Personalize

Text Size

Layout

Navigation Position

idunno.org

now with extra subtext goodness

<< I am a community *beep* | Home | 2007 Tools & Software Roundup >>

"You should be questioning why you're up there presenting"

Can someone please take Steve Clayton’s geek credentials away please? The Blue Monster is bad enough but this latest post takes the biscuit;

if you think anyone in the audience can trip you up on the topic you’re about to speak about, you should be questioning why you’re up there presenting.

Wow. Just wow. Maybe it’s easier when you are just talking marketing, but is Steve really saying DPE should cancel the Visual Studio 2008 launch tours? That’s what it sounds like. When giving technical presentations, especially overviews, in such a rapidly evolving landscape knowing everything is next to impossible. At the MVP Open Day I was a little mean to Daniel Moth; asking nitty gritty questions for which he didn’t know the answer, but which affected me and I really wanted to know the answer to. This is par for the course in those sorts of situations, people sit in presentations with a question for which they really want to know the answer, but it may well be in one tiny corner of the technology sphere that only they are interested in and you haven’t covered. Unless you’re giving a level 100 presentation in a stable technology area, where the code is complete, unchanging and extremely simple then there is the possibility you are going to be tripped up by questions. This is a good thing, it gives you pointers to where your knowledge is lacking and a good reason to learn something new.

Yes, as Steve says you should be honest and admit you don’t know. If you promise to find out then deliver on your promises, too often I’ve asked questions for which the follow-up never arrived (and I’m sure I’ve been guilty of forgetting to email people as well, if so apologies). Not knowing it all is not a reason to be put off presenting; it’s just something you need to gear yourself up to; standing up with your ego saying "I know everything" is far more damaging than admitting you don’t. The more questions you get the more you can hone your presentation and learn for next time.

But heck, if you’re worried about being tripped up don’t blog either; someone might ask a question in your comments that you can’t answer. Don’t speak up at work. Don’t mentor. In fact don’t even discuss last night’s television, you might have missed the latest episode of "US SitCom #17 about people who know each other trying to date". Obviously ignorance is something to be ashamed of, not learnt from.

Technorati tags: Rant, Steve Clayton, Presenting

Thursday, December 27, 2007 11:50 AM

Your Comments.

# re: "You should be questioning why you're up there presenting"
Barry, it's not a question of knowing everything but you and I know there are people who get up and present who don't know too much about their subject and it's plain embarassing and also quite rude to the audience. If we consider that presenting is about imparting information that the audience isn't aware of then some authority on the subject is a pre-req. I don't remember saying the presenter should know *everything* which is what you appear to infer. This isn't about ego - it's about common sense and decency to an audience and about helping people get over their fears.

I may be wrong though. idunno. but I'll find out the answer and get back to you.

as for the Blue Monster...well I'll await your seasoned thoughts on that :)

Left by steve clayton at 12/27/2007 12:49 PM
# re: "You should be questioning why you're up there presenting"
Ah but there's the thing. "some authority".

Like I say there's always going to be someone in the audience (usually me admittedly) who suddenly gets an idea from something the presenter has said. And it's usually something rather narrowly focused. And of course they want the answer, so they ask the question. The more technical your presentation, the more likely it is.

And if, as the quote I took insinuates you shouldn't present unless you know all the answers, well then pretty much every technical speaker should question why they are they.

Left by BarryD at 12/27/2007 12:54 PM
# re: "You should be questioning why you're up there presenting"
not tripping up doesn't mean knowing all the answers. that's why I added the "say you don't know" comment. you insinuated too much

Left by steve clayton at 12/27/2007 1:00 PM
# re: "You should be questioning why you're up there presenting"
Well perhaps; but the quote to me seems rather clear. Does not knowing count as being tripped up? I'd venture most people would say yes.

Mind you not knowing does help you connect with the audience sometimes. I'm still surprised at the feedback I got from DDD where everything went wrong because I decided to code from scratch, a mistake I'll never make again *grin*

Left by BarryD at 12/27/2007 1:04 PM
# re: "You should be questioning why you're up there presenting"
tripped up (to me) means making a fool of yourself at your own expense and through your own fault. by being prepared and being ready to so "idunno" you can avoid both.

repsect for live coding. if the audience didn't I'd think long and hard about it.

Left by steve clayton at 12/27/2007 1:19 PM
# re: "You should be questioning why you're up there presenting"
Ah well, then we have a language barrier rather than a difference of opinion!

It was an attempt at live coding:

Never choose namespaces that have two different spellings. Or use Server in a namespace when the target program is going to be a service.

*cringe*

Left by BarryD at 12/27/2007 1:22 PM
# re: "You should be questioning why you're up there presenting"
now we definitely have a language barrier :)

Left by steve clayton at 12/27/2007 1:27 PM
# re: "You should be questioning why you're up there presenting"
Well you're not really a geek *snicker*

Left by BarryD at 12/27/2007 1:29 PM
# re: "You should be questioning why you're up there presenting"
I'm with Steve to a certain extent. The growth in "community" events means that suddenly we're in a world of "rock stars" and everyone wants their 5 minutes of fame. Hence you get people presenting for all the wrong reasons. The rapid introduction of new technologies means that it's pretty easy for anyone to give the basic "intro to WPF/Silverlight/WCF" talk just by doing 15 minutes of research and as an attendee of a talk if that was what I wanted I'd do that myself not suffer a poor presenter making a hash of doing the same thing.

Actually I think what I'm saying here is you're both right?!

Left by Ian Smith at 12/27/2007 2:26 PM
# re: "You should be questioning why you're up there presenting"
Okay - Regarding the original quote. I could interpret that as meaning that the presenter hasn't had much practice and doesn't know how to handle hecklers in the audience. That is just down to experience in presenting. (I haven't read the orginal article yet) If that is the case then joining your local Toastmasters group may be the way forward (Disclaimer: I'm the Vice President of Education for a branch near me)

I am always open to allowing people to do Grock Talks and Micro Presentations at Scottish Developers to allow them a short time in front of the audience to help build their confidence.

If not knowing is being tripped up then why to many public speaking coursed have a section on what to do when you don't know. In software development the scope of the subject area is so vast that you can't know everything. Even if you've researched your topic exceptionally well there will always be someone who's question comes in at an angle you never thought of.

As for your live coding from scratch, which I didn't see, but I can say that don't give up on the first attempt. I've seen Gary Short do a live coding session from scratch and it was very useful (speaking as a member of the audience). Yes, he tripped up on the way too. But it was brilliant in that it showed that it was live. I'm always slightly suspicious of canned demos.

Left by Colin Angus Mackay at 12/27/2007 4:17 PM

Your Reply.

Comment Form.

Fields denoted with a "*" are required.

*Your name:

*Subject:

You may also like to leave your email or website.

*Your message:

Please add 4 and 1 and type the answer here:

Enter the code shown above:

Preview Your Comment.