Yesterday, myself and Ed Gay taught some members of the public online on 'Understanding LODs in Tableau Desktop and Prep'. It was a good experience to have, and we both learnt a lot. Here is a reflection on how the 'Learn What The Data School Learns' experience went.
What went well:
- Our delivery and communication between each other allowed us to give clear instructions, as well as see any chat messages, keeping it interactive by having the other person looking at the chat while the other is presenting
- The examples we showed worked and everything went to plan. The use of zoomit was very useful, and allowed us to really highlight more tricky and technical areas
What could’ve been better:
- Finding a way to record the session and not worrying about people waiting
- Spending a bit longer as we had just over 10 minutes left
- Finding more time to rehearse in the week leading up to the presentation
Lessons Learnt:
- Most people don’t want to interact or say anything
- Fast mouse movements can cause people to be confused
- LODs are a hard subject but if you take it step by step it is manageable
- How to handle an online audience
- What is the best way for people to understand things through a screen
Ultimately, it was a valuable chance to improve our skills, as well as give back to the community.