How to get invited to speak on panels?

February 5, 2009 12:10 AM

How can I get myself invited to speak on panels at conferences?

This topic has been touched on before, but I have a somewhat more specific question.

When I go to conferences for some of the professional organizations I belong to, I always wonder how they pick the people who sit on the panels.

Even though these folks usually just get their travel expenses covered, as I understand, I figure it's still a good way to ease in the direction of paid public speaking. I'm comfortable talking in front of large groups and have done it a few times already.

How are these things set up? Is is as simple as letting whoever's planning the conference know, Hey, I'm available, and these are my qualifications? Does it help to suggest a panel topic? (To whom? When?) You can't speak at a conference of a group you're a member of, right?

posted by gottabefunky to work & money (12 comments total)

Unless you've done something of great notoriety in your field, about which many people are talking about, or which has gotten you press, it's highly unlikely that someone will just up and ask you to talk. If you want to give a talk at one of the conferences held by the professional organizations you belong to, you need to submit a proposal. This page here on one of the websites you linked to above is asking for just that, for their October conference in Austin.

Put together some ideas for a talk you'd like to do, give them a rough outline, and tell them your credentials, and see what happens!
posted by pazazygeek at 2:09 AM on February 5

One option: Get a job working for the organisation that is bankrolling the conference (or which the organisers would like to have in this role for the future). If your employers name is sufficiently prestigious the fact that yours is not will matter less.
posted by rongorongo at 2:20 AM on February 5

Network. While at a conference, find the people on the program committee, get to know them, talk shop with them in evenings over a beer. Let them know you'd happily speak at the next conference. If you have an idea for a panel on something you're particularly qualified to speak on, suggest that to them and ask what's the best way to move forward with it.
posted by emilyw at 4:13 AM on February 5 [1 favorite]

yay on substance but that's not all.

look to guy kawasaki for clues on how to raise your profile. you need a website, you need to twitter every second, you need to be everywhere and anywhere. promoting yourself is how you get into such a place because whether you attend a conference depends in large part on the name recognition of the speaker.
posted by krautland at 4:39 AM on February 5

1. It is often not as simple as saying, "Here I am!", but this varies tremendously by organization. I am a member of several and speak at annual conferences, and how it unfolds just isn't the same at any of them. E.g., for some, the only way to get it done is to get together with others and propose a complete panel that's readily digestible; others are more individualized. Pazazgeek is on the right track.

2. Getting a job at the organization, per rongorongo, may work, but it's a bit of overkill, no?

3. Networking, per emilyw, can be helpful, but also can involve a lot of wasted energy. I have personally been approached socially at conferences and pressed for inclusion, and I have thought, "Wow, that's not the way to do it. Sorry." As I explain, there are often more formal processes. It more often helps than hurts, but it may strike those who are organizing as a sign that you're a peripheral character.

4. With respect to krautland, esp. "you need a website, you need to twitter every second, you need to be everywhere and anywhere," all I can say is . . . holy crap. Well, I can add a little more. All things being equal, quality visibility helps. But not all visibility helps your credibility and leaves others wanting to hear from you. Plus, a lot of frenzied activity leads to less time on substance.

Honestly, not to be a complete downer, I really feel like someone should throw a caution flag re. the plan to convert speaking at conferences into paid public speaking. I expect that the conversion rate is well less than .1%, and I can't even speculate about the average hourly wage. I think this can only make sense if the returns on unpaid speaking suffice, if you are promoting some other aspect of your professional life, or if you're an evangelist.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 5:10 AM on February 5

I speak at conferences fairly often (maybe five times a year) and I have for since I was about 22. In my case, it has been because my jobs are in the public education department of whatever non-profit or government entity I am working for. We usually get a call about seven months before the conference saying they are looking for proposals, depending on our relationship with the conference organizers we either give a specific proposal or just tell them we would like two slots. If its a conference on a subject that we are involved in, but don't have expertise in. I do a panel, then I ask around for people who are experts to fill in my panel.

We keep a list of consultants and such they we consider subject matter experts who we know are willing to present at conferences. I imagine that some conferences are way more formal than what I have been involved with, but over the years I have presented in many of them and none of them are that put hard to get a place in if you want one.

And to echo Clyde above, I don't anyone who has moved this kind of stuff into "paid public speaking" unless you want to do something like public education like I do, rather than motivational speaking, which is what I think you may mean.
posted by stormygrey at 5:58 AM on February 5 [1 favorite]

In the main organization for my profession, it is more of a matter of writing a presentation about something you have worked on that would interest other members and submitting it to the organization well in advance of a conference. Granted you may not get chosen off the bat but if you sent interesting topics often enough they will relent. Also start off with local chapters as opposed to the national conference.

Otherwise be interesting with top notch and well prepared power-point presentations.
posted by JJ86 at 6:21 AM on February 5

One more piece of advice, start small. Start looking at either regional or state organizations and get on that circuit and the national conferences will be easier to get into. Once you start presentinting at these things I have found that you will be inundated with requests, as it is often harder than you think to get speakers arranged.
posted by stormygrey at 8:20 AM on February 5

Just as a data point: where I work, we organize quite a large conference, as well as a speaker's series in a high profile location. We select speakers based on the impact we feel their talk/subject matter will have on the intended audience, and the extent to which it will generate discussion afterwards.

So, based on my experience, networking and making a name for yourself are both important, but in the end, it's content that's gonna do it for you.
posted by LN at 8:21 AM on February 5

Do you mean as a keynote speaker (open/close the conference or speak at a high-profile evening event) or as a panelist?

I have been a panelist at professional organization meetings. For example, one of my groups has its annual meeting in late spring. In the autumn before (usually October), a Call for Proposals is posted to the organization website. People write up what they want to present, whether individually or as a group, and send it off. A committee reviews the proposals to build an overall program that fills multiple topic-based tracks, addresses the varying needs of the organization's members, and has interesting things on all days of the conference. This organization also has smaller interest groups, and these groups often put together panel or roundtable sessions where five or six people will present together. These are the easiest ways to get onto a program.

In the conferences where I've spoken, panelists are only given a discount (about 25%) on conference registration. I've never heard of a non-keynoter getting travel expenses covered.
posted by catlet at 8:26 AM on February 5

As a member of one of the organizations you mention (er, except I think I owe a renewal/late fee) I know that your services as a volunteer or a mentor is often called upon/needed. Besides getting more involved with the organization and the speaker panels, you're also helping out a young fledgling journalist to boot!
posted by NikitaNikita at 8:58 AM on February 5

Maybe you can start by proposing a session, inviting other people whose work you respect to speak on a focused, interesting theme. That's one way to get yourself on people's radar as somebody who is not just working in the profession but really engaged and thinking about the current trends and developments in the field.

You mention that you are "comfortable talking in front of large groups," but what are your other "qualifications"? What niche of your profession have you developed some expertise in, and why would your peers want to hear about it? What insight or new information can you bring to people's attention? What would you talk about, if you were invited to speak?
posted by Orinda at 10:38 PM on February 5 [1 favorite]