Excerpt
Prepare to Present at a Conference
You want to present a talk, workshop, or an experience report at a conference. (Or, a lightning talk, Pecha Kucha, or more.) You have something important to share. How can you create a proposal that the program committee will accept?
You write a proposal.
I've been a professional speaker to support my consulting business for 25 years. I've delivered several hundred presentations of some variety: track talks, workshops, keynotes, lightning talks, Pecha Kuchas, and panel presentations.
I've had to write a proposal for each of them.
And I've been a reviewer, a track chair, and an experience report shepherd for the Agile 20xx series of conferences for more than 10 years. I've also been an experience report shepherd for the XP 20xx conferences for several years.
I've had to read too many horrible proposals.
I'm happy to share what I've learned in this book. As you work through the proposal writing, do let me know if you have questions or comments.
I make no claims that the ideas here are the One Right Way to create a conference proposal. I've developed these ideas over the years, refining what works for me.
Some of these ideas will work for you. I hope all of them will, but you may have to adapt them to your circumstances.
My best wishes and I hope the conferences accept your well-crafted, honed proposals.
Let's start.