I never thank my audience for being there, not in the beginning, not in the end. Reason I do that is because of what’s called the laws of primacy and recency which refer to the fact that afterwards an audience will best remember what it first heard (primacy) and what it last heard (recency). Thanking them is not what they should remember.

https://remotepossibilities.wordpress.com/2017/06/30/toastmasters-why-not-thank-audience/

Do or do not; there is not try (“In this session; i’ll try to…”) I hope to This hopefully entertaining talk This talk aims to

Too long abstract Too short abstract

If you have a vague abstract, send concrete notes to the organizers

What problem are you solving?! Talking about tech directly is not the flex you think it is Also, don’t hammer in a “what, you don’t know X? Are you even professional?”

“How did I improve the loading of our application by hundreds of percent?” -> I don’t care

Sometimes, you get a lower rating for a perfect abstract:

  • Doesn’t match the conference
  • Too similar to last year
  • You submitted multiple talks, and we think was the one that matched the least.

Make sure you don’t submit a session for deprecated software Make sure you list it in the correct track!

  • Do or do not, there is no try: people use soft language which minimizes their talk: “i hope to …”, “this hopefully useful talk”, “this talk aims to”
  • Length: some abstracts are too long, some too short
  • Why join the session: What is the problem you are solving? Drag in the audience, don’t just say: “This tech is good”
  • Don’t be vague: Some people like to draw in an audience with a vague abstract. Sometimes works, but if you do, at least put in a note to the organizers to explain what you are actually going to talk about
  • Spelling and Grammar": there are enough tools to spellcheck, it just shows that you didn’t put in a lot of effort in creating your abstract
  • Be kind: Realize that there are people on the other side of the review proces. Drop a nice note and acknowledge that they are putting in a lot of effort reading all the abstract.