Paul May

A talk I gave at Barcamp Belfast 2008. A very early draft of something I might develop in the future. 20 mins talk + 10 mins q&a

Hypothesis: There are some incredibly talented people working in technology, design, business - and I’ve often wondered, how do these people stay so fresh, so highly skilled and so motivated when the nature of their industry and their business changes so quickly and so often. So I asked them. And what they told me was very interesting. For some people it’s a strategy, but In most cases these just happen to be some things that really great people seem to have in common. So, what are these traits, these strategies?

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I’ll be presenting at BarCamp Belfast. Notionally the topic is: “Everything You Know is Likely to be Wrong - Perspectives on creating value and remaining relevant in the technology industry.” Should be fun! I’ll post slides, notes and photos here next week.

Update: I’ve now uploaded my notes from the talk. it was a good day. The topic I landed on in the end was “Staying Relevant in Tech Industries“. It was a little abstract, but it was a good first stab at a topic I’d like to develop further.

I made it! Escape from Alcatraz was everything I hoped it would be; tough, fast, exciting. Hotter than I would have liked, but an absolutely great race. This is my full report of the lead up to the race, the race itself and the journey home. Read the rest of this entry »

In most surveys of fears and phobias, public speaking comes close to the top.  There is rarely a week where I don’t have to stand in front of a group to present a concept, a proposal, or a piece of work. It’s a skill I’ve had to learn and think about more and more as time goes by, and I still get it spectacularly wrong on occasion, but less than I used to.

In this article I wanted to write down a few of the points I’ve noted while giving talks, a few I’ve noted while watching others, and offer some basic advice to anybody interested in getting better at presenting their work or ideas.

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