Observations

The presentation that stood out to me the most was Kelsey Hightower’s talk on open-source development. His method of presenting through a story was incredibly engaging. It was as simple was him telling us about the story of the suit jacket he was wearing, and then ended up tying it back to open source development.

Along similar lines, one of the groups presenting their extension explained the problem they faced before presenting their solution. This personal touch, similar to Kelsey’s story, made it feel much more important.

Lessons Learned

Most of what makes a good presentation is ensuring your audience is engaged. The best way to do this is by adding a personal touch through your past experiences or a story. Any information that you present will be received better when they are interested in what you are talking about. Adding this personal touch adds a ‘why.’ Spending time in the audience over the last week, the ‘why is this important’ makes everyone much more engaged.