{"id":393,"date":"2025-04-14T10:01:43","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T08:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/?p=393"},"modified":"2026-03-20T18:19:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:19:54","slug":"presentation-tips-for-conference-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/presentation-tips-for-conference-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"Presentation Tips for Conference Talks"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>MUST-READ<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Presentation-Patterns-Techniques-Crafting-Presentations\/dp\/0321820800\">Presentation Patterns<\/a> book by Neal Ford &#8211; it brutally changed the way I do slides.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Touch frequently on pain points<\/strong>, ideally in a funny way, because technical topics can be extremely dull.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Watch <strong>Stand-up Comedy<\/strong> to learn how to entertain an audience (in your language).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Acting classes<\/strong> can help you control your emotions, use dramatic pauses in speech, or modulate your voice to better engage your audience.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Humble yourself<\/strong>: you are in front of them only to share your vision based on your lessons learned.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You are there to <strong>help the audience<\/strong> any way you can.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tame your Imposter <\/strong><b>Syndrome<\/b>: There will always be someone in the room with more experience than you on your topic, especially in a conference talk. Accept it! You are not there for that guy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Locate <strong>friendly faces<\/strong> listening attentively and &#8220;talk to them&#8221; to turn your monologue into a collective brainstorming &#8211; the audience will feel engaged, feel they matter, and understand that you are there <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">for them<\/span>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Train your voice<\/strong>: eg. speak from the chest. Voice coaching can help.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Rehearse<\/strong>, rehearse, rehearse &#8230;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Rehearse at least 2-3 times<\/strong>, but expect up to 5-7 time &#8211; so start rehearsing earlier, ~2 days before<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rehearse standing up<\/strong> &amp; walking like in the &#8216;production environment&#8217;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use a <strong>countdown timer<\/strong> for the last 2 rehearsals. It helps you focus. You don&#8217;t want to run out of time during your talk &#8211; you will panic, rush, or simply have to drop some key points.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Don&#8217;t memorise your speech line by line<\/strong> &#8211; if you forget a line under the emotional pressure of the moment, you might block and lose your credibility.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Explore alternative ways to express your ideas in your rehearsal<\/strong>. You will also probably find a simpler, more powerful way to articulate it. For example, I always massively change ~80% of my slides after the first 1-2 rehearsals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>It&#8217;s normal to keep finding improvements to words\/slides<\/strong> because you are working out an underused area of your brain: most software engineers are partially communication-impaired &#8211; I totally subscribe to this one. So accept if it takes 7 rehearsals until you &#8216;can&#8217;t find anything to improve&#8217;.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Make notes on the slides without breaking your flow<\/strong> when rehearsing: I use a pencil on my printed handouts with 4 slides\/page. Don&#8217;t start over from slide #1. Keep pushing until the end, even if you&#8217;re not happy of what you leave behind for now. Accept you will have to keep iterating for a number of times.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>If you don&#8217;t fit the time during<\/strong> <strong>the rehearsals<\/strong> (I rarely do), shrink the text or simplify diagrams on the slides, or cut away the least important parts. Ask yourself: what matters most? The audience will remember max 4-5 points of your talk, anyway. Stress fewer ideas but iron them out very well.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The goal of a talk is to inspire and energise<\/strong> the audience, not to dive into the deepest of details. People will acquire deep mastery only next week, in the peace of their mind, IF they need it. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/tidyfirst.substack.com\/p\/start-presentations-on-the-second\"><strong>Start presentations on the second slide<\/strong><\/a>: open abruptly with a problem that most of the audience can relate to, to capture their attention (you need to know your audience a bit). Then introduce background context, who you are, etc..<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The &#8220;About me&#8221; slide<\/strong> should justify why you are entitled to speak about this subject and what you are there to promote: a tool, yourself as a consultant\/trainer, looking to hire bright colleagues, sell a product,..