Lightning Talks

Welcome! If you’ve landed here, it’s probably because you’re considering doing a lightning talk for the Perth WordPress meetup (or you’re just super curious to find out more about what exactly that entails).

What is a lightning talk?

In a nutshell, a lightning talk is a very short presentation lasting only a few minutes, on a very specific topic. They can range from the ‘super fun’ to the ‘super nerdy’ but the one thing they always have in common is that they are SHORT! While the length varies depending on event, we usually recommend somewhere between 4 minutes and 10 minutes for a WordPress meetup lightning talk.

While slides aren’t necessary, they’re often a good idea – as they can help you deliver a lot of information quickly by providing a visual aid. A common approach to lightning talks is to automatically advance your slides at fixed intervals, to keep you on time. Another option is to do a ‘live demo’ of something – for example, how to set up a specific plugin, or how to check XYZ on your WordPress website.

Remember: The goal of lightning talks is to articulate a topic in a quick, insightful, and clear manner.

What sort of topics are allowed?

Any lightning talk topic is permitted, as long as it is relevant to a WordPress audience. The sky is the limit, but if you’d like some ideas or inspiration, check out videos tagged as Lightning Talk on WordPress.TV.

Additionally, all speakers are expected to obey the usual expectations of speakers at official WordPress events:

If you don’t understand or have questions about specific things you want to talk about – just let us know in the ‘I might need help’ question in the expression of interest form and we can discuss it with you before you present.

Submit a Lighting Talk