As for the huge number of slides approach, I’ve never tried it myself, but if it takes a long time to prepare, it may be better for presentations that are going to be reused many times, like the ones Larry Lessig gives.

Rhetoric was invented thousands of years ago, distilling the esence of successful expositions. It still works because human nature hasn’t changed since then. Unfortunately, neither have most references on the subject.

A good (classic) source: http://rhetoric.byu.edu/canons/Arrangement.htm

This would be a modern way to explain the arrangement of exposition:

1. raise interest
2. establish context (information already known to the audience)
3. present new information
4. draw conclusions
5. call to action

Last step may be omitted if the purpose is to entertain the audience rather than driving it.

Hope it helps.

Pretend you’re talking to a friend or someone you really respect (and talk that way—don’t adjust your mannerisms because there’s a larger audience). Whatever you would interrupt the conversation to scrawl on a napkin, use as a slide. Everything else is pretty much clutter.

History is good if it’s relevant. Don’t relate the entire history of Swing; just the parts that explain anything that’s unclear.

Seth Godin’s advice on handouts is good:
“Third, create a written document. A leave-behind. Put in as many footnotes or details as you like. Then, when you start your presentation, tell the audience that you’re going to give them all the details of your presentation after it’s over, and they don’t have to write down everything you say. […]
IMPORTANT: Don’t hand out the written stuff at the beginning! If you do, people will read the memo while you’re talking and ignore you. Instead, your goal is to get them to sit back, trust you and take in the emotional and intellectual points of your presentation.”

Finally, if your goal is to teach, don’t learn about giving slideshows. Learn about teaching.

(On a side note, could you adjust the CSS on the comments to include half-em vertical margins or em indents, so that we don’t have to double-return every paragraph?)

However, I wouldn’t be categorical on it. I have seen Stuart Halloway give a history of classloaders (e.g. why ‘endorsed’ happened in 1.4, etc) and Glenn VanderBerg on a history of garbage collection strategies. Both were absolutely riveting.

More important than structre is the standard stuff of public speaking: connecting to the audience, avoiding nervous verbal habits (which are rampant among geeks), understanding whitespace, etc. I have seen online presentations that had all the bells and whistles but are a disaster with a view to public speaking (a la ToastMasters or Dale Carnegie). My favourite speakers have a ’stage presence’ that is reminiscent of theatre.

Agree with you 100% that in general it’s a good idea to omit history.

1. Less is more. Do NOT fill the screen with junk. Keep each slide simple. Very simple. And use slides to highlight and reenforce key concepts only, not for every sentence you utter.

2. Those “rapid-fire, hundreds of slides” presentations are really, REALLY hard to pull off well. You have to be exceptionally well prepared and well rehearsed to make it work.

Want a simple lesson on presentation? Watch a Steve Jobs keynote.

http://codetojoy.blogspot.com/2007/06/beethoven-didnt-use-powerpoint.html

re: history. I disagree but more on that later.

And post the slides here. I’m sure many of my Swing friends will be interested.