Secrets Passed on from Presenting at Leading Global Conference, SXSW
It’s one of the world’s leading global creative conferences, #SXSW. This is the secret of what I learned being invited as a speaker that could change your next presentation.
Firstly, a massive doff cap to London which has just wound up its first SXSW. It’s a mega conference that attracts 75,000 attendees and 5000 speakers from 100 different countries. That’s the figures for the US version, where I was invited to speak.
1. Arrive well before Attendees O’clock. I mark out the stage, and get acquainted early with audience members.
2. Be kind and engaging to tech crews, host and support staff. A rule I picked up as a national TV reporter holding the tripod for the camera operator.
3. The Exchange Ethos. Worth remembering it’s not about me. I’m not a celeb. So the audiences is less interested in my accomplishments, rather what I’m offering that they can own.
4. That said I’ll make a connection through an intro as well as a proxy.
4 . Humour sells, as does self deprecation. ie not setting bar high. See the last question in this short clip.
5. Do my homework. I go in with a mixture of slides and props. The slides prompt the conversation. My props included a super 8mm camera — an artefact of intrigue that delivers lush images.
6. I Imagine my pressie is a film. The first few minutes you want to be pulled in emotionally, then like a trojan horse you can deliver facts wrapped in stories.
7. The Sourcing Talk Game. Very little of what we say is original. It has antecedents which we build our knowledge on. So during my talk, I’ll support it with credible sources the audience can check out.
8. Be generous with your time. I stayed on to engage with as many people as possible (see pic) and interviewed audience members for reaction.
🙏🏿🙏🏿
9. Follow up on your connects. Like I said in my last post, I found new friends in Steve Garfield — a multi-hyphenate and author of Be Seen (whose pics I’ve sourced 🤩 ) C.C. Chapman (whose pics I’ve used 🤩 ) and Baratunde Thurston 🙏🏿.
10. SXSW becomes a bridge to new work. I’d do Obama’s 100 Days film and loads afterwards.
😊 BBC blogs trailed my talk with
“If you’re already picking your panels for the SXSW Interactive 09 festival and your key criterion is a BBC connection, then David Dunkley Gyimah, formerly of this parish, is talking video journalism: ‘ex-BBC David talks technique, workflow, and swift turnaround factual feature-making’.
😇 Uber filmmaker Adam Westbrook wrote:
Here’s VJ pioneer David Dunkley-Gyimah speaking at this year’s SxSW event in the US. Video journalism needs a more cinematic- hightened visual base.”
Next time I hope to team up with my friend Emmy winner Gallego Abellan, Raul because something new is in the air, Cinema Journalism
Thx to all for the journey. Onwards!
