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To prepare my talk for MountainWest RubyConf 2010 I started with an improv recording using Screencast on my Mac Mini.

The results were horrible.

I then wrote out some notes and key points, and did another recording. It was less horrible.

I did it one more time. It was good enough.

Screencast has a feature where you can add graphics to your recording and indicate for how long it should be displayed. I created my starting slide, making it the same size as the recorded screen. (Actually, I first set the screen size to the intended size of my slides.)

I then moved through my recording, and whenever it seemed time for a new slide, I made it and inserted it into the screencast. In some places I added place-holder slides to indicate that a code demo would occur.

I ended up with a pre-recording of my talk, and the corresponding slide deck. The audio was somewhere between half and three-quarters assed, and was not something could comfortably use as a reference for the final talk, though it worked just fine for driving the slides. had I spent more time on the audio content I could have watched my own talk as preparation for actually giving it. This sorted of repetition is quite helpful. While at MWRC I spent time tweaking my talk and going over the content. When I give a presentation I do not like to read off notes, and I don’t want to read off the screen, either. I try to have the key information in my head, and enough in place so that I know what I need to cover and when. Rehearsing is a good way to do that, as is going over detailed notes, Watching your own talk (in some “studio” version) seems that it would also help drill the content into your head. You can load your talk onto your phone and watch it while waiting at the airport or sitting on the plane.