> Cut the fluff. Especially if you're adhd or other neuro diverse, you need to work to stay on topic. It _might_ help if you write a script, and have someone go through and mark anything off topic. Even if you don't use the script on stage, writing it and having it might anchor you to the topic at hand.

This one depends. I agree with you probably 4 out of 5 times it happens, but that other 20% are probably some of the best, most memorable talks.

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sharkjacobs 6 days ago | parent [-]

I don't know of any examples which match what you're describing, except for some things which were captivating train wrecks, and I don't think they accomplished what the speaker was trying to do very well.

Do you have any examples you could link to, or were they all live events?

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wilkystyle 5 days ago | parent | next [-]

Bryan Cantrill's Oracle rant:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=-zRN7XLCRhc&t=33m1s

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xmprt 5 days ago | parent [-]

I don't see fluff there. Every sentence was pointed and served a purpose.

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tibbar 5 days ago | parent [-]

It's an amazing rant, but he's still going off on tangents: what is worthwhile in life? And how horrible is Oracle? No really, let's just ROAST oracle. Wait that reminds us of Larry Ellison. He really is the worst, have you heard these stories?! Don't anthropmorphize him, he's a lawnmower!

If you look at the single slide that all of this is sparked by, you can see that these are just (amazing) rants. He's telling the story of Illumos, and that reminds him of the pure evil of Oracle and the meaning of life, and he keeps letting himself drift from the topic to savor those points over and over. He is very quirky, and thinks about things in very quirky ways, and he's just letting the whole audience enjoy that for a bit.

That's why this is such a great illustration of OP's point.

	▲	xmprt 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		I'm looking at those tangents as part of the scope of the talk. When you're talking about someone's unique perspective of the history of some event, you want all those opinions and rants in there. If it was just a list of slides talking going from event to event, that'd be extremely boring.

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jamesblonde 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

James Mickens - amazing speaker. Check this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajGX7odA87k

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butlike 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Jacob Thorton - Cascading Shit Show might fit the bill