TalkMistakes

Legacy Wiki Page

This page was migrated from the old MoinMoin-based wiki. Information may be outdated or no longer applicable. For current documentation, see python.org.

Common talk mistakes (At least at EuroPython2004)

• Bad spelling

• Projectors don’t work

• Talking to the walls

• Mumbling

• Speaking quietly

• Speaking with monotone voice

• Small text

• Broken python code

• Typing slowly

• Deleting demo sourcecode while presenting

• Launching *.py with java

• Showing URLs for 2 seconds

• Not knowing where light switch is

• Poor timekeeping

• Bad contrast (black text on dark blue background)

• Powerpoint transitions

• Repetition

• No audience participation

• Avoiding questions

• Not knowing subject

• Slamming doors (audience mistake)

• Reading email (audience mistake)

• Relying on connectivity

• Proportional fonts for code

However, these are some of the positive things experienced by talkers at EuroPython2004:

• Repeating questions

• Using pygame for demonstrations - making it fun

• Not relying on projector

• Speaking to audience

• Smiling

• Interesting

• Audio/visual help from audience

• Colorhighlighting code

• Readable slides, using illustrations instead of large amounts of text

• Live demo

• Staying on topic

• Introduce with “Who is this talk for”

• Introduce with context/overview of talk

• Publishing talk material to the Wiki