I am still determining if this is normal, but I prefer to present in person rather than virtually. Part of the reason is that I have little in the way of a recording setup besides the camera that sits on top of one of my monitors. I do not use the laptop camera because it sits off to the side with the lid closed. That way, I can switch between computers. I know some people have a 1080p monitor for presenting, so sharing the screen is better for the attendees. Presenting virtually does introduce the issue of trying to appear on screen but have the slide deck visible and legible.
Only after I attended SQLBits in England did I have a separate camera for presentations. While talking with Heidi Hasting (Sessionize), she mentioned that I could speak to user groups in places like Australia if I could present virtually. I asked her what camera she used and purchased a Logitech Brio once I returned from SQLBits. This post is not about SQLBits, but it made me appreciate how many people (including Heidi) offered advice and motivation.
My Power BI study group, which I participate in every Saturday (when I am not at a conference), has also helped me become comfortable being on camera.
I heard that the Austin Texas Power BI and Fabric User Group was looking for speakers, so I contacted the organizer, Mike Ford.
I use a navigation scheme in my presentations, which I learned from storytelling with data. The purpose is to illustrate what I will cover and show where we are during the presentation. For Austin, I decided to create one with a Barbecue smoker. I own Aaron Franklin’s book titled Franklin Barbecue, and his restaurant is one of the things I associate Austin with. I try not to spend too much time creating the navigation scheme and developing it all in PowerPoint using icons. For the smoker, I had to cut together a BBQ smoker with smoke from another image. I made the smoke progress with each section we were in by enlarging the smoke.
I presented my session Power Up Your Fabric Development with DAX Studio and Tabular Editor on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, and it went well. Here is the event on Meetup for my session. I recommend checking out the group since they have upcoming sessions, and you can view past sessions on YouTube. One thing that I like is that they give away training courses each month.
This session did not have coffee since it was held in the evening. When we are home, we make drip coffee, hopefully with coffee beans that we picked up somewhere special or were given as a gift.
Presenting virtually unlocks a set of user groups that need speakers without the cost of travel. It allows me to supplement my speaking to in-person groups. There are great communities out there that are passionate about data and learning. It is still remarkable that you can be a part of it while being 800 miles away. Traveling to England and participating in a fantastic conference filled with great people had an effect I could not have foreseen.
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