How to prepare your first Technical Presentation Part 3

Writing an Abstract

The third post covering how to create a session abstract.

Make It Grab Attention

In most large events you are bound to pick topics others also submitted.
So what makes yours so apart? Don’t let this haunt you but make sure your session stands out.

Try to hook readers with your first sentence a.k.a. bold statement. For example: "Stop wasting time doing it that way. My way is 50% faster".
They will be curious about it.

 

Who is Your Audience 

This has to be very clear. You will have a large audience and if they are expecting a lot of interactive stuff in let's say PowerShell consoles, they will not be happy when you only give a presentation in PowerPoint. So, whatever you do, make sure they know what they will get.

Stop Telling So Many Details

Instead of going through everything covered in the session you can:
1. State the issue.
2. Describe why it’s important or why they should care.
3. Tell them how you are going to solve this without  getting in details.
Watch out, you should not get into details BUT... be clear on how you’re solving the problem. For example, don’t say you are going to create this project to solve that problem.
Instead, say you create a project using specific tools to fix that problem. Avoid acronyms that aren’t obvious to every attendee.

Explain Where They Are Heading To

The abstract tells attendees what they will have learned after watching you talk. For example, you can say: “By the end of the session you will have learned how to create a project using POSH which does xyz”.
This gives attendees a clear idea of what they are getting by attending the session.

Let Others Read, Reread

If you are ready to submit your session to a major event, let someone review your abstract for common spelling mistakes/grammatical errors. Many sessions get a no go just because people had no time to check for easily avoidable mistakes.