Normally, I tend towards the uncontroversial when I write. I haven't been the author of many posts that have caused debate.
But I've had enough. I need to speak up.
Most conference presentations suck
There. I said it.
I remember being amazed (and, back then, pretty heartened) when I went to my first SEO conference and realised I already knew most of what was being said. Amazement turned to disappointment at my second conference, which was billed as "Advanced" and where the same old basics were trotted out by too many of the speakers.
Since then, I've been to hundreds of presentations. I've learnt a lot, but from a surprisingly small proportion of them. (Thank you to those speakers who consistently turn out the excellent stuff!).
I'm no exception
This is as much a criticism of myself as anyone else. Looking back, there are some presentations I've given that make me cringe now (especially early ones). Early on in my speaking career, it wasn't necessarily that I phoned them in. I was suitably scared / motivated to do a good job - I think I just didn't know how. More recently, I think it's probably happened when I agreed to talk on a subject I didn't really know enough about. I'm definitely trying to learn that lesson.
So before I go any further, if you've had to sit through one of my presentations and learnt nothing, I'm sorry.
If it happens in future, email me and tell me (my contact details are easy to find and always on my last slide).
I'm a strong believer in the idea that you should praise in public and criticise in private so I'm not asking you to tear presentations apart on Twitter. I'd love it if we saw more strong praise of great presentations, and more honest private feedback to speakers and organisers when they haven't delivered the goods.
Basic has its place
Before I go any further, I wanted to point out that I am often called upon to give "SEO 101" type presentations and these wouldn't teach any of you anything. I hope this doesn't mean that they are bad presentations. It's all about knowing the level of the audience I guess. This rant is squarely aimed at "advanced" presentations of one form or another.
Delivery is important, but it's not a substitute for content
If you start googling "how to give a great presentation", you'll find masses of advice on slide design, how to speak at the right speed, the kind of opening line to use, what to wear etc. All of this stuff can help, but I would urge implore you to work harder on the other axis. Make the content kick-ass and I'll listen to you even if you mumble at your feet in a monotone looking like a scarecrow. (Yes, I know I talk too quickly when I present. One day I'll fix that).
I do like listening to great speakers and entertaining presentation does improve things, but there are better places than SEO conferences to go for stand-up comedy, so generally, I'm there to learn things. You can get away with slightly weaker content if your delivery is awesome but please remember this highly scientific chart:
And you know what? I don't even care if it's a sales pitch if you are teaching me stuff. It sets the bar higher and I'm more likely to criticise you if you pitch your own stuff without teaching me anything, but if you do teach me stuff, you can bet I'm going to check out whatever you're hawking.
By content, I mean new stuff
In the past, just to avoid embarrassing myself, I have:
- Learnt new things (this was about how to do first touch tracking in Google Analytics):
- Carried out research (this slide shows a correlation I established between search volume for the 2006 world cup and the 2010 world cup before this year's competition started - it was part of a methodology for forecasting search volumes that haven't happened yet):
- And published data (this is actually one of Tom's slides):
Don't worry about being too advanced
That's what Google is for. Give me the ideas and the data that I couldn't get anywhere else. If there's terminology I'm not familiar with or you skip over something too quickly, I can easily do my own research. But please don't spend half an hour telling a room full of experts what Google Insights is.
Why should you bother?
At the Seattle mozinar, I gave a presentation on "how to pitch SEO". One of my core themes was that the best way to win business is to avoid competitive pitches by giving yourself an unfair advantage. Being known for being smart is one of those advantages. If people get to know you through learning from your presentations, you will find yourself in a disproportionate number of uncompetitive pitches... Just sayin'.
Recipe for success: Speakers
At Distilled, I have been thrilled to see great first-time presentations from our guys - this isn't something that only comes with experience. For example, Sam's Advanced Keyword Research presentation at SMX London was more highly rated than those of many more experienced speakers including mine. In advance of the show, Sam asked Tom and I to run through our secret recipe. It's actually pretty simple - just follow these steps:
- Only agree to speak if you actually know the subject and have something new to say
- Ask yourself what you can give away in your talk that will be new for the majority of the audience
- What action can people take as a result of your talk?
- Be prepared to do work / research to discover or demonstrate your new stuff
- Unless you are an incredibly gifted public speaker, practice before the event. There's a huge difference between preparing the slides and giving a great talk. Although I truly believe that content > delivery, it's worth working on the delivery at least a bit! Check out Lisa Barone's post last week about How To Rock Your Presentation for more great presentation delivery recommendations.
