#SpeakerU - Writing an Abstract, or "PLEASE PICK ME!"

It's time to get back to #SpeakerU, our ongoing discussion of how you can "get up on stage" and become a technical presenter/speaker at conferences like IamLUG (now ICONUS), ICONUK, and IBM Connect.  (If you want to play catchup, my previous #SpeakerU articles are here and here. Several other folks have written articles, as well; a quick search for "#SpeakerU" should bring their work to your attention.)

Most conferences do NOT expect you to have a full deck of slides (or a complete paper, or a finished poster) prepared in advance; instead, they'll ask you to submit an abstract - a brief explanation of your topic and material.  Now, whether you realize it or not, many conferences make the abstracts of accepted sessions public well before the conference meets, so that prospective attendees can begin planning their schedules.  Thus, your abstract has to do two things:

• Convince the folks hosting the conference that you know your stuff, AND
• Convince attendees to attend your session.

Your task is complicated by the fact that abstracts are usually limited in size; you might have as few as 500 characters with which to "make your pitch."  (Remember in the last article, when I said that a big part of picking a topic was fitting it to the time available?  Well, here's another reason to choose wisely; you have to be able to explain it succinctly!)  So, how are we going to accomplish so much in so few words?

I tend to use abstracts to do one thing - ask/answer attendees' questions.  If you've identified where folks are having problems AND can deliver solutions, that's going to be a big win with the conference organizers; if you hit upon a common problem (or a Frequently Asked Question), you may hear a buzz about your presentation well before the conference and (eventually) face a packed room.

Instead of creating spurious examples at this point, I'm going to point you to Russell Maher's recent article on the subject.  He gives the best possible example of the abstract process - his own abstracts. (As you'll see, I collaborated with him.)  The key point is take your topic and put it in terms of the attendees' environments, their questions and your answers; remember that they may not even realize that they need to visit your session until they read your abstract.   It isn't what you can teach - it's what they can learn if they attend.  Russell provides a before-and-after view of two session abstracts, which I think illustrates the process pretty well.

For all this talk about 'selling' and 'pitching' your session/presentation, it's important NOT to oversell.  Remember, you can't claim to make attendees experts in a one-hour session, nor can you ever answer "all the questions."  Be reasonable and straightforward about what you can deliver; as I've often said on stage, sometimes the best outcome of a presentation is NOT that everyone finds their questions answered, but rather that they learn the right questions to ask!

A good abstract requires effort; it isn't something you dash off in 90 seconds.  If you can find old conference programs, take a look at successful abstracts from past events.  Ask your friends to review your first effort, ask others to rewrite them, and don't be afraid to take it through several iterations.  The important thing is NOT to give up - keep trying!

Next up: You've Been Chosen - And Must Now Create Slides...

Puzzling Through Music? Here's My Chordspeller...

If you've been paying attention to this blog (or if you've ever met me), you know that I'm a complete music nerd.  Well, that extends to music theory; I'm one of those folks who fakes playing piano by cheating from the guitar notation, and I'm one of those singers who wants to know whether I'm singing the root, third, fifth or seventh of that big chord at the key change.  Well, to do that stuff one needs a fairly comprehensive chord library, whether it be a mental storehouse or a cheat sheet.  I'm not that good - I need a cheat sheet.

Long ago, when I first started dissecting barbershop music (and, yes, baritones DO have the strangest part!), I had a great 'chord spelling' chart; unfortunately, it was lost some years ago and I've never been able to find a good replacement.  My daughter recently ran across some 'fake sheets' for current pop songs, which have naught but lyrics and guitar chords; she started asking me "What's a Cdim7?  How do you play an Fm9b5?"  I thought of my old chord speller, and decided to create my own.

Simply put, it's a one-pager that includes:

• Nomenclature (e.g. dominant 7th, minor 6th, etc.),
• Symbol notation (e.g. Cm7, C+, etc.), 
• Scale note formula (e.g. C minor triad = "1 b3 5"), and
• Chord listings (e.g. "Gbm9 = Gb A Db E Ab")

for 204 chords, plus extra notation & scale note formulae for another 15 chord families, for a total library of 429 chords - on a single 8.5"x11" page.

You can grab a PDF copy of Chordspeller from my Slideshare library.

#SpeakerU - First Step: Picking a Topic

OK, so you've decided to take the plunge and become a technical speaker/presenter.  Excellent!  Well, the obvious question must be this: on what subject(s) will you speak?

This question is not as simple as it might seem at first glance.  Most of have a mental library that looks something like this:

We all have some old volumes (ask me about provisioning cylinders on a 3380 DASD sometime...), some nifty books that are rarely used, stuff we thumb through regularly, and new stuff that we haven't really read through just yet.  Now, your first urge will be to find something new/hot/shiny to talk about and/or something with which you are familiar in great detail, but there are three things you MUST consider:

1. Know your audience.  Are you speaking to a highly technical audience, a management-heavy audience, a room full of "just want it to work" end users, or a combination of the three?   Some events (notably larger regional/national conferences) may have separate "technical tracks" and "executive sessions," but that won't always be the case.  You may need to pick a topic on which you can (potentially) engage a broad range of listeners.
2. Know your limits.  I'm not referring to your skills in public speaking or slide layouts, or even your knowledge of the subject matter; rather, I'm talking about the simple mechanics of the venue.  Will you have a projector available?  How much time will be alloted to your presentation?  Will there be a mandatory Q&A period that cuts into your speaking time?  Will you have network connectivity for use in live demonstrations?
3. Know what fits.  You may be the world's leading expert on foobiebletches, but you won't be invited back if you run out of time, lose half of your audience halfway through, or rush through a massive deck of slides in an attempt to "cram it all" into the alloted time.  As an experienced speaker, I can tell you that there are few things more painful than watching a speaker who has bitten off more than can be chewed...

So, this boils down to a single statement - "Pick a topic with which you are familiar, but also which can be discussed in some detail in the time alloted, in terms that most of the audience can follow."

A few suggestions:

• New speakers are often comfortable with a "tips and tricks" presentation; most of us have favorite configurations/tweaks for various applications and/or devices.  If you stop to think about it, "12 Neat Things You Can Do with Your iPhone" or "What You Don't Know About Hotmail" would be great presentations for the local Toastmasters, school groups and the like; something like that would be a good "hip pocket" presentation to keep around for short-notice speaking opportunities (especially since they can often be "trimmed to fit" different time limits!).
• Brainstorm with friends and colleagues.  Ask them, "what would YOU give up an hour to hear?"
• Draw upon your own experience, for better or worse.  I've seen some EXCELLENT presentations on topics such as, "10 Things I Learned While [fill in the blank]"...if you happen to write a blog, go back and review your old articles; you may find raw material there that can be refined into a great presentation.
• Take a look at sites like Slideshare, where thousands of presenters have posted copies of their slides.  Take a look at their topics, and think about whether you could take a slice of that pie and run with it.  (NO, DO NOT JUST COPY THEM WHOLESALE - you will be found out...)
• Search for meetings/conferences in your field, and check out the presentations being made at those events.  You don't have to start at that level of difficulty, but it will give you a good idea of topics that made it through the selection gauntlet.

Well, that's simple enough - so go do it!

Next up: the art of writing abstracts...