Although I write this before the event is complete, my part in presenting is. For those who are learning to present more in public (like me), I write this with some lessons learned for me and for anyone else interested. (For a summary of all sessions at the event, check out http://www.winnipegcodecamp.com )

First, do not trust your computer. It’s a tool and tools break down. Create a fallback plan. This is the 3rd time I have presented on ASP.NET MVC and it’s also the 3rd time that my laptop has died shortly beforehand. At least this time I had several days to recreate everything. I think I did OK, but not as well as I could have. Instead of practicing my presentation I had to begin over again. So as a fallback – always save your work on a second drive or USB key. (I had done 2 other presentations for DevTeach and had completed those mostly so have those backed up but this one I had not moved to my backup drive.)

Second, get some sleep. Because of my tool failure and recovery plan, I got only 3 hours sleep. I also presented at 9 AM. Put those both together and we have a problem. Coffee helps but only in the short term; you still need sleep.

Third, don’t drink the night before. I only had one drink so I was fine. A colleague’s statement holds true, however: “I should NOT have played that much beer pong the night before I was to present.” I have heard various statements in regards to various types of drinks the night before presenting but also quantity which can lead to some serious hangover sessions (“Someone said my presentation this morning was pretty dry… not as dry as my mouth!”). Although I had one drink to calm some nerves, I only had the one and that helped. (OK, there was a shot as well but China White’s don’t count.)

Those are some base learnings I am taking away from here. The last 2 times I have done some public speaking have been amazing learning experiences and I take that information with me to make DevTeach an amazing event.