#they have the RANGE. they’re scratching that specific itch i’ve been missing

[oswlld]

👋🏼 hi

[harrietvane]

do you mind talking about why you dislike Love Actually and Richard Curtis's romcoms? I've seen you mention it in some of your tags and I'd love to hear your thoughts :)

Long post, so scroll now, ye who care not.

OK, so like better voices than mine have articulated Why Love Actually Sucks Balls, but you were kind enough to ask for my view, so strap in I’m gonna talk about Jane Eyre, and the 1990’s Fran Drescher sitcom The Nanny also. It’s coming up on western civilisations’ holiday season, so why not, it’s a good time to tell this movie to choke, because it’s about to be repeatedly thrust upon us once again. (Disclaimer: I acknowledge Richard Curtis is responsible for Blackadder and Vicar of Dibley, so whatever else, we’re still cool on that basis. But I have spite and to spare, so there’s plenty to go around).

My main beef is actually the context. Technically, if all of the below bullshit was in an offbeat movie from any other movie market (I’m thinking maybe a French, or Spanish movie from the 90′s boom, Almodovar style?), the focus would probably be a black humour take on ‘Lord What Fools These Mortals Be!’, sort of look at the inherent ridiculousness of mankind, and how we get in our own way, blah blah, might have been cute. I’d buy that. This movie? A british movie for the american market? It’s sold with a big holiday sticker on it saying ‘ROMANCE’, and specifically ‘ADORABLE ASPIRATIONAL ROMANCE THAT YOU SHOULD ADORE AND ASPIRE TO’. Also the context *inside* the movie itself (through a narration voiceover no less) is that all of these narratives is somehow proof that ‘Love, Actually is all around’, and specifically in a good, wholesome, happy way, overall at least. These stories are redeeming, even if they’re not all happy, they’re Good™ or whatever. The context outside the movie is the same: british TV advertising, hard copy packaging, holiday specials, outdoor gala screenings: they all say over and over: THIS IS SQUISHY HOT PINK NEON LOVE, wholesome, healing, and healthy. You should want this, aspire to this, think this is the cat’s pyjamas! It’s a wide and varied look at the beautiful power of love from all angles, comic, tragic, the lot. 

Is it fuck. The ‘positive’ romance stories range from Stage-5 Creeper to Crotch Puppet Afterthought, the ‘melancholy’, thwarted romance stories seem to say ‘if you’re a woman who’s not readily/immediately bangable to your allocated straight dude, romance is over for you I’m afraid’. Let’s recap, shall we:

Much has already been said about Andrew Lincoln’s character BLANTANTLY SHARKING ON HIS BEST MATE’S WIFE being uhhh, less than fresh. I don’t even feel like I need to justify this one, it’s so over-the-top. The main point is that movie itself maintains this as a tragic, swoony, thwarted, heart-string-tugging missed connection, rather than The Worst Friend Ever (meaning: it assumes we’ll be 100% onboard with Keira Knightley skipping secretly away from Chiwetel Eijiofor to grant his best mate one treasured kiss, as opposed to saying ‘what the FUCK Mark, why are you telling me this, this is super inappropriate?? and my only wedding video is just you zooming in on my face? Pls get help’.

We all love National Treasure Colin Firth and all, but like is Love, Actually fixating on a woman who literally can’t speak to you? Has said nothing understandable to you? About whose own life you’ve never yet, and could never have asked about? Whose main interactions with you have been to wordlessly clean your room, bring you food, and tidy it away after? Your ideal woman, who you meet immediately following a break up, is one who silently meets all your domestic needs, while making zero emotional or intellectual demands on you whatsoever? WOW, SHOCKER. (Oh but it’s cute or whatever, they have him propose, and there’s a mix up when her sister appears, but she’s Ugly™, so it’s funny that the sister is not getting romance. I mean, how could she, an uggo?? Classic joke. Good times.)

The Prime Minster and his tea lady: more on Curtis’ Domestic Servitude Kink below, whoo boy.

