Ok, my second free SQL conference as a bystander and I have noticed a couple things that I think are important.  First, let me throw out a couple creds so that you understand where I am coming from.  I started speaking in front of groups of people when I was 19, so it is a talent learned over time, one that I enjoy now but see many queues that remind me of things from when I first started.   I went on to become an certified instructor, teaching things that are no longer applicable, but the strategy to actually teaching, or conveying information to others hasn’t changed much.  The limited college I have was actually targeted at adult education, so I have books to reference as well.  That said, here are just a couple thoughts for those folks offering up their time and skills to share with others, for free!

First, remember, you volunteered for this, so try and make it fun.  Sure, you probably had some peers pushing you in that direction and telling you how it would help your career and that you would be good at it; all true I have no doubts.  But when you step in front of 20, 30 or more people for the first time, it can be daunting at best.  But you are not alone, not are the butterflies in your stomach unfamiliar to anyone else who has ever done it.  Always remember why you chose to do this, and that you made the choice.  Keep that in the back of your mind, and when you hit a hard point in your presentation, pull that thought out there and smile.  Your doing this for a reason, and your doing it for free, so run with it; enjoy it; make it fun.

But John, there is that dude in the third row that keeps asking me annoying questions, challenging my skills and experience.  I know what I am talking about, I didn’t make this stuff up over night, why does he keep pestering me… and why did he pick now to do it in front of a group of people I am trying to help by imparting some knowledge onto them; for free!  How dare he!   See, your mind starts changing, but don’t take it too far or else you’ll get pissy and turn the presentation sour.  In every group there will be people that know less than you, and there will be those that know more.  No one knows everything about everything.  Heck, even as I write this I can’t help but wonder what comments it might generate because I am going to miss something or get something wrong.  Then I remember I am human, not much different.  Oh, and I can turn moderation on ☺

Back to the point, in a presentation you can’t turn moderation on or mark a comment as SPAM, even though you may really want to.  Nope, you have to deal with it in real time, dance solo in front of a group of people.  Remember the last time you tripped in a public place and tried to recover hoping no one saw you?  Five minutes later, do you think anyone who did see you remembered?  Probably not, so try to diffuse the situation before it becomes memorable.  Great John, how?  Well, like so many questions in these presentations are answered, it depends….  Fist you need to try and gauge what is motivating the questions and take your best attempt at answering them thoroughly.  Nothing shut’s spring behind up as quickly as an authoritative response that is unquestionably correct.  Then again, you can’t always answer that way.  Is the question relevant to the subject your presenting?  If so, you may want to leverage the audience in answering the question.  Repeat it, let the dude know that you have not come across a situation like that, and farm it out to the masses.  Is that wrong?  No, and guess what, it might get an answer while keeping you in charge.  You need to stay on top of it or spring behind may become the new presenter.  If you see that angle, you need to shut it down quickly.  Let the dude know that you would like to speak to him afterward about that topic so you can better understand it.  You show support for spring behind, make him feel somewhat important, and acknowledge it.  Take it off-line, but do it so that your avid questioner does not feel like he is being shut down.

How else can you handle this?  That is actually what I was initially going to write about.  Team up with your other presenters and leverage each other.  My wife, Yanni Robel (blog | twitter) just pointed out to me that Nic Cain (blog | twitter) put a post about it yesterday here.   You can gain a lot of internal confidence if you have a partner in the back, kinda like having a hole card that can be pulled out when you need it.

In many of the presentations, there were other presenters watching.  How about before you all start presenting, you plan out amongst yourselves who is on when and try to align each other so that you have back up in the room with you.  If you’re new to presenting, grab a senior one or maybe even the one who mentored (tricked?) you into this spot to watch you.  Just having a friendly face in the crowd can be a huge relief valve when things go south.  And no, you cannot always depend on the good-looking person that catches your eyes to help out.  They might get the wrong idea if you keep eyeballing them.

So this goes out to all you presenters at the free conferences, group up and work as a team!  Maybe have a meeting before the conference to meet-n-greet each other in case you don’t all know each other.  Might be an opportunity to exchange ideas, get to know each other better, and work out a plan to provide the most value to the audience!  Hey, maybe even a sponsor could spring for pizza!  You could even call it a “Precon” but that might be copy protected by now.  In any event, your presenters are your peers as well and they can help you.  You can even help them!  Heck, your one of them.  Enjoy it.

Oh, and remember why your doing this.  Don’t lose sight of that nugget.  You offered to stand up in front of a group of strangers and tell them about something you know, you love, and you’re experienced with because you want to help!  Your presenting, it is imparting knowledge from you to someone else.  If even one-person walks away with a nugget from your presentation, you should be encouraged, not discouraged.  They may be the one that changes the world or saves a life.  You never know what impact you have and never really know who your talking too.  Why?  Because you don’t have a crystal ball.  Don’t beat yourself up because you cannot tell the future.

Another thing someone in the room can do to help you out.  Have them jot down the questions and answers that come up.  This can really help you if you deliver the presentation again.  You will have some ideas for what people will ask and where they might ask it.  It is a trick of the trade to interact with the audience if you know they are going to ask you a question, and you have the answer in your pocket.  Makes you look good and is an awesome transition.  The questions can also be used for you to go back to the presenter room in-between sessions to blog the answer in a detail that you couldn’t do in the room on the fly.  Could be fuel for more presentations.  In any event, having someone else take note of these will free you up to focus on your content delivery and not spend time taking notes while you’re supposed to be speaking.  If you go down this path, try to make this as transparent as you can.  People may be less likely to ask a question if they know they are being recorded or watched.

A second person can also help with passing out your evals, getting them back, and even evaluating your presentation from the perspective of another presenter.   That in itself can be a huge thing for you.  Feedback from another presenter, a mentor, or a peer can really shed light on things you might not see.

Remember to interact with your audience.  A presentation doesn’t have to be one way and for most of the technical ones, it really helps if it is not.  Make it a goal to get to know someone new in the audience with every presentation.  Ask a provoking question and watch for a reaction.  Ask an obvious question you know folks have dealt with in order to solicit an answer form a new person.   You can grow this to more than one, but one is a start.   Don’t be afraid to use the audience experience to help make points for you!  They are there for a reason, use it to your advantage.

Ok, enough rambling.  In the end, remember, your not getting paid to do this, so enjoy it.  You choose to give this a whirl, and you never know.  Your name is out there and people know you.  No one is perfect and your not expected to know everything.   Oh, and if your so inclined, most community colleges and universities a have courses on adult education.  It is not as seedy as you might think.  Taking a class or two might help you get perspective as you public speaking career evolves.  Sure, it is a presentation and pretty free form, but in the end, the goals are not that much different.

Thanks for listening, I hope it helps at least one reader ☺