Re:Ask HN: What are the things keep in mind while giving/pre...
by kjeetgill on Thursday July 19, 2018 @05:13AM
(#17564828)
To expand on that with "obvious" advice: Know your audience. Present accordingly.
Are you an expert or a beginner relative to your audience? If I'm explaining something technical, I might take a more assertive tone when glossing over details with a novice but speak with more deference to an expert. (e.g. Throw in a few "I think ..." or "My understanding was that ...")
Getting a quick grasp of where the speaker is coming from helps the listener really engage at the right level. Should I double check what the speaker is saying or are they the authority on the matter? Nothing get's eyes rolling faster than someone making blatantly wrong factual errors overconfidently.
Re:Ask HN: What are the things keep in mind while giving/pre...
by ryrobes on Thursday July 19, 2018 @06:07AM
(#17565028)
This x10. Being aware of "who" / "what" is in the room - and then (the tricky part) self-aware of how they may see you.
Use this ance-data to shape your tone and phrasing.
Re:Ask HN: What are the things keep in mind while giving/pre...
by _Codemonkeyism on Thursday July 19, 2018 @05:14AM
(#17564832)
+1 I gave a lot of conference tech and HR talks and always failed when talking about something I didn't have deep knowledge about, but thought "that would be cool, now read about it"
This was the biggest change between the presentations I had to give in high school and the ones in college and above. In high school, the topic was usually given to us, whereas in college and later, I got to choose the topic I was most knowledgeable about. The latter meant I was more passionate, more able to answer audience questions and more able to tailor the delivery to the audience.
One piece of advice I heard was that if you absolutely have to talk about a topic you're not familiar with, talk about being a beginner in that topic. Talk about your perspective as an outsider learning that topic in the first place.