In a previous post, I recommended that you attend a local user's group, code camp, SQL Saturday, or a national conference in order to boost your SQL Server skill set. In this blog entry, I want to make some suggestions that you can take in order to improve your learning experience while attending a presentation. I have based these recommendations on the many hundreds of presentations I have attended over the years, in addition to the many presentations I have made. I hope you find them useful.

1. Before you attend, carefully review the available presentations and select which ones you want to attend (assuming you have more than one to choose from). Not only do you need to read the title of the presentation, but the description of the presentation as well. The reason I make this suggestion is so you can select the presentations that best meet your interests and skill level. Based on experience, there is nothing more frustrating that attending a presentation that either doesn't meet your interests, or is at the wrong level (beginner, intermediate, advanced). You should be able to find presentation titles and descriptions on the website of the event you are attending. If you are unable to determine if a presentation is right for you, try to get to the presentation a little early and ask the speaker for more information. This way, you can find out right away if you are in the right place or not.
2. Try to arrive at the presentation on time (or a little early to get a good seat). Most presentations are limited to a specific amount of time, and the speakers need to get started on time in order to cover all of their material. In addition, coming in late is not only distracting to the speaker, but to the others who are attending as well. If you have to come in late (see point three below), please be as quiet as possible.
3. Generally, most speakers will begin their presentation with a summary of their topic. Hopefully, it will match the title and description of the presentation. If this is not the case (and unfortunately this happens more often that you would hope), don't be afraid to leave and attend another presentation if you feel that this particular presentation doesn't meet your interests and skill level. If you do leave, please leave quietly, and go to the other presentation, and enter quietly as possible. As a speaker, I expect this, and I don't get offended if you leave after the first few minutes of the presentation.
4. Please, please turn off your cell phone. And especially,  don't engage in a cell phone conversation while a presentation is going on. I think there is a special place in Hell for people who make this offense.
5. Along the same lines as the above, don't talk to your neighbor. Focus on listening to the speaker. You can't learn if you are talking instead of listening.
6. If you are the kind of person who likes to take notes, feel free to do so. Either take along pencil and paper (you can't always assume that it will be provided for you) or bring along a laptop to take notes.
7. If you bring a laptop with you to your presentation, limit its use to taking notes. Don't surf the web, answer e-mail, or perform other tasks on your laptop. Your goal is to learn what the speaker is talking about. If you aren't paying attention, then how can yo get the full value from attending the presentation? If you are bored with the presentation because it doesn't interest your or is at your skill level, then leave the presentation and do your work somewhere else.
8. Unless the speaker says otherwise, save your questions until the end of the presentation. Asking questions during a presentation can often cause the speaker to get behind schedule, which leads to a rushed presentation, which nobody likes.
9. When is time to ask questions, please raise your hand until you are called upon. This gives the speaker the ability to answer questions from around the room. If you just blurt out your question, you may collide with someone else's question, which is frustrating for everyone.
10. During question time, be sure you ask your questions loudly enough so that the speaker can hear it. In large rooms, it is often very difficult for the speaker to hear over the general noise of the audience. If you have to, get up out of your chair and come closer to the speaker.
11. Keep your questions short and on topic. Don't ask questions about specific problems you have at work that won't be of interest to the rest of the audience. If you have specific questions of the speaker, save them for after the presentation. Most speakers will be glad to answer specific questions once the presentation is over.
12. If you notice that a speaker has made a mistake (we all make mistakes) don't interrupt the presentation and correct the speaker. Instead, talk to the speaker after the session. At a recent TechEd, a popular speaker had a mistake on one of his slides, which was not a big deal at all, but one of the attendees made it a big deal, interrupting the session, and the attendee eventually stomped out of the room, making a scene. Don't let that be you.
13. At the end of many presentations, you will have the opportunity to evaluate the presentation. Please take a few moments to do so, as the feedback is valuable to the speaker. On the other hand, if you have attended a session that does not meet your interests or skill level because you didn't do your homework, and you ended up attending a presentation not to your liking, don't knock the speaker. It's not his or her fault that you attended the wrong presentation.
14. At most presentations, where multiple speakers are presenting, you have a golden opportunity to quiz them about things you want to learn more about. This can be after a presentation, or at other appropriate times. Almost every speaker will be glad to answer your questions, assuming that they have the specific knowledge you are seeking. Just don't forget that is is virtually impossible for every speaker to be able to answer every question. I have yet to meet any speaker who knows everything there is to know about SQL Server. If the speaker can't answer your question, thank them for their time and look for another speaker who might know the answer you are seeking.

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