As a BarCamp newbie, one of the big unknowns for me is presenting. The BarCamp format actually encourages everybody to lead a session on some topic. But it doesn’t give much detail on what a good session covers.

Luckily there are some BarCamp veterans out there who have been nice enough to share some tips for leading a successful session. Mark Kirby lives in the UK and wrote about his experience preparing for BarCamp London on his blog. He gives lots of great details on how he prepared a session on Lifehacks from concept to execution.

Here’s a summary of his process:

• Choose a subject
  List out your interests. Think about who’s coming to BarCamp. Find the overlapping interests there and run with one of them.
• Pick an angle
  Sessions are brief. So focus your topic down as much as possible. Instead of talking about WordPress, narrow in on WordPress theming or using WordPress as a CMS.
• Design the structure of the talk
  Come up with an outline of what you want to talk about. Slim down to the most important points. You don’t need a script, just some details to keep you focused and on topic.
• Create a catchy title
  You’re going to be competing for attendee attention. You need a short, catchy title that will draw people’s attention. Come up with a few and run your ideas by your friends to see which one they’d want to attend.
• Rehearse
  Do a few dry runs on your own. Don’t overdo it. But make sure you are comfortable with your topic.

And the lesson Mark learned after delivering his talk: leave more time for discussion. BarCamp is all about exchanging ideas. So make sure you leave plenty of room for group discussion.