content: djangocon-us-2024-talk
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| ryan | technology | At DjangoCon US 2023 I gave a talk, and wrote about my experience [preparing for that talk](https://www.ryancheley.com/2023/12/15/so-you-want-to-give-a- talk-at-a-conference/) Well, I spoke again at DjangoCon US this year (2024) and had a similar, but wildly different experience in preparing for my talk. Last year I lamented that I didn't really track my time (which is weird because I track my time for ALL sorts of things!). This year, I did track my time and have a much better sense of how much time I prepared for the talk. Another difference between each year is that in 2023 I gave a 45 minute talk, while this year my talk was 25 minutes. I've heard that you need about 1 hour of prep time for each 1 minute of talk that you're going to give. That means that, on average, for a 25 minute talk I'd need about 25 hours of prep time. [My time tracking shows](https://track.toggl.com/shared- report/6c52f45a0feea26f7c8fd987abf73b2e) that I was a little short of that (19 hours) but my talk ended up being about 20 minutes, so it seems that maybe I was on track for that. This year, as last year, my general prep technique was to: 1. Give the presentation AND record it 2. Watch the recording and make notes about what I needed to change 3. Make the changes I would typically do each step on a different day, though towards the end I would do steps 2 and 3 on the same day, and during the last week I would do all of the steps on the same day. This flow really seems to help me get the most of out practicing my talk and getting a sense of its strengths and weaknesses. One issue that came up a week before I was to leave for DjangoCon US is that my boss said I couldn't have anything directly related to my employer in the presentation. My initial drafts didn't have specifics, but the examples I used were too close for my comfort on that, so I ended up having to refactor that part of my talk. Honestly, I think it came out better because of it. During my practice runs I felt like I was kind of dancing around topics, but once I removed them i felt freer to just kind of speak my mind. Preparing and giving talks like these are truly a ton of work. Yes, you'll (most likely) be given a free ticket to the conference you're speaking at — but unless you're a seasoned public speaker you will have to practice a lot to give a great talk. One thing I didn't mention in my prep time is that my talk was essentially just a rendition of my series of blog posts I started writing at DjangoCon US 2023 ([Error Culture](https://www.ryancheley.com/2023/10/29/error-culture/)) So when you add in the time it took for me to brainstorm those articles, write, and edit them, we're probably looking at another 5 - 7 hours of prep. This puts me closer to the 25 hours of prep time for the 25 minute talk. I've given 2 talks so far, and after each one I've said, 'Never again!' It's been a few weeks since I gave my talk, and I have to say, I'm kind of looking forward to trying to give a talk again next year. Now, I just need to figure out what I would talk about that anyone would want to hear. 🤔 | 2024-10-17 | djangocon-us-2024-talk | At DjangoCon US 2023 I gave a talk, and wrote about my experience [preparing for that talk](https://www.ryancheley.com/2023/12/15/so-you-want-to-give-a- talk-at-a-conference/) Well, I spoke again at DjangoCon US this year (2024) and had a similar, but wildly different experience in preparing for my talk. Last year I lamented that I didn't really track my … | DjangoCon US 2024 Talk | https://www.ryancheley.com/2024/10/17/djangocon-us-2024-talk/ |