FirstTimeSpeakers

First Time Speaker Guide

Congratulations on being accepted to give a talk or workshop at EMF Camp.

If you're a first time speaker (or an experienced one!) this guide gives a few notes to help make your experience as smooth as possible.

We're aware that some speakers at EMF are seasoned pros at public speaking, and for others this may be a first time giving a talk. In either case EMF is a friendly crowd and if your talk has been selected that means that you're sure of an interested and engaged audience.

In Preparation

You'll have prepared and practiced your talk. You've got your tickets for EMF, What next?

If you have materials to support your talk such as slides, then we suggest that you bring these with you on your laptop & USB stick, and perhaps also upload to the cloud (Dropbox/Google drive etc.) in case your laptop gets left on the train/breaks down etc. Don't forget to pack your laptop charger!

If you are playing music as part of your presentation - please make sure that this is copyright free, otherwise it can cause problems for streamed/uploaded talks. If you can't avoid it, let us know when you register at the Green Room.

Facilities available

Each stage has an AV system with:

- A lectern and connection for your laptop to plug to the projector and sound system.

- Projectors that are 1080p with a 16:9 aspect ratio. They can accept DVI, HDMI, MiniDisplayport and USB-C as display outputs; VGA is not supported.

- Audio with connections via HDMI and a standard 3.5mm audio connector (headphone cable).

- Enough microphones for both your talk and for taking questions from the audience.

There is a supply of water at the stage.

Note that there should be good Internet available around site and from the stages on Wi-Fi - but just in case of Murphy's law and the chance that the Internet connection might be offline: if you have any videos or other media etc. that are part of your talk then it is a good idea to make sure that these are available offline.

On the Day

As mentioned on the Speaking page, you need to register at the Green Room at least 30 mins before your talk.

In the Green Room we can provide:

- support and assistance with finalising your talk

- the ability to charge your devices

- moral support to help you psych up for your talk (and you're welcome to practice with us too)

- answers to most questions about giving talks/workshops, so please do come along and ask if you have a question!

Note that mobile phone signals on site are not great; you must physically report to the Green Room so we can check you off our list.

FAQ

Q) What if there are any technical hitches on stage during my talk?
A) EMF is a live event and generally runs quite smoothly but occasionally there might be the odd hitch. If it's a technical problem then the Stage/AV teams will take care of it - ie it's our problem and not yours. If you have complicated hardware setup requirements, it might be worthwhile organising with the Green Room when you arrive on site to do a trial on the stages before the day starts - we have no gaps in the schedule so you won't be able to do much before your talk.

Thanks once again in advance for sharing your time, talk and energy to help make EMF the fascinating festival that it is!