<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tooling<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"690\" src=\"https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/setup-1024x690.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-401\" srcset=\"https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/setup-1024x690.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/setup-300x202.jpg 300w, https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/setup-768x517.jpg 768w, https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/setup-1536x1035.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/setup-2048x1380.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/setup-89x60.jpg 89w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">My Audio HiJack Configuration<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>I play sound effects<\/strong> via <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.hipxel.custom.soundboard.maker.creator.free&amp;hl=en\">Custom Soundboard Creator<\/a>\u2b50\ufe0f application on an Android tablet. The headphones output is fed into the laptop via the line-in port of an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/ro\/behringer_ucontrol_uca_222.htm\">external sound card<\/a> and used as input in <a href=\"https:\/\/rogueamoeba.com\/audiohijack\/\">Audio Hijack<\/a>\u2b50\ufe0f app on MacOS.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>You can <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1F9H_pUWb936zThU_pfLLGNvL8RzQDH_C&amp;usp=drive_fs\">download here<\/a><\/strong>\u2b50\ufe0f all my sounds effects. Use at your own risk: some might trigger YouTube&#8217;s copyright infringement detection policy if they appear online.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>I draw on screen<\/strong> using <a href=\"https:\/\/imagestudiopro.com\/screenbrush\/\">ScreenBrush<\/a>\u2b50\ufe0f app on MacOS and zoom-in\/out using <a href=\"https:\/\/support.apple.com\/guide\/mac-help\/change-zoom-settings-for-accessibility-mh40579\/mac\">MacOS accessibility<\/a>. A Windows equivalent of all this is <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/sysinternals\/downloads\/zoomit\">ZoomIt<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Handy Timer for MacOS: <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/timer-rh\/id929960914?mt=12\">TimerRH<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/chatgpt.com\/features\/desktop\"><strong>ChatGPT MacOS<\/strong> <strong>app<\/strong><\/a> that can read from many apps (IntelliJ, VisualStudioCode) called via key.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/claude.com\/download\">Claude Desktop<\/a><\/strong> + Claude Chrome Plugin<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/conductor.build\">Conductor IDE<\/a><\/strong> (for coding with parallel agents)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/wisprflow.ai\/r?VICTOR1276\">Wispr Flow<\/a> MacOS app<\/strong> for transcribing voice.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ukelele.macupdate.com\/\"><strong>Ukelele MacOS<\/strong> app<\/a> to remap keyboard to quicky type emojis.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hardware I use in my home setup<\/strong>: 2 x <a href=\"https:\/\/www.elgato.com\/us\/en\/p\/key-light\">Elgato Key Light<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.elgato.com\/us\/en\/p\/facecam-mk2\">Elgato Facecam<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/ro\/shure_sm_7b_studiomikro.htm\">Shure SM7B microphone<\/a>, Elgato Wave XLR, all mounted on a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.emag.ro\/birou-cu-inaltime-reglabila-qmobili-motion-stejar-sonaro-deschis-cadru-alb-inaltime-reglabila-1-motor-blat-1380x750-mm-birou-reglabil-electric-pe-inaltime-cu-functii-de-memorie-si-afisaj-digital-zhb24\/pd\/DTD8L4BBM\/\">motorised height-adjustable table<\/a> so that I can stand up for talks and for most part of my workshops.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>For noise cancelling<\/strong> of my voice against from my (heavy) background noise, I use use <a href=\"https:\/\/krisp.ai\/\">Krisp.ai<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"614\" src=\"https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Screenshot_20250509-175022-1024x614.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-405\" srcset=\"https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Screenshot_20250509-175022-1024x614.png 1024w, https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Screenshot_20250509-175022-300x180.png 300w, https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Screenshot_20250509-175022-768x461.png 768w, https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Screenshot_20250509-175022-1536x922.png 1536w, https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Screenshot_20250509-175022-100x60.png 100w, https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Screenshot_20250509-175022.png 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">My Sound Effect Board as of May 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse &#8230; Tooling<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-practical-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":444,"href":"https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393\/revisions\/444"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorrentea.ro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}