If you need a little bit more incentive to be awesome, I've found that having a head to head competition and then a vote at the end of your session (thanks Rand!) is a good way to make you up your game.
Recipe for success: Organisers
This rant is mainly aimed at speakers, who I think are the primary culprits, but for organisers, while I realise that larger conferences especially don't want to micro-manage every session the way Rand and I have been for the Pro training seminars, can I beg for one small thing?
- Don't invite speakers back if they didn't add value last time
Everyone runs those follow-up surveys and knows which speakers were loved by the audiences and who phoned it in. Please stop inviting people back if they don't want to teach things to the attendees. [Rand wrote a whole post a while back with his thoughts on this from an organiser's perspective].
[UPDATE: following a bunch of conversations in the comments and offline, I wanted to clarify two things here:
- I was probably too harsh with my statement above - if everyone took that literally, there's a good chance I wouldn't still be speaking at shows today. I want to encourage new speakers and with that goes a lot of mentoring, feedback and encouragement. Do give people a second chance, do give them support and feedback and definitely do encourage new and unknown speakers. Rephrased, I think I mean "don't invite speakers back if they repeatedly fail to add value and don't invite them back at all unless you are prepared to coach them"
- This isn't a new discovery - ironically, this whole post is more of a rant than it is likely to tell people things they didn't know - and there are many shows that take this seriously. This post is really aimed at speakers not organisers]
Rand and I actually tend to harangue our speakers with instructions a little bit like those above asking them to bring their 'A' games. Beyond a certain point, it hopefully gathers momentum because no-one wants to be the guy giving the sales pitch when everyone else's presentation is rocking. At the beginning of September (almost two months before the show), I had a call with every speaker for the London Pro seminar to help shape what they were going to talk about and make sure that they are bringing their secrets. It's not too late to get in on the action and see the result of all that hard work:
There are still tickets left for the London Pro SEO seminar
It's lucky that we have a bigger venue this year. We passed last year's total (sold out) sales a few weeks ago and unfortunately all the VIP breakfast tickets are gone, but there are still tickets left at the time of writing. Like last year, we anticipate that there will be a rush of bookings as the date approaches so it is likely that we will sell out. If you are wanting to come and see me put my money where my mouth is (yes, I'm feeling the pressure a little bit after writing this) don't leave it too late to book:
The Details:
Where: The Congress Centre in London's West End
When: October 25th and 26th
Price: £699 +VAT
Book: now!
If you are an SEOmoz PRO member, you can get access to special pricing by using the code in the discount store - making it a steal at £499 +VAT / person.
You can read a sneak preview of the event that I wrote a few weeks ago to get an idea of the kinds of things that you will see there.
Will - applaud you for writing this. I admit that I've been worried about being too vocal about my feelings on the topic out of concerns of angering people, so I appreciate you going out on that limb.
One disagreement I've got - I think the conference organizers and planners (those who invite speakers and make agendas) are ultimately responsible for the quality of the speakers and their content. Certainly, as speakers we need to step it up (it's something I work at actively for my own presentations), but if I go to an event where there are subpar or mediocre speakers and I see them again at future events, that's not the speakers' fault.
The problem, it seems to me, is that content quality doesn't seem to be the major reason people buy tickets - perhaps that's a misperception on my part, or a marketing failure/success on the part of the events themselves.
(On edit) I took a look at the distribution from our seminar feedback at Seattle. On the question of "Did you find the content to be advanced enough for you?" here's how folks answered:
I'll take personal responsibility for those 36% of attendees who felt it wasn't advanced enough. Every year we push speakers to be more detailed and driven to present more expert-level material, but I think to your point Will - you can (almost) never get too high, only too low.
Great post Will. the perfect way for me to describe it is "someone had to do it and I'm glad it was you.."
But this thing about not inviting sucky speakers to future events creates this little paradox. Even if they'd read this post they wouldn't have a chance to apply it :)
I hope you could atleast let them send a preview for their presentation before declining them alltogether.
A second chance is atleast fair...
As with the comment below about not putting off new speakers, I also don't want to doom someone who gives one bad presentation to never speaking again (see my comment about some of *my* early presentations!). I feel that the organisers can take a pretty hard line on this though - and it should be up to the speaker to find a way to convince them they've upped their game. For me, as an organiser, the absolute best way to get on my radar is to make sure I see you speak at another conference where you kill it. If I see that, you can be sure I'll be bugging you to speak at one of our events.
Yea I see your point.
It really should be up to the speaker to change/upper he's own brand.
