265 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
265 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
Event HOWTO
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Mark F. Komarinski
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VA Linux Systems
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markk@linuxdoc.org
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Revision History
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Revision v0.05 8 Nov 2000 Revised by: mfk
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First revision. Comments from readers is appreciated.
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The purpose of this document is to show you how to create good presentations
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for almost any sort of Linux event.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Table of Contents
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1. Introduction
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1.1. Copyright Information
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1.2. Disclaimer
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1.3. New Versions
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1.4. Credits
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1.5. Feedback
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2. Getting Started
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3. Choosing a topic
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4. Submitting your topic
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5. Creating your Presentation
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6. Giving your presentation
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1. Introduction
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While many Linux users will give presentations at Linux User Group (LUG)
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meetings, Expos, and other conferences, not everyone is effective at giving
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presentations. Much like public speaking, a presenter needs to know how to
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communicate with their audience so that their topic is clear and understood
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by all. Topics that may interest users can easily be lost with ineffective
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presentations. Hopefully this document will spell out how you can do this
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properly.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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1.1. Copyright Information
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This document is copyrighted (c) 2000 Mark F. Komarinski and is distributed
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under the terms of the Linux Documentation Project (LDP) license, stated
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below.
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Unless otherwise stated, Linux HOWTO documents are copyrighted by their
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respective authors. Linux HOWTO documents may be reproduced and distributed
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in whole or in part, in any medium physical or electronic, as long as this
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copyright notice is retained on all copies. Commercial redistribution is
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allowed and encouraged; however, the author would like to be notified of any
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such distributions.
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All translations, derivative works, or aggregate works incorporating any
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Linux HOWTO documents must be covered under this copyright notice. That is,
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you may not produce a derivative work from a HOWTO and impose additional
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restrictions on its distribution. Exceptions to these rules may be granted
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under certain conditions; please contact the Linux HOWTO coordinator at the
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address given below.
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In short, we wish to promote dissemination of this information through as
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many channels as possible. However, we do wish to retain copyright on the
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HOWTO documents, and would like to be notified of any plans to redistribute
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the HOWTOs.
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If you have any questions, please contact <linux-howto@metalab.unc.edu>
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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1.2. Disclaimer
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No liability for the contents of this documents can be accepted. Use the
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concepts, examples and other content at your own risk. As this is a new
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edition of this document, there may be errors and inaccuracies, that may of
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course be damaging to your system. Proceed with caution, and although this is
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highly unlikely, the author do not take any responsibility for that.
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All copyrights are held by their by their respective owners, unless
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specifically noted otherwise. Use of a term in this document should not be
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regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.
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Naming of particular products or brands should not be seen as endorsements.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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1.3. New Versions
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This is the initial release.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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1.4. Credits
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I'd like to thank Prof. Brad Broughton, Technical Communication Department,
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Clarkson University. He taught a number of courses on effective presentations
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and public speaking. I don't always follow his rules, but I know what they
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are.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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1.5. Feedback
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Feedback is most certainly welcome for this document. Without your
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submissions and input, this document wouldn't exist. Please send your
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additions, comments and criticisms to the following email address : <
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markk@linuxdoc.org>.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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2. Getting Started
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Before you even give a presentation, there are a few things you have to do:
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* Choose a topic.
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* Submit your topic to a show to LUG. (and get it accepted!)
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* Create presentation from the topic.
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* Give the presentation.
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Contrary to poular belief, each of these may be as hard as all the others.
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Choosing a topic for some may be easy, based on their expertise, whereas a
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Linux jack-of-all-trades may be stuck choosing a topic. Those comfortable
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with public speaking may have trouble designing the slides, and so on.
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So let's jump right in and hit all the topics and get you started!
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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3. Choosing a topic
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In many cases, you can choose your topic based on the area of expertise you
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have. If you're a known (or unknown?) expert on RAID, you can give a
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presentation on RAID. But what do you talk about on RAID? Do you talk about
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the design of the controller drivers under Linux 2.4? Do you talk about
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installing Linux on a RAID device? Case study?
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Unfortunately, these are things you'll have to think about and decide on your
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own. Your best bet is to think of a generic enough subject, and change it
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based on your audience (we'll get into this later on). If you're talking to a
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more advanced LUG/USENIX crowd, you can give a more advanced presentation,
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whereas newbie groups can get a presentation of what RAID is and how it
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works. The basic idea is to keep the intended audience in mind at all times.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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4. Submitting your topic
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Once you have the basic idea of what you want to present, you have to get it
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accepted by groups and get the opportunity to show it. Your best line of
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strategy is to start off giving your intended presentation to a local LUG and
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let them critique it. Audience feedback is cruicial, especially if you have
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not done a presentation before.