Laura Linney would really really like to sleep with Rodrigo Santoro, and god bless her who wouldn’t, but she is tragically unable to, because she has family commitments as being the sister – not even fulltime carer, just RELATED TO -  a brother living with disability. Sorry folks, romance is OFF THE CARDS, FOREVER for Laura here. How can she??? That’s the nature of love, actually. Can you have sex right now this moment? No? Whelp, sorry, thanks for playing, back to the Tragic Assisted Living facility for you. Gosh it’s unfortunate that’s a truth universally acknowledged that any whiff of disability = no romance for you ever. (Don’t start me on 4 Weddings* [edit: *it’s totally Notting Hill, not 4 Weddings, thank] and how that husband is like The Best because he continues to love his wife even though her legs don’t work. What a champ, honestly, do they have an award for that?) I have to stop now before I get sarcasm poisoning, but my eyes will continue to roll.

How could I say anything bad about the Liam Neeson widower and his adorable lovestruck son storyine? Lol, I’m gonna. Have you seen the Buffy episode The Zeppo? Xander is convinced the only way girls (as a concept, not in the specific) will like him enough to sleep with him is if he has A Thing. The Thing is posited as ‘being cool’ by having an object or skill that alone will be the magic bullet to romance. Musical instrument prowess is considered, and he ends up just getting a car to be his Thing. This just seems like a redux of that logic. This kid could get some genuine direction from the movie to get to know this girl, learn her interests and share his, see if she likes him as a person by being A PERSON, but the narrative just backs away from that and eventually DOES just say ‘play the drums in the show, she’ll like you’ and that’s …it. But it’s cool, teenagers don’t learn key interpersonal dynamics at this age or anything, she kisses him for some reason, whatever. (Bonus points for gifting his dad with a literal supermodel as a punchline, after making that an actual joke earlier about the shallow nature of attraction, and love is about filling a one-sided need.)

I could go on, but I have very little to say about Freeman falling for a girl whose tits he’s been holding for a week, the no-homo pop star Nighy plot, or the guy that goes and has sex in Wisconsin with Bond Girls, and can’t be bothered, which leads me to…

Richard Curtis’ Domestic Servitude Kink. Must I kinkshame Richard Curtis in his own home?? Nope, I’m kinkshaming him AT WORK in his narratives, surrounded by his nubile, pliant, adorable female employee characters. Oh Mr Curtis, I seem to have dropped a pencil!

OK, so like a M/F Domestic Servitude romance is an extremely old trope, and extremely common, and I’m not here to tear that up, because done well it’s amazing, lot of petrol in that King Cophetua narrative tank. I’m a fan. The most famous in-context historical example being Jane Eyre, for instance: he’s her boss, she’s his paid subordinate, they’re both 100% aware of that. It’s a great way to explore the real-life class and power dynamics of these 2 train wrecks of human beings, and they vomit their ridiculous drama llama feelings all over a 600 page novel. Super fun, they’re both awful humans, I love them. Mid-century you might have The Sound of Music, and in more modern times you get 1990s sitcom The Nanny, both extremely well-developed romances involving paid employees, and part of their value is that the shows KNOW THIS. They’re aware it’s the basis for their dynamic, that they have to directly play with that, and develop beyond to go anywhere. Watching Fran Fine in her runway-fresh Moschino minidresses jump on Maxwell Sheffield’s desk for the 800th time making him super uncomfortable (and not a little turned on) is always such a treat. It’s right out there on the label. The problem with Love, Actually, is Curtis doesn’t want to admit that naughty secretary seems to be a cornerstone of what gets him going, romantic-stylez. 

