Ask HN: How to prepare a talk for developer conference
How to find an interesting topic about which we can speak at the conference or how to prepare a talk just in general for the conference
Personally I make flashcards - sometimes on paper, often in PowerPoint. I make a card for every major point (in no order) that i want to cover. Then I flesh those out with ancillary slides. Then I order them to make a narrative.
From there I refine it, add more, reorder, remove some, until I can do the presentation from start to end and there are no jarring jumps or omissions.
Obviously this is a faster process for subjects I know well, and where I have a specific point to make.
It's worth pointing out that it is harder to make a short presentation than a long one. Making a short one takes discipline (cut out the non-essential) and clarity (make your point clearly and with sufficient supporting material.)
Most often it happens when I notice that something I take for granted seems to be less-well understood, or perhaps misunderstood, by the community I am talking to.
Ideally I try to focus on a take-away, something people can go home and immediately implement or apply.
Obviously the conference itself matters - both in topic, but also projected audience. The topic should take people from where they are to somewhere new - and clearly to do that you need to understand where they are, and their goals.
Personally I seldom (ever?) present on a topic I'm unfamiliar with, so I don't "research from scratch" just for a presentation. [1]
I will research though some finer points just to check that what I "know" is accurate and up to date. Perhaps more along the lines of fact-checking than research.
[1] a colleague once had 2 weeks notice to do a 4 hour training session about a subject he didn't know to replace a presenter who got denied entry by border control. That was very stressful for him, but he delivered well...