Anyway, really great post... Thx
Great post and much needed focus on a topic that doesn't get addressed that often. The fear of speaker "suckyness" (!) is the main reason why it takes a lot to get me out to an event nowadays...
Rand also makes an excellent point: it is ultimately the organisers that are responsible for the quality of the content and the speakers. I say this from the perspective of someone who's been a speaker and an organiser so I've experienced this from both sides.
As a speaker, I'm always amazed that I don't get asked to submit materials until a week or so prior to the event (far too late) or that I've rarely been asked to make changes - I'm sure this is not because my content is perfect though I wish that was the case! The primary concern of the organiser often seems to be lead-time to print and bind rather than content quality.
As an organiser, I've lost count of how many times I've chased speakers way beyond the deadline to submit ("Work's just been sooo hectic recently [sub-text: don't you know how important I am?]")Lack of pre-event review time or feedback from the organisers on a presenter's content means a much higher risk that it is sub-standard, off-topic (for the given content title) and/or overlaps with other presentations so the event as a whole is less cohesive. Worse still, how many of us have sat through a blatant sales pitch dressed in sheep's clothing.
Don't open your mouth unless your words are better than silence.
Besides conferences, a great blog we all know would also improve if it did not have to publish one post daily...
P.S. I am a great fan of Seomoz blog, but finding great content daily is not an easy task. I would drastically limit the number of posts - and let everybody rave whenever something new is published.
I do wish we could publish only the most amazing stuff every day, but I'll disagree with holding back on publishing regularly for a few reasons:
#1 - We (all of us in the blogging world) are terrible at predicting what will be a hit vs. a miss. If I look through my posts on SEOmoz that have received the most thumbs, comments, attention, and praise, there's only a handful I would haev predicted would be "great." The rest are serendipity, and come from forcing oneself to write consistently.
#2 - Even many of the mediocre blog posts are still highly valuable to a select audience, and may have a graphic, stat, link or opinion that's useful as future reference point.
#3 - You'll never get good if you don't practice your craft. I'd say the quality here has risen steadily over the years and I expect it will continue to do so as long as we're disciplined and dedicated about publishing regularly.
Let me know if you disagree though - I think this is an important topic to discuss.
Completely disagree with him, Rand. I love coming into the office in the morning and reading the next post on the SEOMoz blog. Like every blog, there will be some posts that aren't as good as others.. but I can definitely say I take at least one thing away from each post. This goes the same for every speaker - even if it confirms that X method for doing something is still relevant, that's a takeaway.
I agree with a lot of this Rand.
1) I see certain organizations that put together conferences that always seem to have the same subpar speakers with a couple of new ones each year. I don't go to conferences hosted by those organizations anymore.
2) From what I have noticed at conferences you really have to give a good informative presentation to really get peoples interest. To me I get most of my value from a conference after the conference at bars, restaurants, or wherever with other attendees so by the morning it is going to take something really good and interesting to really get my attention.
** Side note to SEOMoz. I posted this under Rands first comment and somehow it showed up down here.
SMX Advanced London is a great example of an "advanced" conference that was anything but. Well said!
I liked your bit on "Don't worry about being too advanced". It is an excellent point that the audience can fill in the gaps on terminology or basic concepts later. I also appreciate your notes on delivery. I'm always worried about how to be entertaining and engaging when speaking. Those things aren't my strong suit, so its tough. I know that I don't go to conferences in place of stand-up comedy shows and am glad to hear that others don't either. Thanks for a thought provoking read.
Bold, brave, honest post. Although I've never felt that I've wasted my time and money at an "Advanced" conference, I still feel that speakers are holding back. I say holding back because I'm sure that the majority of speakers at these events leave some great information off the table. They either fear giving up a trade secret or are not confident enough to take the criticism. I loved when Ben and Rand discussed LDA at the last SEOmoz event. I assumed that there would be criticism and further research that may dispute the initial findings, but it was newer information for an industry conference.
This is also the type of post that will strike fear in those thinking about speaking for the first time at a national or international event. I'm sure some people have fantastic information to share but lack the courage and confidence to give it a try.
The last thing I want to do is put off a nervous first timer who has something new to say. As I said in my post, some of the best I've seen have been exactly that. See Sam's presentation as a case in point. The only bit that is really aimed at new speakers is to say that you don't need to hold back. Model your talks on the bold ones not the bland.
A brave post and something I've felt for a long time.
I assume that Rand’s seminar survey allowed delegates to select only one response from each category? – I’m afraid that’s not going to give you an accurate picture. The presentations of every SEO seminar I’ve attended was either so basic they would have been barely suitable for a “dummies guide” or gave the illusion of being advanced by theorising on topics and techniques without giving any practical, actionable insight (naming no names).
