How to make a report at a conference if you have never done it

For consultants, speaking at specialized conferences is part of the job, but now I have ceased to be a consultant, and it turned out that for my new colleagues, speaking is a challenge. This article is not about how to “otgandapasit” the audience according to all the rules, the goal is to describe a simple algorithm for preparing a speech at a conference. Preparing a great report is very nontrivial, but making a good report is not at all difficult.

Typical performance organization scheme

A typical presentation at a conference involves the following steps:

• The decision to speak at the conference - about 3 months before the conference.
• Presentation of the presentation and brief annotations (including the format and duration), as well as a summary - about 2 months before the event.
• Providing a finished presentation, extended annotations, resumes and photos - in a month and closer to the event.
• Publishing the exact program is good if a week before the event.
• Actually performance
• Backstage communication and organization of contacts at the event.
• Fixing the results of the performance - within 3 days after the event.

At the request of the speaker or by the specificity of the event, the dates may be reduced proportionally.

Algorithm of preparation and performance

Each of these steps requires some preparation:

• It does not matter if you have a mega-idea or presentation material, they are not required to make a decision about the performance.
• The need for a speech can be external (company advertising, PR, etc.) or internal (the need to share experience, self-PR in a professional community, etc.). To make a decision, it is important to have any need.
• After making a decision on participation, find yourself a listener (“issuer”), preferably with experience of public speaking, and agree on when and how much you will attract him (help in choosing a topic and title, reading the presentation and annotations, 2-3 long meetings for the “run” of the speech closer to the date of the conference).
• We formulate in one or two sentences the key idea of ​​the report in the user-story format (not the name, but the idea). Choose yourself 2 half-hour “windows” in one day, on the first “distribute” ideas, on the second specify the wording. An example is “I, as a person who prepared a lot of speeches, want to talk about unobvious steps in preparing a report so that more people are not afraid to speak.”
• After the key idea has been formulated, we start thinking about the title and the abstract. To do this, read the program of the event (past years / similar events) and annotations to the reports you like. This is necessary so that your name does not stand out from the general subject. Write down 3-4 liked or close to your topic names on the sheet. In the column next to it, “generate” your own variants of names, based on the first part of the key idea (“I want to tell ...”). Try to avoid accurate names, leave yourself room for maneuver. For example, the title “Good instruction report” is better than “7 steps to a report for beginners”.
• We do the same with annotation. Just take the second half of the key idea ("in order to ..."). The abstract should contain a description of the problems that the report solves, and not what you are going to talk about. Example “Many of us are afraid to speak, and often this uncertainty is connected not so much with the fear of the public, as with a lack of understanding of what to expect from a performance, how to prepare. Am I doing the right thing? In this report I will tell you how to gain confidence in the preparation. The confident and prepared person always likes the listeners. ”
• When preparing your resume, indicate the current place of work and 2-3 proposals on the relevance of your experience to the current topic of the report. You can write not a post, but responsibilities. "Vasily Khayet, business process specialist, previously head of the consulting department of ITSM in the system integrator." You can replace your experience with a convivial one: “Valya Uvalova, tutu.ru - the largest Russian tourist portal, since 2000 shaggy years.”
• If you have received confirmation of your inclusion in the list of speakers, congratulations! Now you can relax and gradually begin to mentally prepare and prepare material for the performance.
• Preparation is divided into preparation of materials - presentation (including notes of the speaker), pictures, diagrams, data, and preparation of the performance - extension of notes of the speaker, runs, preparation for a “panic attack”, appearance and “complacency”.
• Since the preparation of the presentation is highly dependent on the subject of the speech, audience, etc., it is worthwhile to read various materials from the Internet on the topic, choosing those that will please. I will note only a few points:
  
  • Do not overestimate the importance of the presentation. If you have a choice: to devote time to the presentation plan or the design of the slide - select the plan.
  • Number the slides - the number should be visible on the projector.
  • Write “speaker notes” - a story plan for each slide, key sentences in its entirety, jokes that they wanted to include, and a topic for the next slide. Notes need to be printed and taken with you to speak (well, or download somewhere). Do not duplicate in the notes the text from the slide. All this is necessary in case of an unexpected panic or a passive audience, in the extreme case, read your notes.
  • The presentation time can be roughly estimated at the rate of 1-1.5 minutes per slide.
  
  
• After the presentation is ready, but no later than a couple of days before the date of dispatch - arrange a meeting with the “issuer” for 3-4 times the planned duration of the speech:
  
  • Tell the presentation to the “issuer” - if you are confused or have started talking, mark a slide in the sheet and briefly an error. Do not interrupt the story for a long time, do not miss the slides in the style of "well, I know this, what can I say here, is it a long time."
  • The issuer does not speak until you finish.
  • After you finish, discuss the overall impression and points for adjustment.
  • Correct the presentation if necessary.
  • Repeat the run in the same format.
• After the publication of the program, write down your speech time and carefully study the topics of the parallel reports and reports before and after you. It is necessary to roughly imagine the audience.
• Decide in advance what kind of clothes and shoes you will be in, come up with a backup option.
• Prepare business cards and / or QR code with your email on your smartphone.
• In a break before the previous report, stand in the place of the speaker, look at the audience, choose a place where it is more convenient to stand (no spotlights shine, wires do not interfere).
• Stock up on water, do not drink coffee immediately before the report.
• Listen to the report before yours.
• Immediately after its completion, go to the technicians, so that they check the work of the presentation and tell where to speak.
• Give the audience the rules for answering questions that are convenient for you (during a report or after). Observe them.
• Success!

• Actually, the performance.
• Congratulations - you did it!
• Now the answers to questions and world fame.
• Write for yourself and “letting out” a brief report on the performance, what happened, what can be improved, why you are great, for example in social networks.