Just For Speakers

The Day Of & Giving your Talk

  • Bring your own fully charged laptop computer with power adapter.
  • Bring your presentation on a flash drive.
  • Bring your own VGA adapter. We will have backups for mini-display/Thunderbolt to VGA adapters for Macs, but few or no backups for PCs.
  • You will be recorded on video and use a microphone to deliver your talk.
  • Arrive at your track’s room 10 minutes before you are scheduled to talk so the Moderator can greet you. The Moderator will give you 5-minute and 2-minute warnings when you’re approaching the 45 minute time limit.
  • Introduce yourself to the audience at the beginning of your talk. Say a few words about what you do, how you use WordPress, and how people can reach you afterward (website, twitter, etc.).
  • Announce at the beginning of your talk if you will take questions throughout, or at the end. If taking them at the end, you may want to aim for 30 minutes of presentation and 15 minutes of questions.
  • Provide a link to your presentation directly after your talk. Email the link to asheville@wordcamp.org so we can assemble all the talks and provide them to attendees.
  • Feel free to help out at the Happiness Bar when you’re not speaking or attending sessions!

Planning your Talk & Slides

  • You have 45 minutes total for your talk and questions. If taking questions at the end, you may want to aim for 30 minutes of presentation and 15 minutes of questions.
  • Talks should be family friendly. This means no adult or risque content in your slides or language, following the guidelines for WordPress.tv so that the videos can be safely viewed by all.
  • You must have slides. Even if your presentation is mostly demonstration, you need to have some slides to keep you on track with your talk and provide to the audience aftterward so they can easily review what you covered.
  • No sales pitches, please. It’s fine to recommend plugins/themes/services you’ve created, as long as it is not the focus of your talk and you give a balanced view of other options out there.
  • Speaking.io contains some great tips on planning, practicing, and delivery.
  • Have fun! It can be nerve-wracking being the one at the front of the room, but this is an opportunity to share your passion with others and help them learn. Show your enthusiasm and it will be contagious!

Speaker Dinner & Bus Tour – Friday, May 30

Bus Tour: please arrive promptly at 5:45 outside the French Broad Co-Op on Biltmore Avenue. There should be ample parking in the Aloft Hotel parking deck just a couple blocks North of the Co-Op, or you may park on the street (if you’re lucky!). Street parking is free after 6pm.

Dinner at Laurey’s: Dinner will begin at 7:30pm (if you’re on the bus tour, we’ll simply walk across the street to Laurey’s once it’s over). Please tell us your meal preference in advance so we ensure we get you the delicious meal you prefer!

Thank You

Once again, we want to thank you for volunteering your time and energy to speak at our first Asheville WordCamp!