--- title: A Tool for Practicing Ignite Conference Talks author: George Mandis date: 2016-11-03 tags: post, javascript, programming, speaking --- Last night I gave a talk at [Ignite Portland 13](http://igniteportland.org) about my year as a digital nomad back in 2013. I was nervous, but it went well! I didn’t forget *too* many of my points at least, which was my biggest fear going into it. When the videos are up I’ll post it here. One thing I learned from the experience was that 15 seconds is not much time, particularly when you’re already trying to distill a year of experiences into 5 minutes! You have to be succinct. Frustratingly, I couldn’t find anything on my computer that would simulate the Ignite format — 20 slides auto-advancing every 15 seconds — so I made a web page to help me practice pacing: [georgemandis.github.io/ignite-talk-practice/](https://georgemandis.github.io/ignite-talk-practice/) You can find [the code on GitHub](https://github.com/georgemandis/ignite-talk-practice). Please let me know if you find it useful!