Useful resources for conference speakers

If you’re looking for more help to deliver a better talk, check out any of these tools, books, and sites. There is help on every conceivable area if you’re willing to look.

General advice for public speakers

• Resonate—Nancy Duarte’s book on creating persuasive presentations.
• Confessions of a Public Speaker—Scott Berkun’s practical guide to speaking.
• Speak With No Fear—Mike Acker’s helpful guide for anyone feeling the nerves.

Pitching your talk

• Conference Proposals that Don’t Suck
• How to write a successful conference proposal
• The Perfect Pitch: How Speakers Are Selected
• How to Write a Good Bio

Creating a strong slide deck

• Slide:ology—Another excellent Duarte book.
• PresentationZen—Garr Reynolds’ website and book packed full of useful advice.
• The Non-Designer’s Presentation Book—Harder to find, but any of Robin Williams’ (not that one) design books are super useful for design basics.
• The Art of Presentation—Tom Nixon’s book is worth a look of you’re going full on into presentation life.

Help with writing a talk

• Speechwriting 101
• If You Want to Write a Great Speech, Here’s How to Do It
• 10 Keys To Writing A Speech
• Write Like You Talk

Getting value from conferences

• How To Maximize the Value of Your Next Conference and Stop Wasting Your Time
• 34 Ways to Get The Most From a Conference
• Multiplying the value of conference attendance

Tools and resources

• Canva has many premade slide layouts, and other formats you could adapt
• Pixabay, Unsplash, and Pexels for decent free images
• 50 Free Resources For Presentation Design
• Pitch and note&point have galleries of well designed decks