Allison Randall -
Speaking Topic: WIOS: The Art of Conference Presentations

Allison is a C and Perl hacker, architect and core developer of Parrot, on the board of directors of The Perl Foundation, co-author of "Perl 6 & Parrot Essentials", and founder and president of Onyx Neon Press. She regularly speaks on the "open source circuit", and is program chair for O'Reilly Media's Open Source Convention (OSCON) where she actively encourages women in open source to step up as speakers.

Abstract

This talk is a practical guide to the art of giving technical talks at conferences. It covers the full range of skills involved, from selecting a topic (not just a weekend task, but a way of life), to writing the proposal and bio, to presentation tips and techniques. The focus of the talk is making it easier for women curious about or actively seeking to begin speaking at conferences, helping them avoid common newbie errors, and sharing the perspective of things I've learned over the years. Experienced speakers in the audience will have the opportunity to share their own tips.