🎤💫 Become a conference speaker with Upasna Gautam

Become a conference speaker A virtual workshop for women who want to speak Presented by: Upasna Gautam, Product Manager at CNN

About me Upasna Gautam Product Manager, E-Commerce at CNN in Austin, TX 8 years of conference speaking experience Former Pharma Research Scientist & Lab Rat Product + Data Science + SEO @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

Objectives Why is it important for women to have a presence on the speaker roster? How to choose a presentation topic Where to speak and how to find the right events How to craft a compelling proposal @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

Representation in the Tech industry @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

@upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

THE DATA Women represent 25% of the speakers at tech conferences Women’s representation in technical roles in the workforce is 20% Women hold a mere 5% of leadership positions in the tech industury 70% of women speakers at tech conferences have reported being the “lone woman” chosen to speak @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

INCLUSION DRIVES INNOVATION @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

WE CAN’T BE WHAT WE CAN’T SEE @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

25% REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN SPEAKERS AT TECH CONFERENCES @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

20% WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION IN TECHNICAL ROLES IN THE WORKFORCE @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

ANYONE CAN BE A GREAT SPEAKER. ANYONE! THIS MEANS YOU! THAT’s BECAUSE: PUBLIC SPEAKING IS AN ACQUIRED SKILL AND YOU CAN LEARN IT WITH PRACTICE

the benefits of conference speaking YOU LEARN HOW TO FLUENTLY SPEAK YOUR MIND You’ll no longer say “it doesn’t matter” because you’ve lacked the confidence to state your case clearly You will exchange self-doubt with confidence You will become hyper-aware of the words you choose to speak and how they impact others - this will fine tune your communication skills for any/every type of person you encounter @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

the benefits of conference speaking YOU LEARN HOW TO FLUENTLY SPEAK YOUR MIND 1. You will exchange selfdoubt with confidence 3. You will become hyperaware of the words you choose to speak and how 2. they impact others - this You’ll no longer say it doesn’t matter because you’ve lacked the confidence to state your will fine tune your communication skills for any/every type of person you encounter case clearly @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

the benefits of conference speaking DEVELOP STRONGER CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS You will learn how to think through real problems and provide solutions You’ll learn how to analyze the potential costs and benefits of solutions You will enhance your ability to conduct and analyze research You will foster a sense of curiosity about a wide range of topics and curate more interests, while cultivating inquisitiveness about the world @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

the benefits of conference speaking DEVELOP STRONGER CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS 1. 2. You will learn how to You’ll learn how to analyze think through real problems the potential costs and provide solutions and benefits of solutions 3. 4. You will foster a sense of curiosity You will enhance your about a wide range of topics and ability to conduct curate more interests, while and analyze research cultivating inquisitiveness about the world

Confidence IS THE COMPANION OF SUCCESS Success @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

curiosity CURIOSITY IS THE ENGINE OF ACHIEVEMENT @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

YOU DON’T HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL YOU REACH THE top TOP TO the to BECOME become A leader LEADER a @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

the benefits of conference speaking YOU WILL GAIN THE SKILLS TO BECOME A GREAT LEADER Communication is the most critical leadership skill You will learn how to convey your message so that you can unite both stakeholders and individual contributors around a mission You will have an external platform and audience to amplify your domain knowledge authority and become a SME (Subject Matter Expert) Leaders require the capacity to drive change and public speaking skills are vital in learning that ability @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

the benefits of conference speaking YOU WILL GAIN THE SKILLS TO BECOME A GREAT LEADER 1. 3. Communication is the most You will have an external platform critical leadership skill and audience to amplify your domain 2. knowledge authority and become a You will learn how to convey your message so that you can SME (Subject Matter Expert) 4. unite both stakeholders and Leaders require the capacity to individual contributors drive change and public speaking around a mission skills are vital in learning that ability @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

How to choose a presentation topic @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

“THINK OF YOURSELF AS A TEACHER, NOT A SPEAKER.” - Andy Crestodina, Co-Founder @ Orbit Media @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

REMINDER THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEONE WHO KNOWS MORE THAN YOU. THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEONE WHO KNOWS LESS THAN YOU. @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

that means… YOU’LL ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING TO LEARN. YOU’LL ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING TO TEACH. @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