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So what's the secret for talking to a LUG? In many cases, just offer. LUGs
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like to have speakers for each meeting to give a reason to get together other
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than go for a beer after the meeting.
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In terms of conferences that you would like to attend, check the major
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conferences and expos out there. Many are listed at Linux web sites, some
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send out a call for papers (CFP) to approprate discussion lists, like <
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ldp-discuss@lists.linuxdoc.org>. Many will have either an e-mail CFP, or have
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you fill out a web form.
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The author cannot comment on what papers are accepted or declined, mostly
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because I don't know how it works. The best I can say is to see what topics
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have been selected in the past and tailor your abstract that way.
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Assuming your presentation has been selected, try and get some information
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about the location, dates, time, and so on. This will have a lot of bearing
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on how your presentation is laid out. A presentaton using printed slides will
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appear different on screen than one with an LCD projector that connects to
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your laptop. In some cases, you will need to bring your own laptop to the
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presentation.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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5. Creating your Presentation
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There are a number of programs for creating presentations. What you use
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should really be a personal preference. However, there are a few choices for
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you to use.
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Table 1. Presentation applications
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+-----------+-------------------+-------------------------------------------+
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|Application|URL |Notes |
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|Name | | |
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+-----------+-------------------+-------------------------------------------+
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|MagicPoint |http://www.Mew.org/|Presentation-only. Reads text files for |
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| |mgp/ |creating presentation. Exports to PS and |
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| | |HTML |
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+-----------+-------------------+-------------------------------------------+
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|StarOffice |http:// |Good conversion to and from Microsoft |
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| |www.staroffice.com |PowerPoint. Not really good for laptops, as|
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| | |it consumes a lot of memory and CPU cycles.|
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+-----------+-------------------+-------------------------------------------+
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|Applixware |http:// |Commercial application, but smaller |
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|Office |www.vistasource.com|requirements than Star Office. |
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+-----------+-------------------+-------------------------------------------+
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So how do you create the your content? First, you'll want to have some
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introductory information. Your first slide should contain the title of the
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presentation, your name, and who you're representing (if anyone). Remember
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that it's good form to include the name of the organization that is paying
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for your trip, even if they're not who you're representing.
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Your second slide should contain the agenda for the remainder of the
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presentation. This serves two purposes - it not only tells the audience what
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to expect, but serves as an outline for you as you create the slides.
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Your third (or forth, depending on how big the agenda is) should contain some
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information about you. This sets your credibility with the audience as to
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your expertise with the subject matter.
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After that, it is up to you to start creating your slides. However, here's a
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few hints to keep in mind as you go along:
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1. Make the text of the slides big, and the amount of text small. You want
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everyone to be able to read what is on the slide.
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2. There is no real need to write in full sentences. You will want to make
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short points, since your talking will fill in the details.
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3. If you use backgrounds in your slides, make them of light colors. Dark
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colors will contrast the text when they are printed out as handouts for
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attendees.
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4. Stick to one topic per slide. You can have multiple slides per topic,
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just title them "Topic", "Topic (cont'd)", or number them.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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6. Giving your presentation
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Before you give your presentation to a group of people, give it a test run to
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a friend or SO. This lets you know how well the flow of the presentation is,
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plus may give ideas for improvement.
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If you have never taken a public speaking class, or given presentations to
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large groups, the first few times you do this it may seem unnerving. As I
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mentioned earlier, it may be easier to start with your local LUG and get used
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to talking to groups of people - the local LUG will be filled with a friendly
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audience and you will be more at ease.
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When talking to a large audience, keep the following in mind:
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1. Don't just read the text on the slides. Anyone can put slides up and read
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the text on it. You are an expert!
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2. Keep eye contact with the audience. Every now and then, look up from your
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screen and scan the audience. If this makes you nervous, look across the
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tops of the heads. From the perspective of the audience, you're looking
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at them. Look up, and scan from one side of the room to the other, then
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look back at your screen.
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3. Feedback from microphones can cause headaches for all around. Test your
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microphone setup before talking.
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4. If you do not have a microphone, try and face your audience as much as
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possible. Your voice will carry better.
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5. Do not let yourself get sidetracked. Stay on the topic. If a member of
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the audience tries to get you off topic too far, offer to discuss it
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after the presentation. Others who are interested can take part then.
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