Comments on: How To Rock Your SMX East Presentation

By: Graeme Mac

Graeme Mac — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 16:05:15 +0000

What you write at 4:30am after a Webmaster Radio party is not always as good you think it might be.

By: Keri Morgret

Keri Morgret — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 16:02:52 +0000

Alex,

I remember covering your presentation (I believe at SMX West), and thought you did a great job. You really did make the key message twitterable with your comment about adwords estimates belonging on the fiction best seller list (and apologize for not attributing that comment you to on my first tweet).

By: Pat Strader

Pat Strader — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 14:07:44 +0000

Great post Lisa. Two really stand out. The # of slides and disrespecting other presenters by texting, eye rolling etc.. Both are annoying and serve as proof that some really think their opinions are the only ones which matter.

I also agree that someone finishing a presentation 5 minutes beforehand, is a slap in the face to those that are attending.

I would also like to add another tip for presenters… bribe live bloggers with candy. :-)

Thanks for the tips, hope to see more put these in action with their decks.

By: George Revutsky

George Revutsky — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 10:46:03 +0000

This may be sacrilegious for a conference presentation, but everyone does a Powerpoint Presentaton. Consider using a different format and creating a presentation in Prezi – its an awesome tool for telling the kind of stories Lisa’s talking about. I’ve been experimenting with it recently and it rocks.

By: Alan Bleiweiss

Alan Bleiweiss — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 01:40:51 +0000

Thanks for writing this Lisa. My first speaker gig is on a panel at Blueglass in Florida in November. I’ve spoken in front of hundreds of business owners, but never directly in front of our peer community, so as much as I know my stuff, it’s still a bit intimidating.

Okay, a lot intimidating.

But now that I can just picture everyone in the audience naked, I think it will be a bit less. #WIN

And now I have to go and revisit my preso – I finished it the day I was told I was on the panel. Which might have been a bit too soon. :-)

By: Alex Cohen

Alex Cohen — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 01:15:48 +0000

Hi Lisa,

This really made me smile: “They’re just excited to be outside and dressed.”

Here are a few simple tips I’ve picked up from trial and error this year:
- Put your personal/company info at the end.
- Big visuals, NO bullets
- Make sure key message “twitterable”
- End with a slide of all of your contact information, but put your Twitter handle on every slide
- Have your slides ready to download on your blog before your session and schedule a tweet to go out while you’re talking

Some well placed humor never hurts either, especially as an ice breaker.

If you come to my sessions, I would appreciate constructive feedback.

Cheers,
-Alex

By: Matt Siltala

Matt Siltala — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 20:25:43 +0000

Don’t forget one tip (well maybe two) give the live-blogger an uber-cool t-shirt & talk about places that make them reminisce :-)

Awesome points here Lisa, no matter how long you have been doing this, awesome advice to not screw it up – thanks!

By: Jen Lopez

Jen Lopez — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 18:42:42 +0000

Amen.

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 17:56:01 +0000

Very good point. While I’m sure you’re super important, I don’t need a 10 minute bio of who you are, where you came from and why you’re here. If you were put on that panel, I’m taking it on good faith you know what you’re talking about. Now lets get into it!

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 17:55:15 +0000

That’s actually an important tip. The more speakers talk to one another beforehand, the tighter the panel ends up being. It’s always a bit distressing when panelists show up never having had a conversation with one another and end up repeating everything the person before them said.