AADND and Lessons Learned on Speaking
I gave my Looking Out For IronPython talk at AADND last night which went really well. People were asking questions and genuinely seemed engaged. But as far as knowledge gained is concerned, I think I was the big winner last night. After the meeting had cleared out, Bill Wagner gave me the most in-depth speaking critique I have ever gotten. Typically, the only feedback a speaker gets is a stack of evaluation forms with a bunch of numbers circled and an occasional useful comment. Bill's comments focused not only content, but also pace and physical movement. His comments in summary...
- Only move to different locations in the room if there is a purpose in doing so. I have a tendency to pace which only distracts the audience from your point. Check out this post by Josh Holmes to hammer home the point. If you have the time, browse his blog in it's entirety. He has a lot to say about public speaking.
- Posture is important. It magnifies your presence and conveys confidence. Putting your hands in your pockets kills your posture and thus your presence. Even worse, you loose credibility with your audience. Stand tall, keep your hands out of your pockets and use hand gestures only if necessary.
- It's OK to say, "I don't know," but it's not OK to advertise it (yes, there is irony in this post). When you speak, you become the self-professed expert in the room. In this context, I viewed any question from the audience that I couldn't answer as a failure. Now that I've learned differently, I seemed to have gone too far. I LIKE to talk about the issues I'm trying to solve. Great for personal growth, not so much for presentations. I need to focus on what I know.
- Looking out for IronPython was intended to be an introductory talk. People are showing-up to learn the basics of IronPython, not to be wowed by what IronPython can do. I spent too too much time on complex examples that had little value to the audience.
- My talk was structured so that the first half was entirely PowerPoint and the second half was entirely code. This sort of thing can be taxing on an audience's attention span. Do a few slides, show a demo, do some more slides, then do another demo. This breaks things up into smaller, more digestable chunks.
- Showing an audience something they already know and then morphing it into something new is an effective teaching technique. I did it in Looking out for IronPython and I should consider it for future talks.
- Humor is risky which is why I have made the conscious decision to stay away from a lot of jokes in my presentations. I did insert one slide that last nights audience found entertaining (earlier audiences did not), but it was directly relevant to my point. My lesson here? Don't plan a joke. If the opportunity comes, jump on it. Otherwise, just be yourself.
Bill's comments were a nudge in the right direction. If I'm really serious about improving though, I need to find the nearest Toastmasters group. All I have to do is find the time!
I know I promised a post of IronPython resources. I'm still compiling my list and hope to have those posted by this weekend.