Stephen Downes

Alan Levine links to this old Kathy Sierra article (we miss her) talking about what matters in a presentation (he says he plans to update it for podcasts). "The problem is thinking that what matters in your presentation is you. Because unless you're a paid performer - musician, comedian, motivational speaker - you are not the reason they came to the conference. They are sitting in your session because of someone that matters far more to them than you: themselves. They are there for their own experiences, and 'watching you present' is not one of those experiences." Still, there's an argument for some presentation skills, even if you're not an expert, as evidenced by what might be the worst keynote slide I have ever seen (I know, I know, it's not a slide - but that fact somehow makes it worse!).