Speaker Camp: A Self-paced Workshop for Planning, Pitching, Preparing, and Presenting at Conferences

Russ Unger and Samantha Starmer are seasoned and popular presenters at venues such as South by Southwest, and numerous other events around the world. Their insights and expertise will guide you through the steps you need to take to be in the limelight too. 

Using a clear and concise workshop-like approach, you’ll learn to:

What’s more, Speaker Camp covers the mechanics of presenting material onstage, managing an audience, and how to approach making updates and revisions to presentations after you’ve given them.

You’ve got a lot to say, and people deserve to hear it!

Foreword viii

Introduction x

Chapter 1 Brainstorming Your Big Idea 1

A Big Idea 2

Creating Your Big Idea 5

Refining Your Big Idea 9

Finalizing Your Big Idea 14

Chapter 2 Writing Your Presentation Proposal 15

The Standard Parts of a Conference Proposal 16

How To: Write Your Conference Proposal 19

Chapter 3 Writing Your Bio 31

The Two Types of Conference Bios 32

Bios Are Here to Stay 38

Chapter 4 Structuring Your Presentation 39

Start with Your Presentation Goals 40

Build a Narrative 44

Create an Outline 52

Ready for Creation? 58

Chapter 5 Creating Your Presentation 61

The Slide Deck 62

Additional Considerations 71

Make It Fun 76

Chapter 6 Practicing Your Presentation 77

The Details of Practicing 78

Approaches to Practicing 81

Practice Makes Better 87

Chapter 7 Presentation Tips and Techniques 89

The Pre-Game 90

Game Time: On the Stage 96

The More You Do It, the Easier It Gets 104

Chapter 8 Managing the Audience 105

Pre-Gaming 106

Getting to Know the People in the Audience 108

Q&A 111

Tricksy Humanses 114

Chapter 9 Iterating Your Presentation 115

Room for Improvement 116

Again and Again and Again 119

Additional Resources 121

Index 122