From Abstract to Presentation: How To Develop a Winning Speaking Submission

Deb Nicholson@baconandcoconut

For the Women in Open Source Webinar Series, 3.19.2017

What I’m going to cover

Finding Your Topic

1. Something you learned recently

How did you do it?

What went as expected and what was surprising?

What resources did you discover that will help others follow in your footsteps?

2. Something you've been ranting about

What do you know that others don't?

How can people assess their level of efficiency?

What counter examples are out there to the way most folks are solving this problem currently?

Is there a better way to do it?

3. Something you wish you'd known earlier

What surprised you?

What mistakes or wrong turns did you make that others could avoid?

What were some of your "a-ha!" moments?

4. Something you want to learn about

How can I find the answers to my questions?

Who has already looked into this topic and was their inquiry recent?

Is there data that may be useful to examine to support my research?

5. Some topics to avoid

Sales pitches; my employer is awesome,

a tool we built is awesome, ...even "my organization is awesome"

Researching a Conference

1. Read the CFP carefully

2. Look for clues in their social media presence

3. Tone and formality

4. Audience

How many people are going for work?

How many for fun?

Will there be students and folks who are new to open source at the event?

Is this a particular community's official event?

Is the language's founder likely to be in attendance?

Have there been talks on licensing or community, or policy before?

Crafting Your Proposal

1. Read the CFP carefully

Advice for proposers?Use it.

Expert or beginner topic?

Why you?

An outline

2. Take your time

Edit offline

Sleep on it

Get another pair of eyes on it

3. Figure out who your talk is for

What problem will you help them with?

What information could they use?

What resources can you share with them?

"Many maintainers suspect they could do a better job with documentation

but don't know where to start."

"Are you still using just one or two programming languages for everything?

Becoming a polyglot will make you a better developer."

"Want to learn how to get one of those awesome #opensource jobs? Swing by

room 247 at 10am tomorrow. #XYZCon"

"Python programmers who struggle with decorators, I'll be answering all your Q's at

XYZCon this weekend. #python"

4. Structuring your talk

Problem: Most legacy databases suck at updating multiple real-time operations

Solution: I found and built a combination of tools to get around it

Takeaways: Here they are! Use them and improve them.

Problem: Not enough people pick licenses for their software and it's chaos

Solution: After a lot of conversation, we built this license picking tool!

Takeaways: Here it is, please use it and tell your friends

Me at the beginning: Using a bunch of pirated Adobe products

My turning point: I learned to use Inkscape & GIMP, like a boss!

Me today and maybe you tomorrow: I can do all these handy things and regularly use these handy community resources

Me at the beginning: I was pretty much using one programming language for everything

My turning point: I got transferred and *had* to learn a new one

Me today and maybe you tomorrow: It made me a better programmer and now I'm trying to learn another!

You could also use a list!

20 chronological facts you didn't know about Linux

A brief history of containers

And it doesn't have to be chronological...

10 things can do to optimize your monitoring

50 ways to love your user group

Or mix & match!

Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Rockstar Developers by Rikki Endsley

Default to Open, by Ruth Suehle

Stormy Peters' 2012 PyCon Keynote

5. Grammar and length

Use complete sentences

Use topic sentences

Use third person

Too short is better than too long

6. Submission strategies

Multiple submissions?

Get feedback, before and after

Keep learning!

For inspiration!

Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Rockstar Developers by Rikki Endsley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awdVoPAU0Ic

Default to Open, by Ruth Suehlehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcTdjRcA3-o

Stormy Peters' 2012 PyCon Keynotehttp://pyvideo.org/pycon-us-2012/keynote-stormy-peters-

mozilla-corporation.html

Questions?@baconandcoconut

This image is licensed CC.BY: “Curtains” by KRO Media