One (1) time in the movie would be ‘sure, why not’. Literally the highest political office in the land, making overtures to the woman who brings him tea, i guess might be a bit off, but let’s say it’s done well, and maybe Hugh Grant and Martine McCutcheon’s charisma gets us over the line (his behaviour is cute because her last man didn’t like her body, but the prime minister DOES like her body! so it’s cute!). Whatever, seen worse. Two (2) times however is making a point, and Colin Firth is driving his silent portuguese maid home - not a french maid but so close! - and deciding he’d like her to bring him tea and clean his toilet for as long as they both shall live, and that also seems to be her greatest joy. Ah, l’amour. OK, I guess you like the thing, everyone has a thing, but at least you’re done now. Wait, you mean there’s a third (3rd) one? Everyone’s Fave Alan Rickman drives the plot of his own marriage’s tragic romance because he’s having stiffening feelings about his own Naughty Secretary halloween costume, after all. All the beautiful speeches about Joni Mitchell give Thompson some nice things to do, but it still assumes the Nature of Romance is to want to plough the help. A man can’t help it! It’s how romantic attraction works! Once would be whatever. Three times and there’s a tag on Ao3 for that, so please just scratch that itch and stop selling it to me in a heartwarming christmas movie as the Universal Nature Of Romance, so varied, so vast, the full spectrum! Just 2 hours to tell a story: but 3 whole narratives and 7 actors devoted to the variants on the naughty maid story. My point is be upfront about it and I’d be all for it - pretend it’s not A Thing You’re Doing and my creep-meter goes ping. Steven Shainberg’s ‘Secretary’ has a scene where the boss literally puts a saddle on his employee, and I find it to be one of the most genuinely moving romances I’ve ever seen. Love Actually makes me feel like Curtis is sending me a ‘u up?’ late night text about his secretary fantasy.

Anyway, I fucking hate this film, and not necessarily because of the content, but because of the context. The movie tells me to love it as aspirational romance. My culture tells me to love it as aspirational romance. Everyone tells me to love it as a varied and full exploration of reasons to get up in the morning, because it’s an aspirational romance. It makes me want to claw my own face off.

[mbaljeetsingh]

So, You Wanna Submit a Proposal to Speak at an Event

You’ve been scouring the web for upcoming events. You’ve subscribed to Developer Avocados and you’ve bookmarked conferences.css-tricks.com. And now you’ve found a call for proposals (CFP) that you can’t wait to enter. You quickly fill out the online form and your pinky races towards the Enter button...

Stop. Take a deep breath. And move slowly away from the keyboard.

As a conference organizer, I’ve gone through hundreds — if not thousands — of speaking proposals. While many are excellent, there are always a bunch that show a profound misunderstanding of the event, audience, and duties of a speaker. These are the ones that immediately get dumped onto the "No Thanks" list on my Trello board. And, as a regular speaker, I’ve learned more than a few things about getting proposals accepted.

While there’s no magic bullet for fast tracking your talk, there are a number of habits you can develop and questions you can ask yourself before hitting "submit" to improve your chances of getting invited to events. If you’re a fan of checklists, I’ve put one together to guide you through the process of submitting a proposal.

It’s even available on CodePen. 😉

See the Pen The CFP Checklist by Jason Rodriguez (@rodriguezcommaj) on CodePen.

Start with some research

The first thing before submitting a proposal is to research the heck out of the event.

There are a ton of events out there, each with its own unique audience and vibe. Some are big, some are small; some have huge budgets and some are bootstrapped and brand new. Your first task as a potential speaker is to learn as much as you can about the event to make sure that you’re a good fit for it and the audience. There are a few ways to do this.

First, check out the website to get a feel for the event. See when and where it is, check out past years (if there are any), and read every last bit of copy on the site. A few things to keep an eye out for: an FAQ page, a CFP page, info about sponsorships or speaking opportunities, lists of past speakers, and a hashtag. The event hashtag is important, as that will allow you to check out hype and past attendee experiences on Twitter, as well to as get a sense of excitement about the upcoming event. If there isn’t a hashtag, or all of the comments about the event are terrible, then perhaps it’s time to move on to the next CFP.

Next, do a search on YouTube, Speaker Deck, SlideShare, and Notist for past talks and slide decks. These will give you a great idea of what to expect at the event and what kinds of talks go over well with the audience.

