I spoke on my first panel discussion on Mashups and Non-profits at last weeks Net Squared Conference in San Jose, California. It was a meeting place of 300+ technologists and non-profits learning and brainstorming ways to use the internet to make a difference in the offline world.
The first tech conference I ever attended was 2005's SXSW and have attended Mashup Camp (Feb), SXSW (Mar), FMF (May) and Net Squared (May) since then. In that short time I have seen panel's that have enlightened, inspired and disappointed.
From an observer's point of view, I think the ideal panel should inform, enlighten and ignite conversation. I tried to consume as many tips as I can on presentation giving and public speaking. This included:
- Lifehacker's Public speaking do's and don'ts
- Business Week's How To Wow 'Em Like Steve Jobs
- Seth Godin's How To Tell A Great Story
- Garr Reynold's wonderful site Presentation Zen
I tried to work these tips into my presentation by presenting some general information about the benefits of mashups (inform), give examples of existing mashups (enlighten) and present a brand new idea for a mashup (ignite conversation/action).
I think my presentation went decently well. I was a bit disappointed that nobody else on my panel prepared anything. I guess because it was my first panel discussion I might have over prepared. The thing is, I have been to panels that were unprepared (at the Florida Music Festival) and found them disappointing. In general I think that out of respect for your audience, a presenter should be well-prepared and have something interesting to say.
This kind of shook up my presentation, because instead of the allotted 10 minutes I had planned on, my presentation lasted 45 minutes, with interjections and an informal q&a happening after each slide. I also was a bit surprised that the last 5 minutes of the presentation were spent by Tantek explaining the benefits of Microformats. Hey I'm as big of a fan of microformats as anyone, I, personally, coded them into the UF Phonebook. I just think it was ill-timed given the presentation topic.
The good parts were that I wasn't really nervous at all, and I did a good job in not forgetting what I wanted to say; which were my two biggest fears. I think that I enlightned atleast a few people in the audience. Humorously, I also made Bill Strathmann, the CEO of Network for Good aware that he, in fact, was already mashing things up on his site.
One of my personal goals for the future is to speak at SXSW, and I think I've taken the first step. I also have to send an incredible thank you to Chirag, who helped me brainstorm and put together these thoughts for my presentation. Thanks Chirag! :)
In case you missed it, here is my presentation "Changing The World (with mashups) and my notes.