Workplace Presentations for SysAdmins

Adam Moskowitz has been around LISA for a while...long enough, even, that he actually chaired my first LISA conference, back in '09 (yes, I'm that new here). He's been in IT for even longer, and over that time period, he has made a study of public speaking in a professional capacity.

The Workplace Presentations class isn't designed to make the attendees the next Winston Churchill - great public speaking only comes with practice - but to help the sysadmins come to grips with speaking in front of their peers and coworkers.

Adam's class follows four basic tenents:

1. Prepare

Build your ideas using tools conducive to the exercise. For example, PowerPoint, while being a sufficient presentation software, is relatively poor at helping you organize ideas. Mind mapping tools, or even just a whiteboard or notepad.

2. Practice

There is a distinct physiological response in our brains to speaking out loud, rather than only mentally. Adam mentioned that his favorite spot to practice a particular phrasing was in the shower, but that it is ideal to do at least a run-through in the room you'll be giving the final presentation in, if only to take into account the lights, podium and lectern locations.

3. Relax

Being nervous before speaking in front of the public is completely normal. Fear of public speaking commonly exceeds fear of death, taxes, and velociraptors. Too often, we use our minds as an echo chamber, and overwhelm ourselves through our own fear. To eliminate this kind of pain, it's paradoxically better to not overanalyze your presentation immediately prior to the event. Adam suggests reading a book, listening to music, or even practice yoga or breathing exercises. Get your mind off of the subject at hand.

4. Present

The volume of advice given by Adam was really pretty overwhelming, but all of it was sound. The most important pointers were to face the people to whom you are speaking. Don't turn around and look at your slides - keep the computer displaying your slides in front of you. Don't stand at the computer and hit the space bar to advance slides unless the remote pointer (RF only, to avoid line of sight problems) fails.

In Adam's words, body language helps 10% of the time, and hurts 90%. Be aware of what your body is doing. If you're like most people, you're not aware of what your body is doing - it's hard to do, so Adam suggests that you actually go through the effort of video taping yourself giving the presentation, if you want to go the extra step. Speaking as someone who has seen himself give a presentation on camera, it's utterly frightening how different you look and sound from the outside.

Finally, if you are serious about getting good at public speaking, there are groups like Toastmasters who exist solely for improving your speaking skills. If that's not your style, join (or start!) a local system administrator or user group and give a presentation there. Whatever your disposition, there are lots of opportunities to get better at public speaking.