Presenting at RMOUG 2010!!
So I’ve been accepted to present at the 2010 RMOUG Conference and I am understandably nervous.
This is my first large presentation I’ve given and I’m thrilled to be doing it. My topic is the power of parallel processing, something I’ve been working heavily in as of late and I feel I have a lot to offer on the subject matter.
I’ve already written and submitted my abstract, now comes the daunting task of putting together a presentation that is beneficial and that everyone can follow,(vs. how my ADHD brain works, running rampant from one aspect of the challenging subject to the next through the database… :))
I definitely want to request some information from others I know who have successfully presented in the past-
How do you know you have the right depth for the audience?
How do you distinguish what to put in your slides and what to keep out?
How much candy and jolt do you consume or for me, maybe not consume before the presentation so you are wired beyond belief?
I’ve been told for a couple years now that I needed to present, publish, the works, but I’m finally taking the leap.
Now we’ll find out in February if I can hack it!
Stay tuned!
First! (it's fun being first)
I'm glad you took the plunge, I look forward to reading more.
As to your questions:
"How do you know you have the right depth for the audience? "
Assume that Cary Millsap or Tom Kyte or some either expert is in the audience, be prepared to go as far as you can. You should be able to gauge the audience after a little while…and if you need to pull back a little, you can. Better to do that though than not have enough information at the ready.
"How do you distinguish what to put in your slides and what to keep out?"
I'm a huge fan of simplicity. Keeping a small deck of slides will force you to talk more or demonstrate more. Interaction with the audience can be better that way (they'll be more likely to ask questions during a demo or you talking).
"How much candy and jolt do you consume or for me, maybe not consume before the presentation so you are wired beyond belief?"
I get hopped up too. If it were more socially acceptable, I would have a beer prior to speaking just to slow me down a little bit. 😉
Beers at 6am, that could be bad… I can see it now- hang overs at 2pm, just as someone is going over a really interesting fact about the algorythym used for the CBO that I really wanted to comprehend more precisely!
Thanks Chet!
Got here through Chet..
I gave a few presentations in the past, and here are my 2 cents:
1) Go as deep as is useful. Think about a few key things you want the audiance to learn and go as deep as necessary to make sure the audiance understands these key things. I recommend against going needlessly deep just for nerdiness sake – it will only confuse and distract from your main points. Also, don't keep things artificially light because DBAs do want to get technical meat out of the presentation.
2) Put in the slides vs. just say out loud? I'm strongly biased in favor of putting a single key sentence on the slide and saying everything else. I think it keeps the audience focused, it keeps me focused, and I don't feel like I'm just reading out slides.
3) I'm naturally very wired before the presentation. The only presentation where I needed jolt was an 8am one after a party the night before. If its your first major presentation – you probably don't need sugar.
4) The important parts: Presentation should have key points and lots of data, demos and slides to explain, convince and support these points. Presentations work best when the material is all in your head and flows out of you to the audience – then it sounds and feels natural to you and to everyone watching you. If a presentation has its own flow, no one will complain about slides or notice when you forget to talk about some point or take a detour. Also, I noticed that stories work very well, and that the audience in general wants to enjoy the presentation and be entertained. Oh, and let them participate, ask questions, show of hands, etc. Throw a question every 10 minutes or so to keep everyone awake.
I'll also be speaking at RMOUG. Looking forward to see you there.