[[TOC]]<\/p>\n
Pick a focused topic and virtual event format<\/h2>\n
The best virtual events for developers are well-planned and executed. But before you can think about hosting an event, there\u2019s some groundwork to do. Two crucial aspects of planning out a well-structured talk: picking a focused topic and coming up with a high level structure.<\/p>\n
Pick a narrow topic for your developer event<\/h3>\n
You probably already have some ideas about what you want to talk about for your virtual event. The key is to decide what angle you want to take<\/strong>. <\/p>\n For technical developer events, you can talk about tech stacks, libraries, tools, best practices, or even bad practices you\u2019ve seen. Your talks can also be career-focused, where you share about non-technical skills that developers should have to further their career.<\/p>\n Whether it\u2019s programming-focused or career-related events, there are endless topics you can speak on. The key is to narrow your topic down so you can: When in doubt, a good place to start is with what you know \u2014 and what you\u2019re comfortable talking about. As Veerle<\/a>, Managing Direct and Head of Data Science at Analytic Health, shared:<\/p>\n If you choose a topic that you\u2019re already busy with on a day-to-day basis you will be able to talk practical as well and give meaningful examples (and it requires less time preparing because you already know most of it \ud83d\ude09).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Next up is choosing the format that suits your online event. Some common formats for developer virtual events include: This is linked to topic selection: as you\u2019re narrowing down the focus of your talk, the format of your talk should become clearer as well. <\/p>\n To keep your audience interested and engaged, here are some common formats and how long online events should be:<\/p>\n Now that you\u2019ve picked your event topic and format, you can start forming your event\u2019s high level structure and some details. Make sure the talk includes: Short stories and anecdotes can also help you convey your ideas better. One way to break the ice is to start your online events with a short story that demonstrates how you\u2019ve experienced the problem you\u2019ll address. You can also end with a story that sums up your talk. But remember: if the stories aren\u2019t directly relevant, cut them out!<\/p>\n To help you get started, we\u2019ll use two examples \u2014 one technical and one career-related \u2014 to demonstrate the process of developing a high level structure. Feel free to treat the following examples as your event program template or virtual event planner.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say you\u2019re a front-end developer who works with JavaScript. You have come across dependency injection a few times and think that it\u2019s a bad practice. Your point of view might be: <\/p>\n \u201cJavaScript is not a purely class based language and is flexible and dynamic. Dependency injection forces you to use a class in JavaScript when you don\u2019t need to.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n To help your audience understand your point of view and find better alternatives to dependency injection, the 3-4 main sections of your talk could be: If you want to tackle a broad topic like \u201cHow to improve your programming skills<\/a>,\u201d you have to spend a bit more time deciding on what to focus on. For demonstration purposes, let\u2019s say you want to focus on junior developers, and from what you\u2019ve experienced and seen, you think: <\/p>\n \u201cAs junior developers, ramping up our programming skills to fit the company\u2019s needs is crucial. In addition to traditional class-based learning, finding mentors can help us significantly in our learning journey.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In this case, the title of your online event might be be \u201cThe fastest way to learn programming as a junior developer.\u201d Once again, you want to provide some basic information before you jump in. You also want to make sure to use real-world examples and pull from your own experience to make your talk more relatable and authentic. Here\u2019s how you might structure this talk: Regardless of the topic you choose, it\u2019s crucial to flesh out your experience with tangible real-world examples. A clear structure helps your audience to follow along. With 3-4 key points, you should spend no more than 5 minutes on each. If you\u2019re unable to keep it under 5 minutes, cut down on the number of points you address. You can always host multiple online events and turn them into a series.<\/p>\n Slide decks are the main content that guides your audience through your online event. They serve multiple purposes: Additionally, developers who attend tech conferences and talks often ask for copies of speakers\u2019 slide decks before or after the presentation. As the presenter, you can decide if you want to share your slide decks. We'll walk through how to create a slide deck for developer online events in this section.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re a veteran speaker or have attended a lot of developer conferences and online events, you're probably already familiar with creating engaging slide decks. But if you\u2019re not sure how to organize your slides, here\u2019s a general guideline for how your slides can be organized:<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a short list of some do\u2019s and don\u2019ts for building a great slide deck:<\/p>\n You can always find slide deck templates to help you spend less time on design and more on delivering quality content for your online events!<\/p>\n Now that you\u2019re finished with all the prep work, it\u2019s time to host your online event! Here are some tips for every step of your online event to help you succeed.<\/p>\n For your audience to be able to follow, see, and hear you throughout the entire duration of your event, make sure your environment is optimized for hosting online events: Before your online event officially starts, join the virtual event meeting room to test out the software to make sure everything runs smoothly. If possible, ask a friend to join you virtually to double check the video and sound quality. Additionally, feel free to share your slides with your audience ahead of time so they can familiarize themselves with your talk and come up with questions before the event. <\/p>\n Before you officially start your talk, you might want to give the attendees 2-3 minutes to join. About half of the audience will join either early or on-time, while the other half will join within 3-5 minutes of the official start time. While you\u2019re waiting for other attendees to join, here are some things you can do to keep your audience engaged: Once you\u2019re ready to start, turn off your background music and let the crowd know the online event will be starting soon.