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.

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Thursday, January 30, 14

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This is the stage at Town Hall, where

you will be speaking


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

prevent you from turning to look at your slides.

.


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

visible behind you.

.


The red carpet is the best place to be.

You’ll look best for the crowd and video.


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


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



• 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.



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


Large fonts please

80 pt60 pt

40pt30201510

If you are reading this I hate you


Put important things here

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

Or here


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



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


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.



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

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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…




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)


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


Dry runs w/feedback



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