Notist Blog

Advent day 17: Sometimes there are things that you are simply burning to talk about, however if you are a frequent speaker, there will be days when you feel all out of ideas. In this post I’ll describe some of the ways I think up ideas for new presentations.

Advent day 16: Whether a presenter remote, or clicker, is provided by the presenter or by the event is sometimes a source of confusion. We’re talking the very lightest sort of not-that-big-a-deal confusion here, but you know, some confusion.

Advent day 15: At some events, having given your talk, the floor will be turned over to the audience for questions. For many speakers this is the hardest part of the talk, and while I’m not really a fan of conference Q&A you can learn to deal with it, and at least not have it a a source of dread!

Advent day 14: A strong start to your talk is easier if you know how you will be introduced to the audience. Take control over the first time the audience meets you with this tip.

Advent day 13: Events with multiple speakers on the line-up can be a buzz of activity. With different presenters needing to set up, tech check and get mic’d up, there’s a lot going on. The last thing you need as you approach the stage to get set up is to find that the previous person is still in the way.

Advent day 12: For many speakers, speaking means a lot of travel. I possibly travel more than most, being on the road for half of the year. In this article I’m going to round up some of the ways in which I make this amount of travel work reasonably smoothly, most of the time!

Advent day 11: There’s no one thing that has helped the way I deliver a presentation more than the simple act of practising. It sounds so obvious, but I’ve been surprised to hear from speakers who don’t really do this so much.

Advent day 10: Standing up and presenting to a room of people can be intimidating, especially when starting out. It feels weird and unnatural to suddenly have dozens, maybe hundreds, of pairs of eyes all looking right back at you.

Advent day 9: With all the preparation that goes into create a new presentation, usually the last thing you think about is what you might wear to deliver it. Clothing is so personal, and you should always wear what you’re comfortable with and gives the impression that you personally want to put across. However, within the scope of that there are some practical considerations you might want to take into account.

Advent day 8: Like it or loath it, presenting is an increasingly technical exercise. Having one person be able to communicate to a big crowd is something that has always benefitted from a degree of technology. The Ancient Romans built entire buildings just for the purpose. Jesus went up the mount. Today we have computers, projectors and PA systems.