Speak Up - Speaking mentorship
speakup.io
speakup.io
The problem is definitely out there, and my best wishes to this project. You may also want to address the burden of proof for speaker qualification.
When picking speakers, we typically look for three things: 1. Reach - what cool things have they done that'll make them interesting? 2. Popularity - how well known are they? 3. I they have reach and no popularity, will they be able to express what they've done in a way students will find awesome? Alexis Ohanian came to speak in CUTC 2011, and he was awesome, for example (although some would argue he was pretty famous too).
For #3, maybe something in terms of videos for each user in a centralized location
* videos of speaking
* links to existing decks
* feedback on talks from twitter, speakerrate, etc.
If we couldn't get any of that I sometimes asked for a few minutes of video of them just pitching their talk idea. I know other stages at Agile 2012 did that to. The "video snippet" idea is one I've seen a few places. The folk who organise IxDA's Interaction conference have done it the last few years for example.
Also, I wasn't don't fleshing out the site, so it's a bit raw still :)
I'm doing a 20 minute talk at RSA 2013 (traveling across borders with laptops/other devices), and running the 15-20 minute talks at BSidesLV 2013, so I'm trying to put together the resources for that.
It is tempting to also try to crack the 10 minute YC format (which I think is useful in other contexts as well -- maybe just the transition from elevator pitch into a breakout conversation?).
I haven't found any good advice, books, etc. on this. I've been watching TED talks, which are sometimes compelling, but fail to communicate technical content to a knowledgeable (if out of the direct field) audience, which is the target IMO. Someone with a decent engineering or science undergrad education, 5-10 years out, with a couple years of work experience, should be able to fully understand.
Otherwise your local Toastmaster group is going to be a much more effective way to improve speaking skills.
That's where the team comes in - how to structure a successful talk, how to submit it to a conference or user group, how to get financial aid to attend. Past talks which were successful, how to find local user groups to present to. Google hangouts with mentors (thing, YC office hours) to dry run your proposal.
There's a lot of Good that a team of experience hackers, presenters, conference organizers and outreach groups can do. We have all the tools we need, now we just need to centralize the talent and willingness to teach.
Call for proposal deadlines, which conferences make sense, which don't. Topic reviews, submission reviews, financial aid, outreach, connecting. Might as well add it to the site metadata.
90% of the battle can be won by becoming good at recording videos (without 101 takes), doing live webinars, or even setting up a regular YouTube channel. New speakers often battle with the responsibility of speaking and being the target of multiple people's attention for a solid block of time. These battles can be fought virtually. (I'm a conference chair and have seen these battles fought and won.)
There'll still be work to do once one gets up on a stage or speaks "for real" but if one can get over 90% of the fear and do a lot of the work virtually, it could be a big win, especially for people who are initially too hesitant to attend something like a Toastmasters group. Virtual pep talks can work to a point, much like self help tapes.
If we can get women, men - everyone, over that 90% hump and get them into the CFPs and systems for conferences and coach them through it all, it's a net win
This is probably accurate, but speaking skills are only part of presentation skills. A lot of what this group will help with is structuring proposals, structuring the actual presentation, working with talk reviewers, understanding CFPs, finding topics, finding audiences for topics, etc.
The mailing list can't help you with your enunciation, but it can help you turn a one paragraph thought into a structured outline.
I think you'll be surprised.
A hurdle many speakers have to get over is to be able to listen to what you're actually saying rather than what you think you're saying. Video is a great trick for that.
I very nice hack I learned from @johannakoll was to do my sessions to Silverback (http://silverbackapp.com/) or some other screen + webcam recording device. Being able to watch yourself speak with your slides is a hugely useful tool to spot problems and improve. It allows you to see yourself as your audience sees you.