Author: Christian Heilmann
Translator: Zhuang Qi
Once you’ve confirmed your invitation to speak and prepared for various technical glitches, you can consider delivering your talk or workshop. Do it right, because data is one thing, but delivering it in an engaging way is more powerful.
Fact: There are no bad students or bad audiences, only bad workshops and lectures. Your mood, dedication, and enthusiasm do become the audience’s mood — if you’re not happy, they won’t be either. Public speaking is an art, and you can learn many techniques from other forms of performance, but the most important thing is to be prepared and enjoy it. Someone has to communicate what you’re speaking about to the audience — if you don’t, salespeople will. When delivering your material, there are a few things to consider.
Be Yourself
There are probably dozens of books and videos on how to be a good speaker, yet nothing is more likely to make you a good speaker than being yourself.
You shouldn’t play a role. Trust yourself, and you’ll be great. Your most important asset is confidence. Confidence doesn’t come naturally, but the more you display it, the easier it is to build. Prepare your materials, have backup plans for mistakes, and don’t be afraid.
If you make a mistake, keep going. When you make a mistake, say it directly and continue your speech. Give the audience the impression that although you are an expert, you are still a human being, and humans make mistakes — just like the audience members sitting below.
Communicate and Interact
As an evangelist, everything you do is related to communication. You are an information disseminator, but you are also a receiver who brings back problems, concerns, and ideas from the outside world to your company.
When speaking, it’s normal to tell people they can ask questions. Leave time for questions during your speech. Stop at complex points and ask the audience if they all understand or if you should explain some details. Ask them questions and prepare small gifts for those who answer.
Tip: In general, it’s a good idea to ask the audience questions from time to time. Ask them what they do (raise hands), whether they already have experience using the product, etc. This will let you know how to approach the rest of your talk, but it also makes people feel they are participating and keeps them from dozing off.
Prepare Takeaways
Not everyone can focus on your entire speech, so you should prepare a takeaway (knowledge that is easy for people to remember and take with them).
Have a URL where they can download your information afterward, and include it as one of your first slides. I also find it useful to create a QR code so people can take a photo instead of typing it into a browser. This also has a practical effect for you. Most URL shorteners or QR code generators also have attached statistics. Not only do you make it easier for them to follow up, but you can also demonstrate that your speech has generated interest in your company.
First, tell them what you’re going to talk about and what they’ll get out of it. You don’t need a complete agenda slide (although some corporate environments require these), but it’s best to tell people in advance what they’re going to hear. Remember, the question “What’s in it for me?” is what you need to answer for your audience.
Uncertainty makes people uncomfortable, and you shouldn’t make everyone feel that way while listening to your speech.
Plan Your Time and Prepare Answers to Questions
Plan for a “Q&A” session after your speech (most conference organizers will do this anyway — but be generous). These sessions allow people to ask specific questions, get the answers they need, and then go back to solving their problems immediately.
One thing is very important: you need to control the Q&A. Many times, you’ll encounter people who don’t ask questions but instead introduce themselves. Handle this, and handle it quickly. There will be people with real questions that need answers.
Tip: If you find someone in the audience who talks about their skills for a minute before asking a question, cut in. Ask for their name and single them out as an expert. “Great, XX knows a lot about XYZ, so during the break, you can also ask her how to handle this issue. XX, if you’d like, we can collect some questions and work on them together later.” This gives XX a chance to spread their knowledge, makes them feel like a rockstar, and gives others a chance to ask real, urgent questions that can be answered within the planned time.
Be Sincere
If you don’t know the answer, don’t guess.
Instead, ask if anyone in the audience knows. Often, there will be other speakers or “silent experts” in the audience who can help you. This shows that you’re also willing to learn — and the stigma of the “arrogant speaker” is broken.
If there’s no answer, offer to investigate further and exchange contact information with the person who asked the question. There’s nothing wrong with not knowing something. But lying is harmful.
Follow-up Communication
How you communicate after your speech is often more important than your performance on stage. Remember, the speech is a means to an end: getting people to use your company’s products and — if you have a developer program — participating in it. This means you should make sure to email everyone who gives you a business card (this can be time-consuming, but you can do it on the train).
Tip: Be sure to publish, upload recordings, photos, and slides as soon as possible. This shows respect to those who came to your lecture and invites those who missed it to participate. Reports of speeches published weeks later are basically impossible to get attention. There will be many distractions for developers. Act quickly, and you’ll be part of the attention peak generated by the conference. Have contact options after your speech (usually on the last slide) — email, Twitter name, etc. It’s best to have dedicated communication channels. Don’t use your company email or the IM name you use at work. First, this allows you to be more selective in answering questions, but more importantly, giving company communication channels to anyone poses a security risk.
Reprinted with permission: Developer Relations »
