2 . Use the last slide correctly.
Why.Usually the last slide is displayed on the screen as long as possible. It is on him that all the attention of the audience is focused, while someone asks a boring and uninteresting question to no one. So why make it empty and useless? For whom is the inscription "Q & A"? The audience even without this will understand that the speaker has finished, and the moderator will determine whether it is possible to ask questions.
Instead, put on the last slide the central idea of your speech, the main idea that listeners should take out. This could be a couple of theses, some kind of scheme, a table. It will be carefully examined, read and remembered - take advantage of this.
In the spoilers a few examples:
Poorly.
Average It is good that the results of the report are summed up, but there are no contacts of the speaker.
Good. The slide lists the main points of the report, and the key idea is depicted in the form of a diagram (iterative process improvement). At the bottom of the slide is the contact of the speaker (not a hundred, but one main one).
Good. This slide is looped to the beginning of the report, in which there was a very similar picture. The key idea is expressed by one short phrase, and it is indicated how to contact the author.
Yes, you are right, some of the tips have a lot in common. And this is absolutely no coincidence - we all face the same shortcomings at various events. I bet you noticed that? Do not repeat the mistakes of others.
AppsConf 2018 will be held on October 8 and 9 in Infospace. The list of topics that we plan to discuss is very wide and includes all the most current technologies from the world of Android and iOS; common track for architecture in both directions; cross-platform development and reports on the development process.
It remains to scroll through the page for speakers , to know the conditions of participation, and you can apply for a report. Deadline August 3 - wait!