After you’ve completed a first pass of research, it’s time to answer some key questions:

When and where is the event?

Who’s organizing it?

Do they have a code of conduct?

Do they value diversity and inclusion?

Are they looking for specific topics or proposals?

Do they cover travel/hotel?

Do they pay speakers?

Most importantly: who is their audience?

You may not be able to find an answer to all of these, but try your hardest. Feel free to reach out to organizers — most are happy to answer questions for potential speakers, and the more you know, the better you’ll be able to determine whether or not you’re a good fit for their event.

Add focus your idea

After you’ve done your research, it’s time to focus in on your proposal idea. Chances are good that you’re hunting around for events with a talk idea already in mind, but even so, you should take a few steps to make it’s as compelling for organizers as possible.

The main question you want to answer when developing a talk idea is, "What will attendees get out of my session?" This is where knowing about the audience and event — all of that research — pays off.

Far too many would-be speakers submit proposals for the wrong reasons. Many think of events as marketing and sales opportunities for their business. Others are looking to make a name for themselves so they can start charging on the speakers circuit. But the best talks come from sharing personal experiences, challenges, and solutions to problems you’ve experienced in your own work.

By researching the audience, you can determine what’s likely to be important to them. You get a feel for their challenges and interests, and you can think more deeply about how your experiences and skills can best serve them. Try to forget about the actual organizers and making a pitch to them, and instead focus all of your energy on clearly communicating how attendees’ lives and work will be improved after they sit in on your session.

A great exercise is to list out the key things attendees would take away from your talk. Try to focus on 3-5 things that people can put to work when they get back home. Making them as actionable as possible is a fantastic idea. While some proposals are all about inspiration, wrapping practical advice into inspirational examples is an excellent way to make that inspiration stick in people’s minds.

Another suggestion is to run your idea by colleagues, friends, or your partner. Put together a two-minute summary, stand up in front of them, and give them the ol’ elevator pitch. Not only will this force you to add a clear focus to your idea, but it’ll let you know if you’re ready to get up on stage in front of strangers. If you can’t give a short talk in a few minutes now, then you should probably sit back down and prepare some more before answering that call for proposals.

Craft your proposal into something worth reading

Finally, it’s time to craft your proposal and get it ready to submit.

Most CFPs consist of an online form. They can range from a few questions to multiple pages of inputs, but you’ll be filling something out for organizers to review. Although some speakers are able to fly through the forms and quickly hit "Submit," I’d recommend prepping your CFPs outside of the form first.

Open up a text file or make a note in your app of choice on one side of your screen and the CFP form on the other. Go through each field in the form and write down your response in your notes. Putting together a rough draft outside of the form gives you the opportunity to think through your answers and edit them until they clearly reflect your focused idea and the value for attendees. What’s better is that you can take that note and share it with someone you trust and respect. Gather feedback from them and use it to further refine your proposal.

A lot of CFP ask for supporting materials. These can be videos showing that you are a clear communicator, links to your website or social media accounts showing your personal interests, or even slides from previous talks. Instead of fumbling around and potentially timing out the CFPs form (and having to start all over), collect all of those materials in your note or a folder on your computer. If you’re a seasoned speaker, make sure you curate your materials to show your best and most recent talks.

Submit and wait

OK. You’ve done the research. You’ve focused your idea. You’ve even drafted the answers to the CFP, pitched the idea to your partner in the kitchen, and collected feedback from a co-worker or two. It’s time to scratch that itch and submit your proposal.

Go back to the CFP form, open up your notes and resources, and start copying and pasting. Take your time to work through the form and triple-check that you’ve filled everything out. Attach any supporting materials (seriously, how many times have we all sent an email that says "See attached file" without actually attaching anything?) and take a deep breath. Scroll to the top and read through every response as many times as you need to before you feel comfortable submitting.

Now, press "Submit." Do a little celebration, take another deep breath, and move on with your life.