LET’S REPEAT THAT ON ANY GIVEN TOPIC… THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEONE WHO KNOWS MORE THAN YOU THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEONE WHO KNOWS LESS THAN YOU THIS MEANS THAT: YOU’LL ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING TO LEARN YOU’LL ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING TO TEACH

STEP 1: DEFINE THE GOAL Start at a high-level How can you… Share your passion for a certain technology that changed the way you work and/or think? Help others learn from a mistake you made? Offer solutions to a complex problem you encountered? Show successful navigation through a technical roadblock? @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

USE EVERYDAY INSPIRATION TO PICK A TOPIC @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

STEP 2: MIND MAP Organize and visualize each of your topic ideas What techniques did I test out? What research did I conduct? Why is it important? What roadblocks did I encounter? What problem did I solve? What tools did I use? @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

TURN YOUR AHA! MOMENT INTO A TEACHABLE MOMENT @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

STEP 3: GRADE YOUR IDEAS If you explained the topic to a friend, how would you rate yourself on a scale of 1-5 for each of these four factors? Passion Confidence How much does the topic excite you How relaxed and poised are you and do you love learning about it? discussing this topic with a friend? Expertise Relevancy How well can you explain the topic to How critical is the skill or someone outside of your industry? solution to your industry? @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

PASSION CONFIDENCE EXPERTISE RELEVANCY Topic 1 Topic 2 Topic 3 @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

PICK THE TOPIC WHERE YOU SCORE THE HIGHEST OVERALL AND HIGHEST IN PASSION @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

PASSION BUILDS EXPERTISE Age, education, and experience help perceptions of expertise, but they don’t guarantee that you’re good at something Expertise is the by-product of caring about, committing to practicing, and continuing to hone your craft If you’re passionate about making a difference, don’t let a lack of experience hold you back from sharing The more you communicate, the more opportunities you’ll have to refine your ideas and build your expertise @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

PASSION BUILDS EXPERTISE Age, education, and Expertise is the by- If you’re passionate The more you experience help product of caring about making a communicate, the perceptions of about, committing difference, don’t let more opportunities expertise, but they to practicing, and a lack of experience you’ll have to refine don’t guarantee that continuing to hone hold you back from your ideas and build you’re good at your craft sharing your expertise something @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

PASSION BUILDS EXPERTISE Age, education, and If you’re passionate about experience help perceptions making a difference, don’t let of expertise, but they don’t a lack of experience hold you guarantee that you’re good at back from sharing something Expertise is the by-product of The more you communicate, caring about, committing to the more opportunities you’ll practicing, and continuing to have to refine your ideas and hone your craft build your expertise

PURPOSE DIRECTS PASSION, AND PASSION IGNITES PURPOSE @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

“CONFIDENCE COMES UP WHEN YOU’RE PASSIONATE ABOUT IT. START FROM A PLACE OF CONVICTION.” - Kirsty Hulse, Founder @ Roar Training @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

ASK YOURSELF What are you endlessly curious about? What can’t you stand about the industry? What bugs you? What makes you really pissed off? What has always felt like an obvious question no one is asking? Where do you go when you ‘why’ something to death? @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

BUT WHAT ABOUT STORYTELLING? @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

WRITE DOWN A TIME WHERE YOU: Experienced pain, loss or rejection Messed up And get into specifics! Journal the sights, sounds, smells, people involved Write down the lessons learned & what you’ll pass on @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

@upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

Where to speak and how to find the right events @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

DEFINE YOUR AUDIENCE Find the people who need your help and answer the questions: Who can benefit the most from the information you have to offer? What does the audience need to know about? Why should the audience care? What pain points do they have? How can you solve them? What industries and domains would be best served with this knowledge? No matter what your topic is, start by speaking for a beginner-level audience

EVERYONE CAN HELP SOMEONE. @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

START SMALL Start searching. Search for events on Eventbrite, Meetup.com, and Papercall.io that are targeted towards a beginner audience - these are usually free events Create your speaker profile on Eventbrite, Meetup, SpeakerHub, and other speaker sites Google the search term “Call for Speakers”, pair it with keywords from your field, and see what you find! Don’t be picky - no audience is too small

THE SIZE OF THE AUDIENCE DOES NOT MATTER. WHAT’S IMPORTANT IS THAT THEY’RE LISTENING. @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

LEVERAGE YOUR NETWORK Show and tell! Start communicating that you’re interested in sharing your knowledge with trusted friends, peers, and mentors - the more radars you are on, the more chances that an opportunity will pop up What groups and/or organizations are you already a part of? Let the leaders and organizers know that you’re willing to offer your time and share knowledge with your fellow members Use LinkedIn and Twitter to candidly and genuinely communicate your motives and goals around seeking speaking opportunities @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

FUN FACT This is how I got recommended for the first meetup I ever spoke at 8 years ago, AND the TED Talk I did last year!