I estimate that I typically come away from SEO conferences with perhaps one or two useful ideas that could possibly be implemented into real world client project. At £500-£700 a pop that makes my attendance only marginally justified.
SEO seminar speakers either need to give away a few more genuine “trade secrets” or stop charging exorbitant attendance fees for what is essentially a marketing platform for their own services.
I don't remember exactly what the Seattle feedback form looked like, but in London last year, we definitely gathered that "too basic" / "too advanced" / "just right" data per speaker. It's led to us pushing even harder this year on that front.
Couldn't agree more. I was really let down at the SMX Advanced in Seattle - Your points about sharing real world examples is critical because the content of most presentations is so vague that it's difficult to apply. We are smart enough to figure it out and sure most topics can be applied in many different ways - but improving the experience by sharing examples of application will aid in retaining the content and making the possibility of applying it more of a reality. I believe having better examples with real world application is definately a step in the right direction - especially when you pay $1000 (Not including flight, hotel, and food ) for the opportunity to learn.
Unfortuantely I believe conferences tend to be "sales platforms" for agencies and I'm not talking about the sponsored messages. :-) There were many in house SEO people and businesses alike, but there are also other agencies, albeit smaller, that attend these conferences - so the message needs to be applicable to all.
Unfortunately not everyone can be a Seth Godin, saying interesting things to the public in a very enjoyable way.
I understand your point of view Will, and I too believe that when it comes to "advanced" conferences speakers would be first aware about how really advanced are the things they are going to talk about.
But, the problem is: how many times very outstanding new topics have been destroyed by a very poor performance?
You too say that speakers would have to reharse their speeches (better if with real people).
Personally I have more experience in talking in public about television stuff (that was part of my job once) than SEO (where I am more a listener or I've talked more to a not professional public, therefore basic talks)... and what did I've learnt with experience is that if you are not able to engage the public, rewamp their attention every 5 minutes, don't give them an "hilarious momentum" and if you're not able to tailor unforgettable quotable phrases for every concept you're explaining... then people will start stare at you as salt statues with their brains closed to any information you're giving them, even the most valuable.
Let's remember again the Seth Godin example. Honestly, he is intelligent, creative and a real marketing expert... but does he always say things we do not really know, does he? Obviously not. But it is his almost theatrical hability in using maieutics in his presentations that make to assist to his conferences so unforgettable.
So, if you are going to be someone who will speak a lot in conferences:
Gianluca i have organized few hi fi conferences/seminars in my past life as an event manager. Conferences so advanced that you will probably go to sleep if you are not a qualified audience. Yes i am talking about Medical and space research conferences. Here i am surrounded by PHds who have little to no knowledge of presentation/delivery, their slides suck in every possible way and yet they get thunderous applause for their research work. So i agree with 'Will' on contents of the presentation. I wont pay 2-3 grants for a stand up comedy. I will rather recommend you 'mock of the week' (comedy show) :)
I hear you. And I've assisted to that kind of conferences too.
But that doesn't mean that you don't have to find a balance.
I try to explain myself better. It is true that the first purpose of a speaker is to offer something valuable to his public. But what I know from personal experience is that interesting and valuable is not the same as saying boring and plain. The better you are in exposing your theories, ideas, conclusions also with a good "performance", the better those theories, ideas, conclusions will stand vivid in the memory for a long time.
Just that... :) I wasn't saying that speakers would start to act like Seinfeld while speaking of NOODP...
My personal experience says 'be yourself while presenting otherwise you will stumble'. Personally i don't expect speakers to amuse me once in a while during presentation (though it can be great). I also know that not everyone has good sense of humour. But then i don't approve plain, boring presentations either. What i look for is the 'content'. I expect to get some takeways from the presentation. Nothing beats contents IMO. So i will certainly won't mind hiring a speaker again who has something awesome to say but who can't create the right balance or do break dance while presenting :)
Just reflecting how this conversation of ours remind the classical Content/Design discussion about websites.
And personally, as I think that have better ROI those websites that are able to mix High Quality Content with High Quality Design, the same it is when it comes to presentations.
websites are inanimate whereas speakers are live breathing people. So there is no relationship between them. How many professors, research scholars, scientists out there who give lectures in colleges, uni, conferences and seminars and who are presentable let alone great speakers. They are still in high demand for their indepth and vast knowledge. Would you refuse lecture by Stephen Hawking because he doesn't have great personal packaging. I find it offensive to compare humans beings with websites.
