A little background…
It was a Sunday (5th April, 2020) when me and my daughter suddenly fell severely sick and we had no idea as what was happening. All negative thoughts and potential reasons (of getting this sickness) started coming to our mind that it could be because I went out for grocery shopping (as my family has been home all the time these days) or could it be just a touch of cold. Without much delay on Monday, we consulted one of the local GPs and after hearing my story, she advised me to go for a Covid-19 test – as she thought I had minor symptoms.
I went for this most uncomfortable test and while we anxiously waited for the results, I kept myself fully isolated and my wife (BIG kudos for her support) took care of everything including my little one. During this all, I had just one thing in my mind.. and that was, not to lose but WIN. WIN from all of this situation! Despite headaches, fever and other random ups and downs, I did not take off from work (although my employer was super supportive and always concerned about my health) – I did take good rest whenever I could do and I really wanted – what else could I do in one room? You can’t just sleep for 24 hours or sit and do nothing, right?
Global AI On Virtual Tour was an online event which featured 31 hours of non-stop talks about AI delivered by industry & community experts worldwide.
In addition to my usual sprint delivery to one of the customers at work, I also had to deliver a talk at Global AI On Virtual Tour which I had to finalize, rehearse and repeat again. On Wednesday morning when I could not wake myself up from the bed, I sent a message to Henk Boelman that I might not be able to present the next day (Thursday) because of what I had been going through… and Henk kindly responded me with his big heart and advised me to take care of myself.
Hours later, when I got up – I literally regretted THIS – I promised myself again then I am not going to lose, I am going to WIN against this situation. I sent an email back to Henk and requested him to keep my slot active and I would definitely be giving a talk. Luckily, around same time, my test results came as negative which was another boost for me to be ready, prepared well enough for the talk next day.
Pre Talk / Setup Day
Before the actual event, the Global AI On Virtual Tour team requested me two things;
- Welcome Message for Promo (as shown above)
- Testing my setup with Henk / moderator
For the testing, I was provided a link around 10 days before the event, I went online with the technical moderator (in my case, it was Henk) and we both tested my screen, overall setup and gauged if it’s all set for the live streaming.
Tools
As a speaker / presenter, I had to use Skype for Desktop which amazingly worked better than ever (yes! they’ve improved a lot and they also have a Meet Now feature). I do not have any fancy home office setup right now – just a Core i7 HP Probook 430 with the Blue Yeti microphone.
Talk Day
⌚ – 9th April, 2020
🌐 – Worldwide
I was all prepared as I invested my whole evening in finalizing that (I did not have much time left but that was OK as my talk was prepared a week earlier). I got myself ready as if I am going on a physical event (with just socks 😊).
I joined my talk right 10 minutes before as I was instructed to do so. They (Global AI hosts) took me online, we started talking but at that point, we were not LIVE in front of the audience, it’s safe to assume it as a backstage where all the presenters, hosts etc. were having a chit-chat. Later on, I was greeted & introduced in front of the live audience in a similar IRL way then I gracefully took over and shared my screen.
This was my 2nd ever online public talk and 1st ever global (where people have actually joined you from different parts of the world) so I made a few notes of learning and key takeaways that may help you (being a presenter / speaker) in one of the similar forums.
Be ready for a Global Audience
If you’re delivering a talk to an international audience that can be based anywhere then you must consider time as an important factor. Your greeting, a little introduction of where are you based and fresh smile on your face is always a good start for your talk.
You should always keep this in your mind that if it’s a FREE event and widely advertised then you will be joined by many people who may not be aware of the topic you’re presenting. While we all know that there’s no silver bullet to make your presentation perfect for everyone but we can still try our best to make it inclusive. To tackle this situation, you can use different examples from different industry domains as I believe examples are the best means to convey your message you’re trying to deliver.
Build universal demos
As it’s a global event and the probability of someone joining from the other part of the world is higher then it’s always good to include universal use-cases in your demos rather than those which are just famous in Australia but not widely known across the globe. I chose my talk’s demo as Building a Flight Tracker Bot which was very well received by the audience.
Live now. A recommended talk related to @msbotframework at https://t.co/cr2Es3OFyw from MS MVP @arafattehsin. @Glob_AIBootcamp pic.twitter.com/QED2i3AcHR
— Abdur Rahman (@arahman_mdmajid) April 9, 2020
You are what you present
During these online meetups, you do not meet anyone in person therefore, your presentation matters the most. I know there are several guides on giving fantastic tech-talks. A few takeaways from my experiences are:
- Download ZoomIt (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/zoomit) – no small fonts please
- Consistent slides (UX of your slide matters, yes, it does online)
- No need to do 100% LIVE code unless your talk is all about code
- Go with the half-baked demos and finish them online – do keep their 100% working backup videos. (https://youtu.be/0Zlg7OyWFeE?t=652)
- You must NOT rush while showing a demo; I learnt this from my first talk where two of the attendees gave me this constructive feedback and I tried to improve in my Global AI On Virtual Tour one.
The setup, organization and arrangement of the team responsible for Global AI On Virtual Tour was just fantastic. From technical arrangements to the coordination of the hosts, nothing was less than the perfect. I hope and wish to be a part of similar events in future!
Stay home, stay healthy!