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Attended one of the best meetups ever. To give you an idea how awesome it was..

Speaker took the first ~20 minutes introducing himself.
His intro card deck kept referring to himself in the third person (he is the only employee in consulting 'company'). Ex. "Mr. Smith began his humble career .."

The powerpoint presentation began with him clicking each page, not executing the slideshow (ex. pressing F5).
Finally someone asked "Can you make slide bigger?"

S:"You can't read that?..um..sure...I guess .."
Starts fumbling around the zoom ...
Dev: "No, can you start the slideshow?"
S: "I don't know what you mean...there...I zoomed it, is that better? Now I can't see my notes..just sec.."
<fumbles again with the zoom>
Dev: "No, not zoom, start the slide show, press F5"
S: "Oh...you want me to F5 it...OK..."
<he *clicks* the slide show button>

Finally getting into code, trying to get out of powerpoint ...
S: "How do I get out of this fullscreen?.."
Dev: "Hit escape"
S:"No..um.."
<keeps trying to click on 'something'>
S:"I see visual studio, but its not on the big screen... "
<keeps click on 'something', no one is sure whats going on>
Dev: "Hit Escape to stop the slideshow"
<finally hits escape, then able to put Visual Studio on the big screen>
S: "Ahh...there, I figured it out."

Speaker had no end of making wild/random statements like:
".Net Core is the future of Microsoft, if you're using .Net 4.5...forget it, its not even supported anymore."
"When I was at Microsoft Build, I asked them why not put all the required .Net assemblies in one directory. Looks like with .Net Core, they listened to me" (he was serious)
"I don't use SQL Server Mgmt Studio. Its free and it sucks. I use <insert a very expensive SSMS clone>, its great, you guys should check it out", then proceeds to struggle to open a query window to write some SQL.
"When you use .Net Core and EntityFramework, you have to write your own stored procedures. If a developer can't write stored procedures, he shouldn't be in this business."

I was on the edge of my seat, hungry for the next crazy bat-shit thing to come out of his mouth. He did not disappoint. BEST MEETUP EVER!

Comments
  • 13
    hey see it positive, because thats a very negative example for how you don't want to end 😉
  • 11
    What if he is just an incredible actor
  • 6
    Perfect example of how not to do it! 😂
  • 4
    If you plan to speak at an event, rehearse and film your talk. Then watch the video. It's fucking confronting and awful to see your bad posture and hear yourself insecurely stuttering through unfunny jokes, but it's the best way to become a better speaker.
  • 1
    @bittersweet that's a torture method.
  • 0
    @electrineer It's worse to subject others to a boring talk, and then hear rumors afterwards that you were awful.

    Better to face the facts up front and train yourself, even a single recorded & rewatched rehearsal will lead to significant improvements.
  • 0
    @bittersweet maybe torture is an effective teaching method after all
  • 2
    @electrineer People underestimate the value of discomfort.

    When a situation is suboptimal, it's important to acknowledge that feeling awkward, ashamed and uncomfortable is your brain telling you: "Get your fucking shit together".

    Being comfortable is like a short-term drug you build tolerance for. Binging Netflix in bed feels good for a few hours, but eventually will make you depressed if you sink too deeply in your pillows. Getting good at something will always come with moments of pain and confrontation, but bring greater fulfillment in the long term.

    Effort beats ease!
  • 1
    @bittersweet you'd make a great mentor figure man! Really.
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