This document is intended to be a set of guidelines which should help you improve your public speaking or presenting in front of an audience. At the moment it is aimed at technology meetups but if you have perspective on other areas please get in touch or submit a pull request.

Before you begin it is a good idea to consider the size of the audience you will be speaking to. A presentation aimed at a room of 20 people will seem awkward in a room of 500, but a presentation aimed at 500 people in a room of 20 will seem impersonal.

• A presentation to a small audience should be somewhat casual. A good trick is to start by asking the audience some questions (Who here has used x? How many people are beginners? Experts?).
• You should be ready for people to ask questions or interject during your talk.
• Live examples work well with an audience this size as members of the audience feel more comfortable offering pointers or asking you for more detail on particular things.
• If people look confused don't hesitate to return to a previous slide or ask what parts need more explaining.
• Avoid over rehearsing your presentation. Have key points that you can discuss if necessary.

• A casual presentation can work with a large audience but you have to be knowledgeable and confident. Because you won't have many slides to fall back on, your energy will be what makes the talk shine.
• Avoid live examples unless they are brief and simple or very well rehearsed. An alternative is to take pictures/screenshot the examples you wanted to show and insert them into your presentation.
• Make sure to rehearse your talk a few times beforehand, preferably in front of someone else.
• Use real world examples or metaphors when you can. If you want everyone to be engaged you need to have something that beginners can still relate to.

• Don't use your talk as a medium to plug your personal brand or your company. It's usually pretty transparent. A few slides at the end with "we're hiring" etc is fine.
• Focus on just one topic. Several small topics are better suited for lightning talks.
• If you're doing an advanced talk, introduce the basics first since there will always be beginners in the audience.
• Google your topic beforehand, even if you know it very well.
• If you're not somewhat passionate about the topic you're presenting then choose another topic.

• Using images and gifs is a great way to lighten up serious topics. Overusing gifs looks a little tacky though. Aim for at most one every two slides.
• Don't read directly from your slides unless it's for effect. Use them to let the audience (and yourself) know what you're about to speak about.
• For larger presentations, dwelling on one slide for a long period of time often causes people to lose interest.
• Don't use a piece of paper for reference as if you are nervous and your hands are shaking it will be a lot more obvious.
• Make your slides available to the audience.

• If you don't have a microphone, pick a group nearer to the back of the room and pretend you're speaking to them directly.
• To prevent your voice shaking take deep breaths or stop and take a sip of water.
• Face the audience.
• Keep your hands out of your pockets. If you don't know what to do with your hands then gesture to your slides. If that still feels awkward then hold a drink.
• Smile, keep a good posture, be confident.
• An energetic and confident speaker presenting a dull topic is better than a dull speaker presenting an interesting topic.

• Ask the organisers how long you have to speak and aim for 80% of that. Finishing early is much less stressful than going over time.

• Keep an eye out while your speaking for raised hands. Most of the time they'll point something useful out like a microphone not working
• If you're being interrupted too frequently then defer questions until after your presentation
• For smaller audiences (and sometimes large ones) there are usually one or two didactic people who are going to ask questions soley intended to stump you. If you know the answer that's great but don't be afriad to just say 'no idea' and move on. Another technique is to volunteer them to do a lightning talk at the end of the session.