Hawkings as such a fascinating way to explain things that overcomes the physical handicaps he has. And in this sense he could be a good example of my position, because I was not meaning acting so strictly :) Then... Are you sure that websites are inhanimate? Surely they are, but lastly not the people behind them (or so should it be), therefore content and design, as expression of someone idea, is "human". That is why when the ideas comes with a 'passionate' human touch (the design and the way those ideas are expressed to the public) then we are in front of websites that makes us say "Ohhhh". The same with conferencers.
I think Hawkings presents effectively largely because of his enthusiasm for the topic. The same will generally be true of people giving presentations on topics that they're passionate about.
The main problem passionate people face are rapid speech or excess nerves.. in my experience, anyway! Toastmasters is handy for coming to grips with that.
But thumbs up Will, I completely agree, content first - I could care less about your new suit, shiny teeth and well practiced body language.
Hey Himanshu. My take on what G. is saying re: human presentations and websites is that he isn't comparing a human to code, rather he is talking about the ability to communicate ideas effectively.
I agree with you that even a dry, boring speaker can interest an audience if the subject is right up their alley, but overall, a speaker that knows how to effectively communicate can totally trump a poor communicator. Likewise, a website that strikes the perfect balance of design elements and white space, usability and copy that comes alive as if the presenter is a warm and funny friend will totally trump a website that is chock full of info but poorly arranged. It's akin to poor communication.
People can be good/bad communicators. Websites can be good and bad communicators.
Ok, I have to add my two cents to this conversation. Will, thank you for acknowledging some of your previous seminars and teleconferences have not been up to par. While I can’t speak on the level of international conferences I think it’s important to include the varying degree of capability from attendees. In my mind there are three levels in any of these audiences.
First is the Newbie. Several years ago when I wanted to get into the SEO business I attend a conference in New York and learned lots. Despite the name you give to a conference “advanced”, “pro” there will always be a percentage of newbie in the crowd.
Next is the “feet wet” attendee. These are individuals who are dabbling in the Art of SEO. They are beginning to apply the core concepts and getting some results. Still no matter how advanced you make the conference these guys still show up.
Now the third group…the experts. These are seasoned professionals with good track records, proven methodology, and well paying clients eager for their services. This group is also unfortunately…Jaded! At the end of the day SEO is not Rocket Science. A well educated individual with their ear to the ground will undoubtedly be bored by some presentations. However, these same individuals several years back were most likely amazed at the wealth of knowledge provided at those same conferences. This group attends with less and less frequency.
Now that I’ve broken the audience down into segments let’s deal with the presenters. There are two types of presenters: Circuit and Advertisers. Either they have something to sell the audience like services and software or they present at every single conference everywhere in the world. Why are these two groups the only ones presenting? To paraphrase John Stewart “the rest of us are busy”.
Why am I writing this when I normally stay quiet? Because I don’t like open ended complaining that doesn’t include a strategy for improvement. And saying everyone else sucks come to my conference in England doesn’t float the boat with me either.
So let me give you the same suggestion I gave to the staff running a certain conference in NY right now. Ready?
Selective Audience
That’s right. I’m not talking about thousands of people from all skill levels attending a conference. I’m talking about a pre-qualified limited audience. Sound too Harvard Elitist? It is! Make a conference for fifty attendees who have to meet specific criteria in order to qualify for a ticket. I guarantee you’ll have people screaming at you from today till tomorrow crying why they didn’t make the list. But if it’s that top-notch information those 50 people will absolutely attend. Oh and don’t film it. I don’t attend the Pro conference cause it’s cheaper for me to watch in the luxury of my own home.
Cheers!
Although I haven't been to an SEO Conference before, I checkout SMX and subscribe to SES - both of which seem to be big, feature lots of advertisers and lots of 'SEO 101', 'Keyword research 101' type presentations. Looking forward to PRO Seminar in October though; the lineup looks awesome!
I think your right about presenting new stuff to a new audience. There's a different kinda feel when everything a speaker, teachers or even a friend says is completely revolutionary and new to you...
On the topic of Seth Godin's presentation - what I like is how he reframes simple "common sense" marketing principles (be unique vs. purple cow) and then uses a mix of stories, visual demo's and questions to keep the pace of the presentation going. Would love to hear him speak live!
And regarding SEO 101 stuff, well someone's got to do it! Maybe that'd be a good place to start learning to present, especially if you've got something new to add.
