Rochester Security Summit 2008 - Speaker Guidelines

The Rochester Security Summit is a multi-track event, with a diverse audience.  These guidelines will help speakers ensure participants get the maximum value from the presentations and will help ensure the success of the Summit.

• Design your presentation to fit in the allotted time, ensuring that some time is reserved for questions and answers at the end. Typically you should plan on at least ten minutes of Q&A for each presentation block of time.
• Make your message interesting!  Include information in a variety of types, styles and sources.  Including tables, charts and descriptive graphics, in addition to the typical bullets, will help keep the audience interested in the message you are delivering.  Anecdotes that illustrate the points being made can be useful as well.
• Demos are particularly appealing, especially for a technical audience.  Please test your demos in advance with the exact infrastructure you'll be using during the presentation. Usually, a projector and a microphone are provided to speakers: if you need special arrangements (Internet connection, projecting multiple sources, whiteboard, ...), please be sure to contact the Security Summit Committee in advance.
• Define all terms and acronyms that are not well known to the average person.  Participants in the Security Summit come from a variety of industries and have diverse backgrounds, so you should try to make the presentation understandable and meaningful to the entire audience as much as possible. 
• Include commonly known facts only if they are necessary to the continuity or flow of the presentation or add something of value.  
• Don't make your presentation a sales pitch!  The participants are expecting you to provide them with facts and objective opinions, not convince them to buy specific products or services. 
• Deliver value to the participants.  Design your content to leave participants better informed and help them make better decisions in their professional or personal lives - including a list of recommendations, actions or issues to consider will provide immediate takeaway value.  
• Take your topic to the next level.  After laying in a foundation to level set the audience, feel free to explore additional aspects of your topic, including divergent opinions and controversial views.  
• Keep all content, displayed or spoken, appropriate.  The Security Summit will have a very diverse audience and content should not include jokes, clichés, language, or terminology that may offend members of any nationality, ethnicity or other group. 
• The Security Summit Committee is here to help you - contact them if you have any questions about the Summit, need some assistance or want to discuss your presentation.

Questions?  Contact us at present2008@rochestersecurity.org.