HELP THE PEOPLE IN YOUR NETWORK AND LET THEM HELP YOU. @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

How to craft a compelling proposal

THE CFP CFP stands for Call for Proposal, and is an open invitation for speakers to apply to a conference. Large conferences use a formal I’ve distilled the common call for speakers and call for requirements into a template proposals process that you can use for all of your pitching After applying for and speaking at Whether it’s an email to a Meetup over 50 conferences across the organizer or submitting a formal globe, I began to see similarities in CFP, this proposal template will the application requirements serve as a guide you can continuously refer back to, reuse, and iterate upon

THE PROPOSAL TEMPLATE Comprised of three core components: Title Abstract Key Takeaways Most of this information should already be loosely defined from the “How to Choose a Presentation Topic” exercises that you completed earlier (see earlier slides). In the next three slides, we’ll dive into each of these components!

PART 1: THE TITLE As a beginner/first-time speaker, it’s important to: Keep the title clear and Avoid jokes, puns, and concise 10 words max is a colloquialisms good rule to follow Provoke curiosity Check out “Kickass Headline Generator” tool if you’re stumped - it’s totally free and super fun Pro Tip: Alliteration works like a charm for memorability

PART 2: THE ABSTRACT The abstract summarizes the scope of your talk Many conferences use the abstract as the Think of the abstract as your value description of the talk in the agenda - with that in proposition - the value that you will mind, your target reader is the conference acknowledge, deliver, and communicate attendee who is reading the agenda Keep your abstract to 4-5 sentences Keep in mind: a shallow introduction to Pose the problem your talk will provide a many things is not as interesting as an in- solution for depth introduction to one thing Explain why it is important and of value Define the benefits the attendee will gain @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

PART 3: THE KEY TAKEAWAYS A takeaway is a tactic This is a simple, bulleted list Use the following format: “Session of 3-5 learning objectives attendees will learn:” followed by bullet points containing your learning objectives Key takeaways are tips can the attendee put into immediate use Defining key takeaways goes a long way in helping reviewers and attendees It should inform “next steps” for better understand the point and the attendee to take after potential value of your session he/she/they listen to your talk @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

YOUR NEXT STEPS You are ready. Proofread, proofread, proofread Find contact information for organizers of smaller conferences/meetups, and reach out to them directly Have a trusted friend, peer, and/or mentor review your proposal template Submit as many proposals as you can Sometimes conferences will accept a proposal that was rejected at a similar conference - other times, the same Always ask for feedback on rejected talks, conference will reject a proposal one year, and use those suggestions to improve your and accept it the next proposals and try again at other events

Y e s , you are experienced enough. Y e s , you have valuable stories to share. Y e s , you can get accepted.

YOUR NEXT STEPS Start your mind map Follow along on Instagram for more tips, templates, upcoming workshop info Spread the word and wisdom to other women

How to Break Into the Tech Conference Speaker Circuit SEPTEMBER CONTENT SERIES | TUNE IN EACH TUESDAY THIS MONTH! SEPT 8: SEPT 15: WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR WOMEN TO HAVE HOW TO CHOOSE A CONFERENCE A PRESENCE ON THE SPEAKER ROSTER? PRESENTATION TOPIC SEPT 22: SEPT 29: WHERE TO SPEAK AND HOW TO HOW TO CRAFT A FIND THE RIGHT EVENTS COMPELLING PROPOSAL @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

if you found this content helpful and/or insightful: Tune in right here every Tuesday of Share this post with this month, where I’ll be sharing tips others who may benefit for women in tech on how to break into the conference circuit Continue learning with Follow along for news on my upcoming workshops next week’s post: Comment below with what How to Choose a Presentation Topic you’d like more guidance on @upasnagautam | @shinebootcamp

a speaker accelerator for women Gain the skills, confidence and experience to craft and deliver a powerful presentation. shinebootcamp.Com | @shinebootcamp