The best play where to learn speaking to a public is to on local enviroment and to a local business audit. They are there because want to be finally convinced that what they are thinking to invest in, SEO, is worth the investment. It's the most mixed up public possible:
If you succeed with a public like that than you can start thinking that maybe you can maybe apply for an SEO to SEOs conference (always if you have something worth to said).
Here we talk about presentations... but let's try to see the problem from the other side: the public.
How many are ready to accept everything is said in a presentation just because it is done by a "respected" speaker?
Did anyone feel like: "Hey, does anybody seeing that he is saying nothing than words"?
Totally agree Will, there are far too many conferences where I don't learn anything, and the majority of the value for me ends up in being the social side of the conference, which in many ways can't be underestimated - meeting and speaking to your peers in the industry is incredibly useful.
I've also found that a lot of speakers recycle the same talk over and over again throughout the course of the year, which can make going to more than one conference a year feel a like a waste of time and money. I think that clear outlines of what speakers are going to be talking about and what actions people can expect from the talks would really help in improving conferences.
The best presentations I've seen are the ones where the speaker will actually show you stuff they're working on. Just talking about it, putting up a few bullets about it, is never quite adequate - these are the talks where the room will start to drop off after 10 or 15 minutes. If you can give people some insight into your methods and practices, they will always be interested.
Having never actually been to an SEO conference myself, I don't have a personal experience on that yet. But it does seem as though a lot of people have complained about this same issue as well, so that means there's a lot of truth in it. Note to self, be very particular about the first SEO conference I go for!
I definitely hope to give a 'talk' some day as well and I know I won't want it to be said that I just blabbed my way through it! So this is something to note, not just for current speakers but future speakers like myself. Thanks for the tips! I especially like the idea of not being afraid to go too techy on your audience. I guess that's why you should also do your research about your audience, and not only research on the presentation alone...
Good stuff.
It`s absolutely true that interesting content makes the world of difference in a presentation. Being talked at is one method of presenting and being presented to is something completely different. It should inspire you, regardless of the conference and what is being shown. It should be a mix of clear, concise and relevant information and include slides or visuals if possible but obviously not too much unless you want half the room thinking they dreamt your presentation. I think it`s 50-50 on presentation and visuals. Engaging with the audience will ensure they are taking it in. Being relatively new to SEO I know that with the amount of information to be learnt it helps if you are being tutored or guided by someone who is clear and who can explain things in plain english. When moving to advanced topics obviously you would expect more in-depth content but the presentation side of it should still be the same, whether it is basic or advanced.
Well you can't please all the people all the time. As SEO's we are all at varying levels of knowledge and sometimes people surprise themselves at how advanced they really are.
I often find myself a little bored at some conferences where I am not learning anything new at some of the presentations. But I'm easily pleased in reality. If I come away with a single piece of new knowledge that I can action and beneft from, them I'm a happy bunny.
And as for public speaking, it's one of my terrors. I'm a more than confident person but standing infront of a packed room and publically speaking, not for me. Thats why even if I come away with nothing new, I still give respect to the speaker for having the balls to stand there and talk.
It's a hard skill to master. So all in all an excellent article. Enjoyed the reading.
Refreshingly direct and honest post Will. Takes a bit of nerve to admit publicly that your earlier talks fit the same category of those you were criticizing. Thumbs up.
Great post. I think a lot of the time people open up Powerpoint and think the job is to cram as much info into the space as possible, which makes people switch off. I've only had to do one or two presentations myself (wayyyy back in uni) and did exactly this - it was terrible.
Also I think when it comes to number of slides, less is more (usually). I'd much rather sit through a short 3-4 slide presentation and learn a little nugget of useful info, than sit through a boring 15 minute one and learn nothing.
Great post - can't count the number of times that I've felt 'less than enthused' about being trapped in an audience during a presentation. I've done a few presentations myself on a variety of topics, and to diverse audiences; am currently enrolled in a course at Michigan State University called the New Media Driver's License ( https://www.newmediadl.com ) as a way to expand my SEO knowledge, presentation skills, and generally learn!!!
Thanks!
Excellent post! This is one of those topics that has needed to be talked about- and in more than just this post too. As conferences evolve (unconference, ignite/short times, etc) so too do speakers have to pair their exhaled CO2 with Value ions- otherwise it's just hot air. Well said!
I'm a firm believer that you go to conferences to network, with the expectation of only 1 or 2 "ahh haa" new learning moments.
Will, the heat is on! Big words before the ProSEO seminar in London. We'll be there listening (and scrutinizing) your every word! :)
Good post, I think this is why I find conferences only valid for networking and very rare do you get new information from them, thats why they are catered towards business people who do not research these trends, have contacts with advanced knowledge to share or read blogs daily. Most of the presentations I have seen at the ones in Australia are very basic, even the advanced ones are not great. I find the same thing with some Social Media conferences I have been to. I think I need to travel overseas for good quality SES presentations.