<\/p>\n For the most part, you\u2019ll be focused on presenting and speaking. But since you\u2019ll also be answering questions and hosting the event, there are some additional things you want to keep in mind. <\/p>\n If you\u2019d like all questions to be answered at the end of the talk, remind your audience that you\u2019ll address the questions at the end and ask them to add their questions to chat if they\u2019d like to. If you want your virtual event to be more interactive, pause at the end of each section to ask the attendees if they have any questions.<\/p>\n Regardless of the format you choose, when it\u2019s time for the last question, remember to let the event attendees know.<\/p>\n After you\u2019ve answered the last question, you can naturally segue into the closing part of the virtual event. <\/p>\n Thank the audience for joining and send them important links in the chat (e.g. social media, GitHub repos, future online events, etc.). If there are any unanswered questions, remind the attendee to post their questions in the event page comment section. Before you officially end the meeting, make sure to let the crowd know that the event is over. Here are some friendly phrases you can use to end the talk: – That\u2019s all for today, thanks for joining me and feel free to comment on the event page with any questions! – That\u2019s it for our event today, feel free to message me on Twitter if you have any questions! Once attendees start leaving the virtual meeting room, you can end the meeting for all. There are some other follow ups to do after you finish your online events, but for now, take a break, go on a jog, or celebrate a bit for successfully hosting a great online event!<\/p>\n We\u2019ve just walked you through preparing for and hosting a developer online event. By narrowing down your topic and setting the high-level structure, you\u2019re able to focus your talk so it conveys your knowledge and sharing in the most effective way. You can also share the event recordings so other developers can continue to learn and be inspired by the event.<\/p>\n In the next and last part of this three-part series, we\u2019ll share more about promoting your online events and engaging with your audience after the event. If you\u2019re not sure how you can promote your events to the right developers, the last blog post will provide you with some tips and walk you through how Codementor Events will help with that. <\/p>\n If you\u2019re ready to share your experience with other developers, create events and become a Codementor Events speaker now<\/a>!<\/p>\n
\n– Explain your point of view and\/or technical concepts in depth.
\n– Keep your audience engaged by sticking to the time.
\n– Allow enough time for the attendees to ask questions.<\/p>\n\n
Select a virtual format<\/h3>\n
\n– Presentations
\n– Interviews
\n– Live coding sessions
\n– Workshops (e.g. debugging, code review, etc.)
\n– Discussions (e.g. two speakers sharing different sides of a topic)<\/p>\n![\"how](\"https:\/\/wordpress-1016567-4521551.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/hosting-virtual-events-for-developers-pt-2-structure-slide-decks-and-event-flow.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCome up with a high level structure<\/h2>\n
\n– One overarching idea you want to share
\n– Three to four points to support the main idea
\n– Real-world examples (for both technical and career-related topics)<\/p>\nVirtual events structure example: Technical topic<\/h3>\n
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\n– Define:<\/strong> What is dependency injection
\n– Use cases\/examples:<\/strong> What are some examples of dependency injection
\n– Argument:<\/strong> Why you shouldn\u2019t use dependency injection
\n– Solutions\/conclusions:<\/strong> What are the alternatives to dependency injection<\/p>\nOnline events structure example: Career-related topic<\/h3>\n
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\n– Opinion\/examples:<\/strong> Why you need to improve your programming skills as a junior developer
\n– Status quo:<\/strong> Learning resources for junior developers
\n– Experience:<\/strong> How mentors fast-tracked my learning experience
\n– Conclusion:<\/strong> Mix and match learning methods to improve your programming skills<\/p>\nPut together great slide decks for virtual events<\/h2>\n
Why do you need slide decks for developer online events?<\/h3>\n
\n– Helps you remember key points
\n– Provides visual cues for your presentation
\n– Keeps things concise and on schedule
\n– Delivers (only the) necessary information <\/p>\nHow to organize your slides<\/h3>\n
Introduction slides<\/h4>\n
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Main section slides<\/h4>\n
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Wrap up slides<\/h4>\n
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![\"Do's](\"https:\/\/wordpress-1016567-4521551.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/hosting-virtual-events-for-developers-pt-2-structure-slide-decks-and-event-flow.png\")
<\/p>\nCreate engaging online events experience<\/h2>\n
Before the virtual event starts<\/h3>\n
\n– Your Internet connection is stable
\n– Your camera and mic work, and set at a suitable distance\/angle
\n– You\u2019re at a spot that\u2019s well-lit and quiet – Your background isn\u2019t distracting<\/p>\nStarting your online event<\/h3>\n
\n– Play some background music to lighten up the mood
\n– Let your audience know you\u2019ll start the event in 2-3 minutes
\n– Ask the attendees a question or two verbally and in the chat, some examples include: – Where is everyone joining from? – What do you hope to learn from this event? – What is the biggest challenge you\u2019re currently facing at work?
\n– Explain how you\u2019ll run the event and Q&A to your attendees
\n– Post important information and announcements in chat (e.g. code of conduct, Q&A format, GitHub repo, links, etc.)<\/p>\nDuring your virtual event<\/h3>\n
For presenting:<\/h4>\n
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For hosting:<\/h4>\n
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For Q&A:<\/h4>\n
Ending the online event<\/h3>\n
\n– That\u2019s a wrap for today! Thanks for joining and see you soon.<\/p>\nWrap up & next steps<\/h2>\n
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