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A guide to successful FOSS conference presentationsA guide to successful FOSS conference presentationsPosted Jul 13, 2010 12:01 UTC (Tue) by jmspeex (subscriber, #51639)Parent article: A guide to successful FOSS conference presentations
A title like "Improving Kernel Contributions" is good, but "Anatomy of a Failure" was likely to garner more attention. I'm actually getting tired of this kind of title. The problem is that while they may be amusing, they are also useless at describing the talk. When I read it, I have no idea whether we're talking about the Linux kernel or MySQL, I have no idea whether we're talking about a technical or an organisation problem. I don't think anyone goes to a talk becaues the title's funny, but I'm sure some people end up *not* going to a talk because they didn't see that the title described something they're interested in.
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A guide to successful FOSS conference presentations Posted Jul 15, 2010 10:39 UTC (Thu) by wookey (subscriber, #5501) [Link]
Whether this matters depends enormously on the details of how the info is presented to conference-goers. e.g at an event like FOSDEM attendees usually only have titles to go on. More upmarket events may give attendees a full programme with the abstracts in in which case an 'interesting' title is fine - people can read the abstract for the details.
I try to title/abstract a talk so that the information someone needs to decide if it is interesting to them is present both before and during the event.
The other tip I've learnt is that pictures are often better than words in conveying complex info. Which is a pity because pictures are harder to do (at least for me). And there is no substitute for practice in become good at presenting. Watching video of yourself is also informative, because you can see how much you 'erm' and gabble and fidget (all things to be minimised).
A guide to successful FOSS conference presentations Posted Jul 15, 2010 10:53 UTC (Thu) by dlang (✭ supporter ✭, #313) [Link]
even in the highest-end conference you still have the calender where there is only room for the title.
A guide to successful FOSS conference presentations Posted Jul 31, 2010 17:31 UTC (Sat) by dberkholz (subscriber, #23346) [Link]
That's where the magical colon comes in. For example:
Anatomy of a Failure: When the Linux Kernel Development Process Falls Apart
A guide to successful FOSS conference presentations Posted Jul 16, 2010 10:13 UTC (Fri) by Tet (subscriber, #5433) [Link] The other tip I've learnt is that pictures are often better than words in conveying complex infoAbsolutely. Of course, it's possible to overdo it, but there are times when a single picture can convey what you're trying to say much better than merely trying to explain it. I realized part way through my last presentation that I really should have done a simple diagram to explain colorimetric intent, rather than trying (and I think largely failing) to describe it in words.
A guide to successful FOSS conference presentations Posted Jul 17, 2010 14:20 UTC (Sat) by Lukehasnoname (subscriber, #65152) [Link]
I agree. They're trying to hook you by being clever, and making you wonder what they're talking about. It is not beneficial to linking presentations with interested parties.
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