Nice timely post here. I'm actually considering attending my first SEO conference coming up here in Ft. lauderdale next month - really hoping to win those BlueGlass tickets ;) I have been working in the web industry since 1997. I have worked in many facets including design, development, account management and most recently, over the last several years, SEO. I have never attended any conferences. Everything i have learned was online (and in the early days books for those that remember when we used to print on dead trees). I never understood all the hubbub about conferences (other than the party aspect) I could never justify the expense from an educational perspective. I am glad you have clarified much of what i suspected.
However now that my duties require more networking, i do see the added value and realize that this is an area that i should no longer ignore. Who knows maybe i will learn something while i am at it.
Now if I can just win those tickets it will make it easier to take those two days off.
Here is the big question....why are some presentations not held in a bar? I guarantee you it would be the best.
The timing of this post couldn't be any better.(Just deplaning after the search and social woot! In Kauai hawaii.)
"Cost" is the first thing that strikes my mind whenever i think of a seo conference. If you don't reside anywhere near the conference venue then expect to shed up to $5000 (or more if you are coming from another part of the world) for attending a seo conference. This includes your transportation, hotel, food and the fees for attending the conference. If you are at an advanced stage of seo like me chances are very high that you will get a negative ROI from your conference. What you can possibly present to me that will help me in recovering my $5000 worth of investment and my priceless time. There is so much free information on seo out there that even if you just go through them it will keep you busy for the next several months and you can increase your ROI exponentially. People rant about the benefits of networking. Well i don't want to do networking which cost me an arm and a leg. There are other cheaper ways of networking like social media or informal meet ups. I also find it ridiculous that people pay fees to dine with branded SEOs. Any seo who charge such fees certainly think high of himself and i think little of him. If next time you see me in any seo conference, you better believe that it is the sponsored one. Cos i am not going to pay a dime from my own pocket. This is my honest opinion about the seo conferences.
Even though I do not completely agree with everything you says (for instance about networking, being conferences sometimes the ultimate place where to meet with people from different countries), I agree about the price gap, that can be a great obstacle especially for small SEO or one man agency people.
price gap is not the great but the biggest obstacle these days esp. in the time of recession. It is not really about big or small SEO or who can afford it. It is about personal ROI and branding.
Big SEOs (especially SEOs companies) has to attend conferences for branding too, and sometimes their ROI is that one more than actually learning something new or revolutionary...
Small SEOs, who are the ones that possibly are looking for those conferences especially for learning and on a second hand for networking, in that sense are the most in trouble for the high price of conferences like SMX, PubCon... and the ancillary costs (travel, hotels, eating...) and the ones who must find ROI in the quality of the presentations and in how much they really helps better their knowledge.
I think all companies irrespective of their size and finances should calculate their ROI (in terms of branding and takeways) from these conferences (unless they are attending them just for a laugh). And i disagree that all big SEOs should attend such conferences. As i said before it is more about personal branding than anything else. It is just a smarter way of advertising your business than through newspaper ads or other traditional forms of marketing. It has the implied endorsement effect. "Oh he speaks at seo conferences, he must be good".
I think you might be overestimating costs. Unless it's a 4 day conference in New York, prices don't really approach $5,000. For example, if you booked a 2 day conference in Seattle (like Third Door Media's "SMX Advanced" or SEOmoz's "PRO Training"), you'd pay:
Taking the highest prices of all of these, it's still under $3K domestic and just over $4K international. That's not to say the price isn't high, but for most consulting firms, it's paid for by a single new piece of business and for an in-house SEO, if you can increase traffic/conversions just a little, you've covered the costs.
Mmm... You are right... but for a one man agency it is still an high cost especially at the beginning of his/her business adventure, at least to attend overseas conferences. That is why I'm glad that Europe is hosting great conferences as the Pro Training Days.
An alternative is the possibility to attend conferences via video streaming, but it is not something widely implemented. Or reserve yourself a time to follow liveblogging (as Lisa Barone one these days for SMX NY) and live twitter microblogging (as the ones of Fabio "The Master" Ricotta in the SEOmoz Pro Training).
