An Open Letter to All CSUN 2016 Presenters and Speakers

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An Open Letter to All CSUN 2016 Presenters and Speakers

by deconspray 0 Comment

Although this post is geared toward the upcoming 2016 CSUN conference, this request is for any and all conference, meetup and webinar presenters.

Post your presentations online, and provide the URL before you begin your presentation and after your presentation.

At most presentations I’ve attended, many if not most of the attendees would have their heads down, writing down anything from the high points to word for word what was being said and shown on slides. I’ve been there. I used to attempt to record everything displayed on slides, along with any tidbits the speaker mentioned not represented on the slides. This would lead to an epic fail after the presentation.

  • I’m lousy at taking notes
  • I’m lousy at digesting information while I’m focused on taking “lousy” notes.

After years of epic failures, I’ve eliminating the note taking and simply focused on digesting the information presented. While this is an improvement, it’s always good to have reference material to fall back on. Knowing you have this reference material upfront to fall back on can make or break a presentation’s experience.

A few other suggestions based on recent observations:

  • Consider using a dark background when presenting text or bulleted text. It reduces the glare and eye strain, and makes it possible for some folks with eye impairments to actually see the slides.
  • Provide high level information. Don’t provide lots of details that will be glossed over not only by the presenter, but by attendees. Leave the details for footnoted links at the bottom of slides.
  • Lastly, please focus on the upper two-thirds of the slide’s real estate. Placing content at the bottom of a slide ensures people not at the very front of the venue will be able to see the content without stretching, bending or simply giving up.

Here’s some additional best practices when preparing a talk or presentation, to ensure that your presentation is accessible to all of your potential audience, including people with disabilities and others.