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Lightning Talks

On this page
  1. How a talk works
  2. Leading the discussion
  3. What to talk about
  4. Signing up
  5. Further reading

A lightning talk is a short talk about one thing you learned, built, or ran into. You give two this semester, on any days you choose, and each one is worth three participation points.

How a talk works#

  • You present live at the start of class. You talk for two minutes about one idea, then lead two minutes of discussion.
  • Plan about 90 seconds of content, because setup takes some of the time, and rehearse out loud with a timer.
  • Slides are optional. Use three screens at most. A simple web page or a live demo works better than PowerPoint.
  • If your slides are a PDF, add the file to your oim3690 repo and push it, so it opens at https://<your-github-username>.github.io/oim3690/lightning-talk.pdf.
  • Present the later of your two talks from a web page you built and deployed at your own URL. A page with your main points on it is enough.
  • A talk gets full credit when you bring something real and run the discussion. Polish is not graded.

Leading the discussion#

End your two minutes with a question, put it to the room, and call on people. I stay out of this part.

Write the question while you build the talk. A good question:

  • has more than one defensible answer, such as "Should you let an AI agent write the whole first draft?"
  • can be answered by everyone in the room from their own work, such as "Has anyone had an agent add a library you did not ask for? What did you do about it?"

If nobody speaks up within a few seconds, call on someone by name.

What to talk about#

The sign-up board asks for a category:

  • AI: a prompt that worked, a tool you tried, or an AI bug you caught
  • Web: an HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or deployment trick
  • News: something new in AI or tech
  • Discussion: a question you want the class to weigh in on

Signing up#

  1. Open the Lightning Talks board and sign in with the GitHub account you use for your sites.
  2. Pick an open day and a category. The topic can wait.
  3. Lock in your topic by the day before your talk. If you present from a PDF or from your own page, add its link.

Sign-up for a day closes 24 hours before class. Until then you can change your day or topic, or cancel. Claim your first slot early.

Further reading#

Last updated: Monday, 10/19/2026