Presenting at Teslacon:
Tips & Tricks

Getting Started

Ideas for presentations.

• Teslacon has provided an initial list of ideas and topics @ https://teslacon.com/news/a-call-for-panelists-and-lecturers/
• You can use one of these topics for your presentation or you can use the list to kick off new ideas
• What guidelines do we have?
  • TeslaCon itself is 100% a Steampunk event. Everything from costuming to the Tea Room to special gaming to parties and discussion panels – all are based on the Steampunk culture. We do, however, accept all levels and types of fandoms including Steampunk, Clockpunk, Dieselpunk, Raygun Gothic, Lolita, Chrononaut, and more.
  • Teslacon: The Curse of Anubis will obviously have a very Egyptian flair and focus. Egyptian and Middle Eastern topics are welcome. But don’t just limit yourself to these. Other topics appropriate for an Alternate Steampunk reality just prior to the turn of the Century (1892-1894) are also welcome.

Before you start writing your first slide, do some background thinking and planning.

• There are three types of presentations. For Teslacon, your purpose is to inform and educate and/or to inspire, not to persuade or sell 
• You audience is other Steampunks attending Teslacon. They are likely to be varied in age, cultural background, and how much they already know about your topic (from none to a lot.

What do you want to accomplish? What do you want your attendees to have learned by the end?

• This is an important part of creating any presentation. Unless you know what you want your attendees to learn, it is hard to put together a good, coherent presentation 
• Make a list for yourself of what you’d like them to learn
• Check back to this list from time to time to make sure you’re covering all of it
• Sometimes you may change this list as you do more research and discover more new and exciting things. Great presentations are more than a list of facts and pictures strung together – they tell a story. What story do you want to tell your audience?

What subject do you want to expound on? What special knowledge and expertise do you have?

• Just copying and pasting out of Wikipedia isn’t enough – you need to bring more to your presentation
• We’ll cover ways to research and find more information later

Do you have enough material, too little, or too much?

• Think about timing. You have about 60 minutes to present and answer questions so don’t plan to present to much or too little. We’ll talk about rough rules of thumb for timing later. When you walk through your session in rehearsals you can see the actual timing and adjust your presentation if you need to.
• If you have too little, do more research or expand the scope of your topic. If you have too much, narrow the focus of your topic.

What kind of presentation do you want to do?

Teslacon is looking for five different types. Think about your topic and which of these five types of presentation would best satisfy what you want to accomplish.

• Demo- Similar to a Maker panel, but only the instructor creates something. The session should include all the steps necessary for the attendees to create it later, whether you demonstrate all the steps live or discuss some of the steps in detail. Room logistics to be discussed. Session length TBD.
• Discussion - General discussion; no Audio-Visual, no projector needed, microphone provided. Sessions are a total of 90 minutes - one hour for the presentation, 15 minutes for Q&A, followed by 15 minutes for cleanup and reset for next speaker.
• Maker - A Hands-on, DIY education session where the attendees create something and take it home with them by following the instructions and guidance of the instructor. Sessions are longer, small fees to cover in-class materials are acceptable. Room logistics to be discussed. Session length TBD.
• Multi-media with Audio-Visual - Projector needed (see presentation form for details), microphone provided. Sessions are a total of 90 minutes - one hour for the presentation, 15 minutes for Q&A, followed by 15 minutes for cleanup and reset for next speaker.
• Panel - A Question-and-Answer session where the facilitator askes the panelists questions and they answer. Opening up to questions from the audience is optional. Table, chairs, & microphones provided. Sessions are a total of 90 minutes - one hour for the presentation, 15 minutes for Q&A, followed by 15 minutes for cleanup and reset for next speaker.

For additional information and to learn more: Planning Your Presentation