Just started speaking? Top tips from an emerging speaker: Areej AbuAli's insights
A few days, we stumbled on Areej AbuAli twitter post where she outlined the top tips she has for new speakers.
We read through the advice, and couldn’t agree with her more.
A succinctly written curation of some of the best advice for emerging speakers. We took her 10 points, and made them into an infographic for you.
Here is her advice.
1. Set event goals
Make a list of conferences and meetups you'd love to speak at, ones that inspire you and you'd like to be a part of - note down their speaker pitch deadline/process and add those to your calendar.
2. Generate new speaking topics
Brainstorm ideas you'd like to speak about, do not cross out an idea because it feels "too simple" or "everyone knows this already" - your perspective on it will be unique and people are at different skill sets and levels.
3. Keep notes
Walk around with a small notebook or use something like Google Keep to jot down ideas on the go, sometimes talk ideas come to you at the most random times, make a note of them!
4. Customize to your audience
Make every speaker pitch unique and personalised, always incorporate why you specifically want to speak there and share your story - if they ask for speaker experience and this is your first potential talk, share examples of slides or training you did at work.
5. Perfect pitching
Be as specific as possible with your speaker pitch, do not submit multiple ideas you could do - instead pick that one idea you want to talk about and draw out the skeleton of your talk. It makes the organisers life easier as they know exactly what to expect from your talk.
6. Prepare, prepare, prepare
When your pitch gets accepted, prepare for your talk far in advance, do not leave it to the last minute. Create personal deadlines for Draft 1, Draft 2 and so on. With each draft, present it to a target audience for feedback and give yourself time to work on that feedback.
7. Ask for help
Ask people you trust, people you admire and people you respect. Ask for feedback on your slides, ask for help when you're stuck halfway through, and ask for advice when you're not sure how to even start.
8. Start local
Local meetups are just as good as big conferences, get in touch with their organisers - show initiative and tell them you'd love to speak there. It's a smaller more intimate setting and a great way to get started.
9. Be kind to yourself
It's okay to feel overwhelmed, remember to be kind to yourself and focus on the fact that you're putting time and effort into sharing your knowledge with the world - which is amazing!
10. Connect
Finally, there are a lot of people in our industry who would love to help, so just say out loud that you'd like to start speaking at conferences this year and ask for help!
Do you have any advice for emerging speakers? Please share it with us here.