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