Speaker guidelines#
This is a guide for speakers at PyLadies Berlin meetups. The following guidelines apply to talks and workshops; for workshops, you find additional recommendations below.
General guidelines#
Audience level#
Expect all levels. From people that have never tried Python before to Python data science professionals and engineers. In our meetups, we aim that beginners (having programmed a bit before) are able to follow most of the things.
Time#
We suggest talks to be 30 mins or less (time is aligned with conference talks, so you could take the talk to a conference as well) and we also encourage short talks or lightning talks of 5 mins only.
Speaker coaching and rehearsals#
We offer coaching. That means you can discuss your talk/workshop material with one of us and ask to go through the slides/workshop outline and give feedback. It is also possible to arrange a talk rehearsal session (dry run through) live or via video call. When you sign up to be a speaker we will give the option to request this. However if you want to discuss this more please get in touch with us!
Filling in our speakers form#
Please fill in the speaker’s form we will ask you questions so we can collect all the information we require and inform you about speaking at our events. This list is to give you an idea of what information we will be asking for, however details you don’t know at the time can also be collected later.
Talk/workshop title and description
length of your talk
short bio
twitter handle (if you would like to link our tweets with your account)
You can get an example of these here
If there are resources that might be helpful for attendees, they can be included in the description.
What kind of coaching would you like from us, if any?
Do you need anything more than HDMI cable?
Day of the Meetup#
It is best to come 15-30 mins earlier to check that everything works fine with your laptop. If you prefer to use our laptop, you need to send the talk to us beforehand.
Resources for an amazing talk#
Additional workshop guidelines#
Session format and time#
Keep talk and workshop apart, if possible.
As suggested above, talks should be 30 mins or less; the hands-on part can be an hour.
Before your part, we have an intro and there might be a company short talk first.
After the talk, take a 15-20 mins break for networking and setup. People are more comfortable to talk after the talk, so it is a good time to let them mingle.
After networking allocate up to 10 mins for setup (for the people that had problems to set up at home).
Workshop format#
Please make sure that the hands-on part is possible to follow as a beginner.
Active coding facilitates learning - and is more fun than only typing code from the screen or copy/pasting.
From our experience a self-paced format where attendees take their own time with coaches to support them is best for mixed level audience.
We highly recommend to pair people as part of the workshop.
We have also had a lot of success with an interactive format where attendees had to choose cards with workshop-related topics which they then had to explain to each other. Example
If it is a code along format, consider a catch-up point giving people time to catch up if they are left behind.
If there are exercises to complete, it is generally a useful practice to have already solved shortcut steps that the attendees can take if they get stuck (e.g. folder with solved steps. Example
Workshop coaches#
Usually, if the workshop is self-paced, it is important to have people (coaches) helping on the spot. Having a couple of coaches for technical issues is always helpful. Let us know, if coaches are needed. The number of attendees can be up to 50, depending on the topic - so the number of coaches needs to be adapted accordingly.
Avoiding installation problems#
Installation problems can be very frustrating. At workshops, we usually have many OSes (Windows, Mac, Linux, maybe Chrome OS) and very different tech skill levels - so problems always arise. To avoid spending too much time on this and to give everyone their own time and comfort to prepare, it has been helpful to:
Announce all instructions 1 week before the workshop at the latest. We usually offer help with installation before the workshop in our slack.
Take into account all OSes.
Plan some 15 mins for setup; if issues are not resolved within these 15 mins, people can pair with others. Do not spend more than these 15 mins as this is frustrating for the rest of the participants.
Material available#
Make sure that data, URLs, and code are publicly available and people can download it or copy/paste it even without a Github account.
Especially for large data files, ensure availability before the event. Simultaneous large file downloads are problematic.
People will ask for the slides, so consider if you would like to share them.
Technical requirements#
We expect to have internet, chairs, tables and power. Let us know if a particular chair/table distribution is necessary. Depending on the space, a microphone might be needed. If talk and coding will be done simultaneously, let us know beforehand to search for a hands-free microphone.
For workshops, please send us additional information on#
Expected knowledge and resources. We need this 1 month before the meetup to announce it and put links in the workshop description or the comments.
Installation instructions and preparation resources, at least 1 week before the workshop.
Number of coaches needed/ number of attendees per coach. What would the coaches need to know?
Do you need a hands-free microphone for live coding?