My name is Allan. I co-founded LessAccounting. I’m an entrepreneur. I’m a husband. I’m the father of the two cutest kids you’ve always wanted but will never have. And I love Barcamp. You may be wondering what Barcamp is?
Barcamp is a gathering of minds in an open environment with the intent of sharing ideas and providing feedback. It’s an opportunity to present openly, cooperate creatively and iron out kinks. You get 30 minutes and a board space the size of a Post-It to advertise your talk.
Why present at barcamp? I think the better questions is: “why wouldn’t you present at a barcamp?” We’re all looking for an audience, right? Why not speak to an audience of minds just like your own–willing to provide helpful feedback and advice? It’s a no-brainer, really.
Get Them in the Room
The most important part of your talk is the title. Use it to get people in the room. It has to be catchy. Don’t expect to have people come check out “Online Accounting of the 21st Century”. They want to go to the talk that’s titled: “Get Your Ass in Here!”
I won’t lie, though. Titles are a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, something brilliant or ridiculous could be the thing that draws everyone to your talk. On the other hand, you could get a room full of people with really short attention spans for what you have to say. You could get a room full of no one at all. Choose carefully, but don’t be afraid to be the weird one on the board.
Allan’s Tip of the Day: Each speaker gets a tiny space to publicize their presentation on the schedule board. Draw a picture on yours. Pictures speak louder than words. Chances are, yours will be the only one. It will get you the eyes!
Credit: preetamrai on Flickr
Structure of a 30-Minute Talk
- 1 Minute: Introduce yourself. Don’t waste time with formalities, anecdotes or icebreakers. Attack these 60 seconds like your life depended on it. “Hey, I’m Allan. I do X, Y and Z. Check it out…”
- 2 Minutes: Explain that this is definitely not the talk to zone out on. Tell them you’ll do your job of keeping them awake if they’ll engage you. Know that you are the most important thing they will see today. Tell them that paying attention to your message will save them a hell of a lot of time Googling you later after they figure out what they missed.
- 15 Minutes: Blow them out of the water. Don’t stop. You know the difference between taking a test that you know all the answers to and taking a test that you don’t know shit about? When you know the material, you see smoke coming from your pencil, because you can’t write the information fast enough. Know your product, and sell it like there’s no tomorrow.
- 2 Minutes: Wrap it up. Don’t waste time with information they don’t need to hear. End the talk on purpose. Give them the sense that you could speak for 4 more hours if you wanted to.
- 10 Minutes: Q&A. Give them a devil’s chance to ask the 9 million questions they should have for you after hearing your opus. Be prepared to reexplain things for those who tuned in half-way through once they realized you weren’t dicking around. Also be prepared to justifiably defend the barrage of questions pertaining to potential holes in your product. The good news is, that’s the beauty of barcamps. You’ll figure things out.
Interact
Probably the worst mistake you could make is being untouchable. Interact with your audience before, during and after your talk. Don’t give off the impression that there is a sheet of glass between you and them. Don’t stand behind a table. Stand in front. You’re showing them something that you value their opinion on; not selling something you finished on your own.
Credit: preetamrai on Flickr
Slides Don’t Matter…Sort of
Don’t use slides just for the sake of being visual. Use slides only for the purpose of driving something home. Although you should be able to project a mental image unto your audience without slides, understand that they may need something there to bridge a gap they’ve already created. Use slides sparingly. You should have the most faith in your words to articulate your point.
For help with composing effective slide shows check out these tips. If you’re going to present via slides then you may need powerpoint or keynote templates that are well designed and easy to use.
Be Yourself
I say this a lot, but it’s a value that has never steered me wrong. Most people can sniff out a phony. Basically, if you’re wearing a neck-tie to hold your head to your body, you’re doing something to impress somebody. Just chill out, man. Be yourself. If you’re funny, be funny. If you’re the kind of person that reuses jokes because you got one courtesy laugh once, give it a rest and focus on being the smartest dude in the room.
Credit: preetamrai on Flickr
Don’t be Nervous
No one at barcamps are professional speakers. Chances are, you’re probably the best communicator there…okay, maybe not, but my heart was in the right place. The point is, this event isn’t about being graceful and getting a grade; it’s about spewing information and ingesting feedback.
Get Feedback and Have Fun
Don’t make the mistake of spending all your time talking and zero time listening. Your peers have helpful things to contribute. Learn from them. Most importantly, have fun. This is an experience you’ll benefit greatly from.
More Info on Barcamp:
Photo credit: Some rights reserved by preetamrai.
0 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.