Speaking Season - Tips and Tricks for Getting Your Proposal Accepted
July and August may seem like a slow time for companies, but speaking season is in full swing! While there currently may not be many events to attend, now is the time to submit to call for papers for many of the late fall/winter conferences.
Getting a speaking proposal accepted is becoming an increasingly difficult task –conferences like RSA are touting only 16% acceptance rates! So in the spirit of speaking season, here are a few tips and tricks for getting your speaking abstract to the front of the pack.
- Do you research – Before even beginning to draft an abstract you should know as much as possible about the conference and what type of sessions they are looking for. A few questions to keep in mind include: Did your company speak at the event last year? If so, who spoke and on what topic? What is the overall theme for the conference? Does the conference look for high-level sessions or very technical ones?
- Think outside of the typical submission – While your company probably has a cloud or mobile story, so do many of the companies you will be competing against for a speaking slot. Look at the conference tracks to see if your company could speak towards a track that might not be as popular for submissions. If you are going to submit for a competitive track, think long and hard about what your company has to offer that will be unique and different from others submitting.
- Think about the presentation (not just the proposal) – Keep in mind that whatever you promise in the proposal needs to be delivered in the presentation. While going for shock value might help you be selected, it’s a sure-fire way to not get invited back the next year if you can’t follow through with your promises during the actual speaking session.
Okay, you have done your research, you know your topic and it’s time to put pen to paper…
Tune in for part two of this post for tips and tricks for writing and post submission follow up!