ignite speaker-coaching

Top secret tips forawesomeness at

IGNITE SEATTLE

by Scott Berkun, Ignite Speaker Coach Thursday, January 30, 14

You are awesome.

We chose you from a huge pool of submissions.

We want you to do well and will help you.

2

Thursday, January 30, 14

3

Thursday, January 30, 14

Thursday, January 30, 14

This is the stage at Town Hall, where

you will be speaking

Thursday, January 30, 14

This is your confidence monitor. It shows the current slide. It helps

prevent you from turning to look at your slides.

.

Thursday, January 30, 14

It is small.You won’t be able to read from it. It simply cues you to what slide is currently

visible behind you.

.

Thursday, January 30, 14

The red carpet is the best place to be.

You’ll look best for the crowd and video.

Thursday, January 30, 14

How To Prepare, Part 1

• Stories are better than data• Have four or five beats• A beat is a story, a key point, an

example etc.• If it takes ~1 minute to make a point,

you have time for 4 or 5 in total• Practice before you make any slides

Thursday, January 30, 14

When you practice

• Stand up

• Hold something microphone like (a pen, a toothbrush, a flashlight)

• Set a timer for 5 minutes

• Imagine a big crowd of friendly people

• Speak at FULL volume

• It’s ok if you get stuck at first. You will :)

• Revise your material if needed and try again

Thursday, January 30, 14

How To Prepare, Part 1

• Moments of silence are good• When you practice, give yourself room

to breathe• Silence lets people catch up to what

you just said• It’s good to have buffer, places where

you plan to pause. Should something go wrong the buffer will help you.

Thursday, January 30, 14

How To Prepare, Part 2

• Fonts and sizes• Don’t compete with your slides• Practice (10 times in a hour)• Get exercise / Come early

Thursday, January 30, 14

Large fonts please

80 pt60 pt

40pt30201510

If you are reading this I hate you

Thursday, January 30, 14

Put important things here

But not down here where most of the crowd won’t see it

Or here

Thursday, January 30, 14

Keep it simple

People can’t read long slides and listen to you at the same time and if you fill your slides with complexity it will split the audience’s attention more

Thursday, January 30, 14

Thursday, January 30, 14

Avoid complex diagrams.

Unless you’re simply referencing how complex something is.

No brain can understand a complicated diagram and listen to

you all in 15 seconds

Thursday, January 30, 14

Photos/Images work best

Our brains process photos quickly. They also give you as a speaker flexibility for what specific thing you say while

it’s visible.

Thursday, January 30, 14

Thursday, January 30, 14

How to find photos

• Use photos that grant permission• Creative Commons search at Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/search/advanced/

• Provide a small url at the bottom of the image for attribution

• Or use a stockphoto website

20

Thursday, January 30, 14

The format is flexible

We require 20 slides each visible for 15 seconds. But you

can show the same slide twice (or more) if you want…

Thursday, January 30, 14

Thursday, January 30, 14

Thursday, January 30, 14

Common mistakes

• Not practicing• Not practicing• Not practicing• No breathing room / margin for error• Too complex• Lacking a fault tolerant structure (If you

forget point #2, can you still make point #3)

Thursday, January 30, 14

Summary

• Don’t compete with your slides• Practice (10 times in a hour)• Tell one story, with 4 beats• Silence is ok• Big fonts, simple photos• Get exercise / Come early

Thursday, January 30, 14

Dry runs w/feedback

Thursday, January 30, 14

Thursday, January 30, 14