2025:Program/Lightning Talk Showcases
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Wikimania Nairobi will have two Lightning Talks Showcase sessions to highlight some of the most compelling concepts and powerful thinking developing across the Wikimedia Movement. These Showcases will be produced, high-visibility events with multiple talks delivered one after the other. The talks will present innovative bursts of ideas, 5 minutes each.
The Lightning Talk Showcases will take place on Thursday, 7 August and Friday, 8 August from 15:45 - 17:15 local time in the Nairobi ballroom.
Speakers assigned to Lightning Talk Showcase I must meet in the Nairobi ballroom on Thursday from 14:00 - 15:30 for their rehearsal. Speakers assigned to Lightning Talk Showcase II must meet in the Nairobi ballroom on Friday from 14:00 - 15:30 for their rehearsal.
What is a lightning talk?
A lightning talk is a very short presentation lasting only a few minutes, given at a conference or similar forum. In our case, several lightning talks will be delivered by different speakers in a single session. Some formats of lightning talk, including PechaKucha and Ignite, involve a specific number of slides that are automatically advanced at fixed intervals. You can use this format or design your own.
For speakers
How much time will I have?
You will have 5 minutes.
How does the Showcase work?
Speakers will present back-to-back throughout the session. There will be a host to open and close the session, as well as facilitate transitions.
Each speaker will have a clicker, a screen with their slides, and a timer. The production team will be in charge of running speaker slides and doing all A/V mixing. There will be two lecterns - one on either side of the stage. The light will go on above one speaker and they will begin. When their five minutes are up, their light goes off. The host will transition, and the light goes on above the next speaker. The first speaker will exit the stage, and production staff will escort the next speaker to approach the lectern and settle in while the speaker before them is finishing.
As stated below, there is a rehearsal for each Showcase so that speakers can do a dry run of the transitions and beginning their slides.
Deadlines and other need-to-knows
- Each Showcase has its own rehearsal. Your rehearsal will take place in the program block immediately before your Showcase in the Nairobi Ballroom. It is visible in the program. This rehearsal will allow you to practice getting on and off the stage, and flipping through your slides. You will not have time in the rehearsal to deliver your full talk. Please practice delivering your full talk before the event.
- Slides for your lightning talk are due on your session page on eventyay by 3 August, end of day (you must be logged in on eventyay for this link to work). If you add a link to your slides rather than a file, you can continue to edit your slides up to the day of the event.
- If you are dialing in to present, you will receive your Zoom dial in link in the days before the event. The link will be the same for the rehearsal as for the Showcase. You should still attend the rehearsal to practice the transitions, as the A/V team needs to ensure they can transition to your camera in time.
- If you cannot make the rehearsal or the Showcase, you can submit a pre-recorded video of your talk. Add it to your session page on eventyay by 3 August, end of day (you must be logged in to eventyay in order for this link to work).
- If you are dialing in, we also recommend pre-recording your talk in case of connectivity issues.
- You do not need to create slides - you can opt to just speak instead! However, if you are not creating slides, please create one holding slide that has the name of your talk and your name, to help orient the audience.
Other useful notes
- 5 minutes is a very short amount of time. It's designed to spark someone's curiosity. Cut the context and intro – go straight to your point, leading with why the audience should care. Support your point with just a few examples or arguments, and aim to leave the audience interested to learn more.
- All talks are 5 minutes maximum. We highly recommend planning and rehearsing for a 4-minute talk so that you don't hit the maximum. If you use slides, please add them to your session page on eventyay by 3 August. If you are pre-recor
- Please rehearse your talk with other people before Wikimania. You'll get an impression of how long it takes you and you'll became more fluent. Remember, there's no time to waste on thinking what to say during the actual event, and as soon as your five minutes are up, your light will go off.
Lightning Talk Showcase orientation
In addition to the mandatory rehearsals mentioned above, there was a virtual orientation session and Q&A.
Links
- 2025:Unpopular Opinions: Bold Lightning Talks to Shake Up Wikimedia - Talks still being accepted during Wikimania!