how to write tech posts & talks

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How to Write Dev Posts & Talks

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Post on 18-Jun-2015

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How to go from an idea related to development, to forming it into a post, and ultimately to giving a talk about it at an event/meetup. I've given talks for many years, and am currently the CEO of a global network of remote web developers.

TRANSCRIPT

  • 1. How to Write Dev Posts & Talks

2. Why should I care?two reasons. 3. Build your reputation.To work remotely, you need a trustedonline reputation. Posts/talks alsoprove that you can speak clearly andconfidently. 4. Contributing starts here.Writing posts & talks is a gatewaydrug into open source communities,which all contributors always calllife-changing. 5. Step One.build the courage. 6. The real reason youreafraid to contribute.Its not your lack of ideas. Itsbecause you believe no one wants tohear your ideas. 7. Fear is the mind killer.At the end of the day, no one reallycares if you say something they dontwant to hear about. 8. Inspiring one person is allthat matters.Dont let the possibility of notinspiring others hold you back. 9. Step Two.decide what to write/talk about. 10. I dont have anything to talkabout isnt an excuseEvery day you come up with ideas,youre just not writing them down. 11. When in doubt,ask yourself this question... 12. Will what I have to say add value tothe community? 13. Rants dont add value. 14. Add Valuehere are some value-adding approaches. 15. How-toMost popular & flexible. Stay simple,dont try to how-to PHP fromscratch. Focus on one small thing. 16. Trick(s)Similar to How-to, but more aboutadvice for very specific situations. 17. ExperimentPerformance comparisons,alternative ways of doing things, etc. 18. Introduction to ______.Bigger than a how-to. Every intro toanything that already exists can bedone better (and more up to date). 19. Its time for change.A community, framework orindustry needs to change to moveforward and you have the positive,collaborative answer to get there. 20. One more thing...try out your topics on forums/Twitter 21. Fail fastGet feedback on the core of your ideaand either move forward or trash it. 22. Step Three.outline your structure. 23. Context.The Meat.Your Turn. 24. ContextGive them enough context tounderstand why you have somethingworth hearing. No more, no less. 25. The MeatThe majority of the content. Break itinto sections and sub-sections sopeople can more easily digest it. 26. The MeatFor posts: Give each section animage to break up text more. 27. Your TurnInvite the audience to contribute tothe conversation. For a project,invite them to submit issues/PRs. Fora trick, invite them to add theirtricks. 28. Be uniqueGoogle your topic first. See what youcan do differently than whatsalready been done. 29. Step Four.publish your masterpiece. 30. Publish.Start up a simple Tumblr. Then re-postto Facebook, Twitter (@ people youknow for retweets), reddit,LinkedIn (full post) 31. Do an English versionNative language is good for a localcommunity, but dont forget aboutpublishing it to the world in English. 32. Review what youve done.Re-read your post again. Wait a coupledays and read it again. Youll noticesomething every time you read it thatwill help you improve. 33. Step Fivetake your show on the road. 34. Apply to speakOnce you have a successful post, youcan link to it in a Call for Papers foran event you want to speak at. 35. Build your slides.Google Slides (free) is all you need. 36. Be simple....but not too simple. Keep it to 1point per slide, but make sure theslide makes sense when someonesees it after your talk. 37. The MeatGive each section its own slide tointroduce it and make it easy todigest the whole talk. 38. This is a section.helps make it easier to digest, right? 39. Design is importantBut you dont need much design skill.Just focus on consistency - fonts,colors, layout. 40. Design is importantLimit your slides to 3 fonts (1 serif) &3 colors at most. Use Google Fontsand ColourLovers for a color palette. 41. Design is importantUse Unsplash.com for great CreativeCommons photos. 42. Humor is good.Its OK to use memes or somethingfunny to explain your point. Just dont flood your slides with them. 43. Go easy with codeIbf yloouc shkosw. code examples, onlyexplain 1 small snippet per slide. 44. Give a refresherFor a how-to, include a few slides inyour Context section that quicklygets newcomers up to speed andrefreshes intermediate devs. 45. Get inspiredCheck out SpeakerDecks programmingsection for (occasionally) beautiful,entertaining talks. 46. Practice. A lot.Present to yourself. And again. Tweakit. Practice. Practice with a mirror.Sick of it yet? Perfect, youre ready. 47. Practice. A lot.The beginning and end are the mostcrucial, so nail those in your practiceabove all. 48. Practice. A lot.Track how long it takes to present eachslide. Makes it easier to cut slides outto meet a time limit. 49. Network.Dont forget the after party where yougive your talk, its a great place to meetpeople who will love to talk to youmore. 50. Review.Have someone record your talk so youcan watch it back. It will be eye-openingand help you improve. 51. Review.Look for: avoiding eye contact, talkingtoo fast, never pausing, too manyuhh moments, etc. 52. Lets do this.three things you can do tomorrow. 53. 1. Start tracking your ideas.At the end of each week, save aseparate list of which ideas could turninto 4-5 paragraphs or more. 54. 2. Work through 1 topic.Take that topic into a Google doc,unleash 4-5 paragraphs and fail fast. Ifafter 4-5 paragraphs you dont think itwill add value, trash it and move on. 55. Dont overwhelm yourself.Dont try to handle too many topics atone time. Focus on one at a time, trashthe ones that dont work and move on.Fail fast, period. 56. 3. Get on Tumblr/MeetupGet a simple Tumblr to publish to.Get on Meetup.com and start finding alocal meetup group that you can set asa goal to one day speak at. 57. And never forget... 58. Inspiring one person is allthat matters.Be inspired. Create. Inspire the world. 59. For more: http://x-team.com/unleashContributors: Ryan Chartrand, Wojtek Zajc