Well i said up to $5000. If you are coming from Australia or Hong Kong it may easily exceed the $5000 mark. Moreover the cost really depends upon your lifestyle and living standards. If you travel only business class and stay in a £500/night hotel, then expect to pay even more. And i completely forgot to mention how these exorbitant fees prohibits marketers from Asia, Africa and south america to participate in such events. We need to look for most cost efficient ways to organize such events. And i am strongly in favour of organizing more e-events which eliminates major part of the conference fees i.e. the venue. I think rising air fares will sooner or later make seo conferences almost inaccessible for startups/small/mid sized businesses even in the western world.
While I'm in the minority of those that have never been to an SEO conference, I have been to many conferences for the variety of trades I've been involved in throughout my life. And the absolute biggest takeaway from every single one was the personal relationships I either created or strengthened.
Some day I will go to an SEO conference (SEOmoz PRO most likely) and the number 1 reason for me will be the networking. Knowledge learned will come in second.
Hi Will,
Great post, brave coming from your position! I think it's great that you as a speaker/organiser feels such a responsibility to inform and educate. Surely this should be the case for everyone who speaks or organises such an event?
With a background in teaching, I know that the best information always comes from the one's who care about what they are doing and feel a responsibility to pass on knowledge; not just go through the motions.
Jon
Wow I just did a presentation tomorrow at an event - and guilty of all of things you mention. For the me the problem was, that I get invited to speak on SEO issues, but I don't really have a time to prepare as I am busy running the company. Also when you been doing it for awhile you kind of assume that people know the basics - but what's basic for you, might me too advanced for them. Thank you for the post, will motivate me to present better!
totally agree, I think some speakers think they have to perform rather than deliver as you mentioned. The worst are the cliches...I want to hear new ideas or tips and I start to naturally switch off after 20 minutes.
I utterly agree here, after years of going to them I always feel that very little is actually said that I didn't already know - and the quality of the speakers can sometimes be abysmal, I think the problem is that more often than not it really is trying to aim at everyone, advanced and starting out - I went with my team to one that we had got discounted tickets for, and despite them being in SEO for a relatively short time, they all knew more than some of the presenters (they asked some questions about mico content and got blank looks with random answers about a different topic, when it was a presentation about content).
I have however come out of some presentations 'buzzing', one thing I have always loved is the Omniture Summits - yes, they are more razzle than content, but somehow they mix it all in with whats coming next...
For those thinking of speaking at conferences, don't worry - but choose a topic that you are comfortable with, and don't try to pitch it at everyone, aim at a certain level!
I think that audience plays a big role. I am not sure about that but I suspect that in some conferences speakers and presenters hope to get some business for their company. That's why content is about basics of SEO.
Last conference I have been to just confirmed that I already know something about SEO. I must say that I was really excited that I talked to Danny from SEOmoz which really made the whole conference very valuable.
Will, I think your points are all valid, but I wonder if a major part of the problem isn't the numbers involved. These conferences get larger every year and finding a level of content that meets thousands of people's unique needs is a major challenge. I wonder how many truly "advanced" people are at these conferences as a percentage of total attendance.
I used Prezi.com for the last couple of presentations I did... and got REALLY good feedback afterwards - anyone else using it?
I blogged about it as well >
https://blog.k-international.com/finding-an-alternative-to-powerpoint/
One huge step away from Suckville - frequently overlooked by the less aesthetically inclined - is to stop using PowerPoint.
Yes, presentation makes a huge difference - and yes, I can tell if you're using PowerPoint.
:)
An evaluation RIGHT after the presentation will be great to increase quality of future talks. I did a web 3.0 2 day seminar in NY last year, as it´s definetely relevant for our site European Domain Centre, however the outcome of 2 days of quality speakers is actually minimal thinking of it. You remember the entertaining preentations, but not really what can be implemented right away. I prefer webinars any time than taking out days of my calendar, and here it could easily be implemented both evaluations and Q&A.
Thanks for a stimulating post. I am a novice when it comes to SEO but I am a presentation skills trainer and coach and a member of the Professional Speaking Association here in the UK.
Its such a shame when a presenter has good content but ruins it with a dull dry and boring delivery. I agree that conference organizers have a responsibility to choose their speakers based on both expertise and delivery style. I don't know much about the SEO conference circuit but I wonder if some if not most of the speakers are speaking for free and therefore the organizers feel they cannot critique their speakers presentations as they are not paying them? As well as asking for the slides up front I would expect that speakers produce a showreel with video of them presenting even if its just to a small audience.
As an existing or would be conference speaker you should also be taking responsibility for continuously improving your speaking skills. Consider getting training or coaching, ask your peers to critique you, join toastmasters international or your National Speakers Association.
GavinMeikleThe Presentation Doctorwww.inter-activ.co.uk