On the Day

We’ve got the idea, the acceptance, the deck, and we’re happy with how the slides look. Now we go to the conference. You rock up, feeling good. What do you need to do?

Tell the conference you’re here. I’ve seen conferences where the tracks open up and the organisers don’t know whether their speakers are even in the building. As a former conference organiser myself, I can tell you it’s no fun sitting there wondering, “Are my speakers here?” Go to the desk, announce yourself, and make sure they know you’re around.

Find out where you’re giving the talk. Some venues aren’t bad with just a couple of tracks that are close together and you can walk between them easily. But other venues can have a 20-minute walk from one end to the other. You don’t want to discover you’re at the far end without enough time to get there, having to sprint and arriving out of breath, not the best way to start.

Take the tech check if it’s offered. Some conferences offer a room where you can plug in and make sure everything works; some don’t. If they do, take it, because weird things happen when you connect laptops to presentation equipment.

Bring some gadgets. I’d recommend having your own clicker, some conferences provide them some don’t, but you won’t know in advance. Also if you like get a little timer clock that you can sit on the desk and helps you watch your times.

Bring your own water. The venue might supply it, might not. On a long talk your voice will go, and it’s much nicer to have water to hand.

Remind yourself when you’re on. Are you on late, early, or right after a break? If you’re on right after another speaker, be in the room during their talk rather than walking in cold, it’s not ideal to be scrolling in at the last second.

After that, it’s time to start the talk!