Bitcoin Forum

Yo guys -
My first presentation at Union was in front of a couple dozen people. It wasn't so smooth because I kept getting bogged down in details and I was just going off written notes. Tonight I'm presenting at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, we're hoping for about 200 people. I'm still writing up my powerpoint presentation and want to get some feedback. I'll keep an eye on this thread for the next hour, before I head over to the lecture hall to set stuff up.

You should be able to view it here:
https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AfiF9LdNy-duZGRzbTRrd3BfMGdxN3NyaGc4&hl=en&authkey=CI6A9qcP

I don't know if anonymity is that important to the folks you are presenting to, but for sake of completeness you may want to indicate on your "Is Bitcoin Anonymous" slide that addresses are not traceable to a particular person and for simplicity you may want to add that a username/password is not required to participate/transact within the Bitcoin network. I often hear non-technical folks believing that a username/password or central account must be created somewhere to use Bitcoin.

Going to a lecture like that, I'd want to know (in order):

1) What is it (briefly/overview)?
2) How is it currently being used?
3) Is it popular?
4) Great! How do I use it?

Your presentation as is doesn't seem to cover 2 or 4, and not as much on 3 as I would, personally, like.

Just ideas/comments, not criticism.

Also, IMHO it is probably not a good idea to present the "Heavier Stuff" on your Political Implications slide. I know there has been recent debate on this topic but I believe it should not be part of a presentation which has the purpose of Bitcoin evangelism...which I think is what you are doing right?

Perfect thanks!


What do others think?

Yeah ... I think he's trying to be up-front about it though. Perhaps just "Bitcoins can be used for good, as well as evil?" Or, "Just like any cash system, Bitcoins are agnostic to morals; used for either good or evil intents." A bit wordy, but it gets across the idea that, yeah Bitcoins can be used for evil, but so can every other currency in the world. It's not a problem unique to Bitcoins.

Also, and I hope I'm not spamming this thread with my opinion too much, I presume you're going to discuss your American Bitcoin Odyssey? I think that's a great story, and really hits home that Bitcoins are real, useful, and just plain cool  8)

The key to public speaking is practice, more than anything else. Fairytales are powerful because they've been consumed and rewritten by millions of people over hundreds of years. The same will happen to your story as you re-iterate it and get feedback from others.

Mad props to you for doing this!

Yep, I think it is appropriate to mention that it can be used for both good and evil. I just envision the thoughts going through minds when we enumerate the evils, thats all. Definitely be open about it's uses on both sides.

Oh totally I dont mind public speaking, there's just sooo many details. I'm trying to cut out everything I can and leave it for questions.

I'll definitely talk about my roadtrip!

+1

You rock!

Note: Got a red pin for you mid west coast if you drive the ocean view.

I've been crawling out of your allegorical cave since I was thrust into it at age 6 and this is what I have so far:

People understand passion and they understand fear. Practice speaking from the heart in front of a mirror about your passion and why Bitcoin. When you can't find the right words to describe something as you speak from the heart, realize that and accept it. That ignorance is what you need to solve and you can only discover the ignorance by admitting you don't know something.

How is your journey made possible?
Who contributed?
What is their legacy?
Why do they believe in it?
What does Bitcoin mean to you?

Only speak what you know. You don't KNOW the people you speak to yet, so don't force a decision on them. They will make the right decision for themselves when they are ready to.

Here's a video of PLATO's presentation...

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB1dNmphRJQ

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuRys98OzlI

cool. Do you also have the remaining part?

I would be interested to hear the questions and answers?

If you dont have a video, can you share the essence of the Q&As?

thanks

Thank you for posting the link! Great to watch! *applause for PLATO*

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuRys98OzlI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuRys98OzlI)

I had to edit out the Q&A at the end because the audio started going weird, you can hear some hissing but at the end it made it inaudible.

The Q&A's were mostly technically related. One person pointed out that transaction fees will eventually exist in a few decades since that will be the only way for miners to make money. However, the response to that is that even though transaction fees will exist, they will be highly competitive and still better than anything VISA or PayPal is offering.

Another person asked what PLATO had actually bought with Bitcoins other than food and gas and he mentioned a METRO card pass and some other stuff.

One guy really understood the mathematics behind Bitcoin, especially how the 21 million limit is approached asymptotically-like and asked some really technical questions. I hope some of my fellow students will be joining the forums since I think they could really contribute to the community.

The best "question" was from a female teacher at the back of the audience who was generally dismayed at how all us "kids" were probably pissing off the federal government and she wanted us to know that we probably weren't as clever as we thought we were.

There was also a mixed reaction to Bitcoin while we were handing out flyers. One guy took a flyer, read it and balled it up in my friend's face but my friend just laughed. One guy didn't like how Bitcoin could be used to evade taxes because "you gotta pay taxes". It seemed that the younger audience got it but the older crowd was fairly hostile which isn't too surprising.

Also I didn't make it clear that I'm just some dude who uses bitcoins, so people assumed I was the inventor or a developer. I get better at explaining it every time I explain it though, what I did wrong here was ignore the big picture