Speaking on Alexander Arvidsson

On Rituals, Part Two: Does It Actually Reach the Audience?

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I said my rituals are for me, not the audience. That’s technically true. But a ritual that changes your internal state doesn’t keep that change contained. It shows up in your posture, your pace, whether your eyes land on people or drift past them. When your body says one thing while your words say another, the audience isn’t hearing confidence. They’re hearing the gap. That costs you trust and attention, and the science on why got interesting.

Prague, Data Literacy, and a Brain That Defies Physics

Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This week I’m heading to Prague for DataPoint, organized by my friend Štěpán Rešl, a man whose brain capacity I genuinely cannot account for. Quick trip: arrive Thursday, deliver my data literacy session Friday morning, fly straight home. No time to explore the city, which I’ve been promised is beautiful. I can confirm the food is extraordinary. I’ve been thinking about one particular meal since 2019. New post on what I’m delivering and why the topic still matters.

Drawing the Line: You're Ending Your Presentation Wrong (And So Was I)

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Most speakers spend weeks building a presentation and zero minutes thinking about how to end it. Then they hand the microphone to the audience and call it a close. That’s not a close - it’s an abdication. The serial position effect means your ending is the thing most likely to survive in memory. This post breaks down why Q&A endings undermine you, why stories work at a neurological level, and what the research actually recommends instead.

SQLBits Is Back. So Am I.

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

SQLBits is in Newport, Wales this year - a place that requires actual planning to reach, and a useful reminder that modern travel infrastructure is more remarkable than we give it credit for. I’m delivering two sessions: a workshop on data communication with Valerie Junk, covering why insights fail to drive action and what to do about it, and a Fabric FinOps session on what Microsoft Fabric workloads actually cost when you measure outcomes, not just Capacity Units.

Speaking at Power BI Gebruikersdagen 2026

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

One of the most difficult events to get into for me has always been the Power BI Gebruikersdagen - a.k.a the Dutch Power BI User Days. I’ve always held it in very high regard, and I never stopped submitting in the hopes of one getting to speak. Last year I was invited to deliver a half-day session on presentation skills and a normal one-hour long session on data modeling. I had a blast.

Speaking at Fabric February

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The promise of #SNÆCKS trumps the cold and darkness of Oslo in February. Speaking at the third annual Fabric February promises to be a blast just like 2025!

On Rituals

Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

From Michael Jordan’s lucky shorts to my pre-talk routines: rituals help performers access their best state. While ‘power posing’ science failed, the psychology of consistent pre-performance routines holds up. Discover why rituals work, how they create mental anchors, and the three specific rituals that help me deliver better presentations.

What Actually Happens When You Hook Your Audience (And How to Use It)

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The ‘Angel’s Cocktail’ story about releasing hormones through storytelling is popular, but the real mechanisms are richer and more useful. Learn what’s actually happening when you hook your audience—and how understanding attention, memory, and cognitive tension makes you a better speaker.

Speaking at Budapest BI Forum

Tue, 11 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A new city, a new country, and a new session - so many firsts in Hungary!

Resurrecting the Untruthful Art

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

‘The Untruthful Art’ is back for 2025, completely revamped for our AI-driven misinformation era. With 59% of shared links never clicked and AI presenting statistical hallucinations as facts, data literacy has never been more critical. I’m updating with modern examples: AI benchmarks, social media dynamics, election polling, and climate data manipulation.

Stop Opening Presentations with Your Credentials

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The ‘30-second rule’ for presentations is based on a misunderstood study, but the principle of starting strong still matters. Learn why leading with credentials fails, how to open with value instead, and why I memorize every word of my first five minutes.

Retiring a session

Thu, 29 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Retiring my most successful session after 20 presentations. Not because it failed, but because it exploded beyond what one session can hold. Splitting the original ‘The Untruthful Art’ into multiple new talks, with the final bow at DataMinds Connect in October.

Speaking at the Global Power BI Summit and SQLBits

Wed, 02 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

One virtual session at Global Power BI Summit, then straight to the airport for SQLBits in London. Two talks, three countries, five days. The European data conference scene doesn’t stop, and neither do I this week!

Speaking at DataMinds Connect

Fri, 09 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Pandemic killed 2020’s plans. Now finally back on stage at DataMinds Connect in Belgium with a new session on something technical speakers ignore: emotions. First in-person conference travel since the world stopped. I’m so ready to teach again!

The Curious Case of Live Demos

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Live demos waste time at conferences. After 20+ years training, I’ve learned that controlled, pre-crafted demonstrations teach better than live coding. Can’t zoom, highlight, or control pacing when coding live. My job is helping you learn, not showing off.

Speaking at Data Platform Discovery Day

Wed, 29 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

I just had an absolute blast presenting at the Data Platform Discovery Days - both the European and the US edition! For the US edition I presented “Azure Machine Learning for the Absolute Beginner”, a session looking at machine learning in general, walking through Azure Machine Learning and giving several examples of machine learning in action - in both expected and unexpected places! The European edition asked for “Building an Empire - Implementing Power BI Step by Step”, a session on Power BI, datasets and dataflows.