Requirements

These guidelines are here to help you prepare a fun, clear, and engaging minute talk on any nerdy topic you love! They’re not meant to restrict you, just to make sure everyone has a smooth experience and the audience can follow along. These are guidelines and can be bent for the benefit of the presentation.

Pick a topic you actually enjoy. Don’t shoehorn yourself into something you don’t love. It can be a workshop, a tour, an introduction to somethinf or an attempt to get people interested. Anything goes!

State what you want the audience to take away from it (e.g. "Understand some unusual cases that the Rust borrow checker can't prove" or "What do I need to show for the Collatz Conjecture?")

Structure

  • 2-3 minutes for introduction
  • 12-15 minutes for the main content
  • 1-2 minutes conclusion
  • 3-5 minutes for Q & A

The numbers are flexible! Some people need more time, some need less. Just be aware of how much time YOU are taking up.

An example of something that could be presented. Talking about what the f is going on is appropriate.

Technicalities

  • Slides are optional, but recommended. You can also use the whiteboard or paper printouts
  • If using slides...
    • Keep the text minimal (code is okay though!)
    • Consider using "speaker notes" or an analogous feature
    • Include diagrams, code samples and pictures where helpful
    • Bring your own laptop or have the slides at the ready as a PDF
    • Test the slides on spot, maybe even in advance if possible
  • We also strongly encourage you to PR the the final version of the presentation into our GitHub repository with any other relevant materials

Content

  • Keep the content nerdy and juicy, but it doesn’t have to be very complicated
  • Gauge your audience. if you start from the deep end people WILL get lost. provide context as needed and keep it digestable. provide intermediate conclusions
  • If you want to do a live demo, have a fallback like screenshots and or a recorded demo
  • give directions for further explanation if appropriate

Delivery

  • State if questions are during or at the end
  • Stay on pace. We might be able go slightly go over time, but don’t expect it to be the norm.
  • Explain jargon the first time you introduce it
  • Be prepared to answer questions, but it’s ok to say "I don’t know"

Remember that people can be scared of specific topics (usually abstract math). That’s ok, make sure there is enough information on the slides to follow.

Example Topics

  • What does npm install actually do?
  • CPU instructions you didn’t know existed
  • Monoids without category theory trauma
  • Examples of timezones being evil
  • Ray-marching black holes
  • Why C# is objectively good
  • Setting up your own git server
  • Hitchhiker’s guide to obscure keyboard switches
  • ECS is just indirections. It’s still faster than OOP. Why?
  • Top 3 algorithms you will never use
  • What we know about umbral calculus
  • What is Stephen Wolfram even on about?
  • Why old robot videos seem as good as modern ones
  • X is an old piece of junk and its my favourite piece of hardware

Next Steps

Ready and excited? Apply now!