It can take a long time for organizers to process submissions and figure out an agenda. Try to be patient. It’s tempting to email organizers and ask about the status of your proposal, but resist the urge. Organizers are extraordinarily busy — with the conference and their full-time jobs — and should be left to review proposals instead of fielding emails from impatient potential speakers.

A good organizer will get back to you when they’re ready and let you know the status of your submission — good or bad. If they don’t, chances are the event wasn’t that great to begin with. The key thing is to try to forget about your submission as much as possible (while still keeping the event on your calendar, just in case) and focus on more important things. Not only will this ease your anxiety but you’ll be in for a wonderful surprise when your proposal is accepted.

Speaking at events can be incredibly rewarding. Sure, it’s massively time-consuming and, depending on your disposition, extremely stressful, but it’s an excellent way to build connections and help others in the industry. While you could start spamming every event with proposals, your chances of being invited to speak all hinge on the amount of preparation you put into your submission. Taking the time to make sure you’re a good fit for an event, that you understand the audience, and that you have a focus and are able to clearly communicate your idea will up the odds of you standing onstage, clicking through slides, and (hopefully) solving some problems for the folks that paid to be there.

I’m definitely not the first person to write about answering CFPs. There are a ton of good tips out there for crafting the perfect proposal. Here are a few of my favorites:

Write a Good Abstract, from Notist

How to Find Ideas for Your Talk, from Notist

What Your Conference Proposal is Missing, from Sarah Mei

How to Rock the Call for Papers and Get Your Talk Picked, from Jono Bacon

My Presentation Workflow and Challenges, from Lara Hogan

Demystifying Public Speaking, from Lara Hogan

Conference Speaking Like a Boss, from Jennifer Wadella

Finally, if you have any hesitation about not being "good enough" to speak at conferences, read this excellent post from Sara Wachter-Boettcher. Then start crafting that perfect proposal.

The post So, You Wanna Submit a Proposal to Speak at an Event appeared first on CSS-Tricks.

via CSS-Tricks http://bit.ly/2VZde1T

[suzanneshannon]

So, You Wanna Submit a Proposal to Speak at an Event

You’ve been scouring the web for upcoming events. You’ve subscribed to Developer Avocados and you’ve bookmarked conferences.css-tricks.com. And now you’ve found a call for proposals (CFP) that you can’t wait to enter. You quickly fill out the online form and your pinky races towards the Enter button...

Stop. Take a deep breath. And move slowly away from the keyboard.

As a conference organizer, I’ve gone through hundreds — if not thousands — of speaking proposals. While many are excellent, there are always a bunch that show a profound misunderstanding of the event, audience, and duties of a speaker. These are the ones that immediately get dumped onto the "No Thanks" list on my Trello board. And, as a regular speaker, I’ve learned more than a few things about getting proposals accepted.

While there’s no magic bullet for fast tracking your talk, there are a number of habits you can develop and questions you can ask yourself before hitting "submit" to improve your chances of getting invited to events. If you’re a fan of checklists, I’ve put one together to guide you through the process of submitting a proposal.

It’s even available on CodePen. 😉

See the Pen The CFP Checklist by Jason Rodriguez (@rodriguezcommaj) on CodePen.

Start with some research

The first thing before submitting a proposal is to research the heck out of the event.

There are a ton of events out there, each with its own unique audience and vibe. Some are big, some are small; some have huge budgets and some are bootstrapped and brand new. Your first task as a potential speaker is to learn as much as you can about the event to make sure that you’re a good fit for it and the audience. There are a few ways to do this.

First, check out the website to get a feel for the event. See when and where it is, check out past years (if there are any), and read every last bit of copy on the site. A few things to keep an eye out for: an FAQ page, a CFP page, info about sponsorships or speaking opportunities, lists of past speakers, and a hashtag. The event hashtag is important, as that will allow you to check out hype and past attendee experiences on Twitter, as well to as get a sense of excitement about the upcoming event. If there isn’t a hashtag, or all of the comments about the event are terrible, then perhaps it’s time to move on to the next CFP.

