Bilingual

Preparing for a Tech Talk, Part 1: Motivation — overreacted
14 hours ago
- External motivations (recognition, job) vs internal motivations (teaching, learning, sharing ideas).
- Author's internal motivations: sharing inspiring ideas and re-explaining things simply.
- Finding a personal formula for talks aligned with motivations helps in topic selection, reduces fear, and increases conviction.
- Talks should be about the idea, not the speaker, reducing pressure.
- Good talks start as conversations; talking to people helps develop ideas.
Preparing for a Tech Talk, Part 3: Content — overreacted
14 hours ago
- The author combines top-down outlining with bottom-up building of concrete sections when preparing tech talks.
- The outline is a living draft that evolves, helping to structure the talk and identify inconsistencies.
- The talk structure often follows a 'Hero's Journey' pattern: establishing conflict, walking through the 'aha' moment, recapping solutions, and ending emotionally.
- The bottom-up pass focuses on building a proof of concept for the 'high-energy' section, such as a crucial demo or explanation.
- Many iterations and throwaway work (like memes) are involved in refining the high-energy part.
- Dry runs are essential for timing, cutting content, and polishing flow, with practice repeated multiple times.
- The author avoids full speaker notes and instead rehearses until the delivery feels natural.
Ten Steps Towards Happiness (2015)
14 days ago
- Pieter Hintjens acknowledges donations for his children's future and thanks contributors.
- He has participated in various podcasts, interviews, and video talks, including on Software Engineering Daily, Ruby Rogues, and multiple conferences.
- Keynote talks were given at events like DomCode 2015, Coding Serbia, EuroPython, and Tech Mesh.
- He invites contact for potential speaking engagements at events or organizations.

Hasty Briefsbeta

public speaking

Preparing for a Tech Talk, Part 1: Motivation — overreacted

Preparing for a Tech Talk, Part 3: Content — overreacted

Ten Steps Towards Happiness (2015)