These materials will enable anyone familiar with the Ignite format to teach the format to others. If you are not familiar with the Ignite format, head over to http://ignitetalks.io to learn more.
Ignite is a great tool to help you focus your thoughts into a concise message. It is an ideal framework for someone who is unaccustomed to public speaking or who is just learning how to present material for others.
These materials have been crafted using the following principles:
- Good Talks Are Built By Iterating;
- Constraints Drive Creativity;
- Perfect Is The Enemy Of Done;
- Class Is A Safe Space;
Students will iterate over their talk several times over the course of the class. Students pair up multiple times during the class and give the current version of their talks, taking independent work time in between iterations to improve their content. These paired iterations and presentations are crucial to students becoming comfortable with their content and their talk.
Ignite itself is an exercise in working within constraints. You have to have a fixed number of slides. Those slides must auto-advance on a fixed schedule. These materials continue the theme of constraints by fixing a schedule that will likely feel aggressive to the students. Adhering as closely to the schedule as possible will help to encourage students through the process of iterating over their talks.
The purpose of the class is to learn how to put together an Ignite talk, not to create a "Perfect" Ignite talk. This is the reason so little time is spent on choosing a topic. Remind the students that it's OK to give an imperfect talk, and that they may later choose to improve their talk, or use the skills they have learned to put together a better talk on another subject. cf. (The Cult Of Done Manifesto)[http://www.manifestoproject.it/bre-pettis-and-kio-stark/]
Not all students will be at the same level of comfort when it comes to speaking in front of others. Your job as teacher is to protect the safety of the space. Focus feedback on what will improve the talk, and shut down any behavior that could alienate other students.
The class schedule provided is for a Four Hour class. Ideal class size is between eight and twelve. Fewer than four will be challenging, and more than 16 will mean adding significant time at the end of the class for additional presentations. The goal is to be able to present the class in an afternoon while still being able to go home at a decent hour.
Review the Class Schedule to get a sense for how the class is structured. You should thoroughly review the schedule before attempting to run the class, as some advance preparation is required.
These materials worked for us. We hope they'll work for you, and we hope you'll use them to bring Ignite to others. This is not intended to represent a canonical way to teach the Ignite format. If you have suggested improvements, we hope you'll submit them, or take this content and improve it so it fits your own needs.
If you have questions or comments, please an issue against this repo. We'd love to hear from you. If you are on Twitter, you can ask Duane questions and he'll respond in a timely manner.
All materials in this repo are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
Ignite is a trademark of Ignite Talks PBC (Public Benefits Corporation). Learn more at http://ignitetalks.io