I'm giving my first conference talk in a few weeks.

I'm hoping it makes people want to talk to me so I don't end up sitting alone during breaks! I have not managed to experience the mythical hallway track that everyone raves about...

(Another speaker said they're bringing stickers to bribe people - shit why didn't I think of that)

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jlev1 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

One other trick you can do: mention one or two well-chosen things in your talk that are interesting and related to your topic, but that you can't go into further detail on (for lack of time). Say you'd be happy to discuss them after the talk with anyone who's interested!

This way, anyone who wants to talk to you has a freebie question they can ask (and that you have interesting thoughts on), which may lead to further conversations.

As a bonus, pointing out 1-2 connections like this usually improves your talk for everyone, by adding context.

	▲	rpaik an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Yes, I found that a lot of people are hesitant to ask questions when there are many people in the room (tbh sometimes even I feel like my questions may sound stupid when I'm the attendee). So I always hang around in the room/hallway so people can come and talk to me. As someone noted, I always have my contact information (e.g., a LinkedIn profile) in my slide so people can reach out to me after the event and I actually had good conversations with people after conferences. Not only do I get feedback/questions on my presentation, but I get to expand my network.

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simonw 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Tip: put a big note on your closing slide that says "Come and talk to me about this in the hallway".

	▲	dofm 6 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Once saw a closing slide that had contact details on it but also: "milk, two sugars"
	▲	sevenseacat 6 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		oh that's a good idea, will do!

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RangerScience 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Pro tip: Every other slide (ish) is a joke referencing / setting up the next slide. Gives you a beat to change gears, keeps the audience really engaged, and lightens the mood. Also ensures you’re breaking things up into bite-sized pieces.

I gave a talk with a section on curried functions and interspersed the content slides with pictures of Tim Curry, for example.

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raesene9 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Jokes can be tricky in talks, as they rely on shared cultural context. If you know your audience well and know what will land with them it's great, if you don't then care is needed.

I generally advise people to put some jokes in if they like but don't make the talk rely on people getting the jokes.

	▲	Anechoic 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		but don't make the talk rely on people getting the jokes Adding to this, don't automatically include <wait for laughter> in your joke delivery. Make the joke - if it lands and the audience is laughing, you can pause until it dies down. If the joke doesn't land, you just move on and everyone will forget about it.

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jlev1 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Personally I rarely like jokes in talks, unless they're very limited or are truly substantively related to the talk itself. YMMV of course.

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paulgb 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

That's a great example because it also acts as a mnemonic to help people remember the content, rather than distracting from it.

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raesene9 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

In case it's useful, I did a talk about giving talks earlier this year which covered various things I've encountered/learned over the talks I've done and seen

https://tagt.mccune.org.uk/ - has sections and links to specific parts of the video, so you don't have to watch the whole thing to get to a bit that seems interesting :)