[AngeloAnolin]

But the low to zero cost of meet-ups means there’s little incentive to produce quality presentations.

If in any case you did attend a meetup and you found the presentation lacking, is it right to think that the presenter / organizer would definitely appreciate if you provide an honest feedback that would make the next meetup better? I know most meetups are free and the value that it provides for everyone can be increased by the participants adding value on how to make it better.

[aaronchall]

As a speaker at a lot of free meetups, I feel a great deal of pressure to have a strongly prepared talk. I've seen a lot of talks, had some communications and public speaking education, and I try to follow best practices as I have determined them.

I also greatly appreciate face-to-face critical feedback.

For example, I've been told that going back and forth in my slides is hard to follow, and I'm trying to avoid that. (Though I think it's frequently unavoidable.)

I've also been corrected on a minor point before - and I appreciate that as well, I don't want to be guilty of spreading misinformation.

But I have seen (very infrequently) poorly prepared talks, or talks by people clearly unqualified to give them. I don't want to be that guy. Maybe the author of the main post here has standards that are too high, or maybe the meetups he's attended just have no quality control.

But I don't know of any group that intentionally wants to have bad talks - it reflects poorly on the organizers as well as the speaker.