Next, do a search on YouTube, Speaker Deck, SlideShare, and Notist for past talks and slide decks. These will give you a great idea of what to expect at the event and what kinds of talks go over well with the audience.

After you’ve completed a first pass of research, it’s time to answer some key questions:

When and where is the event?

Who’s organizing it?

Do they have a code of conduct?

Do they value diversity and inclusion?

Are they looking for specific topics or proposals?

Do they cover travel/hotel?

Do they pay speakers?

Most importantly: who is their audience?

You may not be able to find an answer to all of these, but try your hardest. Feel free to reach out to organizers — most are happy to answer questions for potential speakers, and the more you know, the better you’ll be able to determine whether or not you’re a good fit for their event.

Add focus your idea

After you’ve done your research, it’s time to focus in on your proposal idea. Chances are good that you’re hunting around for events with a talk idea already in mind, but even so, you should take a few steps to make it’s as compelling for organizers as possible.

The main question you want to answer when developing a talk idea is, "What will attendees get out of my session?" This is where knowing about the audience and event — all of that research — pays off.

Far too many would-be speakers submit proposals for the wrong reasons. Many think of events as marketing and sales opportunities for their business. Others are looking to make a name for themselves so they can start charging on the speakers circuit. But the best talks come from sharing personal experiences, challenges, and solutions to problems you’ve experienced in your own work.

By researching the audience, you can determine what’s likely to be important to them. You get a feel for their challenges and interests, and you can think more deeply about how your experiences and skills can best serve them. Try to forget about the actual organizers and making a pitch to them, and instead focus all of your energy on clearly communicating how attendees’ lives and work will be improved after they sit in on your session.

A great exercise is to list out the key things attendees would take away from your talk. Try to focus on 3-5 things that people can put to work when they get back home. Making them as actionable as possible is a fantastic idea. While some proposals are all about inspiration, wrapping practical advice into inspirational examples is an excellent way to make that inspiration stick in people’s minds.

Another suggestion is to run your idea by colleagues, friends, or your partner. Put together a two-minute summary, stand up in front of them, and give them the ol’ elevator pitch. Not only will this force you to add a clear focus to your idea, but it’ll let you know if you’re ready to get up on stage in front of strangers. If you can’t give a short talk in a few minutes now, then you should probably sit back down and prepare some more before answering that call for proposals.

Craft your proposal into something worth reading

Finally, it’s time to craft your proposal and get it ready to submit.

Most CFPs consist of an online form. They can range from a few questions to multiple pages of inputs, but you’ll be filling something out for organizers to review. Although some speakers are able to fly through the forms and quickly hit "Submit," I’d recommend prepping your CFPs outside of the form first.

Open up a text file or make a note in your app of choice on one side of your screen and the CFP form on the other. Go through each field in the form and write down your response in your notes. Putting together a rough draft outside of the form gives you the opportunity to think through your answers and edit them until they clearly reflect your focused idea and the value for attendees. What’s better is that you can take that note and share it with someone you trust and respect. Gather feedback from them and use it to further refine your proposal.

A lot of CFP ask for supporting materials. These can be videos showing that you are a clear communicator, links to your website or social media accounts showing your personal interests, or even slides from previous talks. Instead of fumbling around and potentially timing out the CFPs form (and having to start all over), collect all of those materials in your note or a folder on your computer. If you’re a seasoned speaker, make sure you curate your materials to show your best and most recent talks.

Submit and wait

OK. You’ve done the research. You’ve focused your idea. You’ve even drafted the answers to the CFP, pitched the idea to your partner in the kitchen, and collected feedback from a co-worker or two. It’s time to scratch that itch and submit your proposal.

Go back to the CFP form, open up your notes and resources, and start copying and pasting. Take your time to work through the form and triple-check that you’ve filled everything out. Attach any supporting materials (seriously, how many times have we all sent an email that says "See attached file" without actually attaching anything?) and take a deep breath. Scroll to the top and read through every response as many times as you need to before you feel comfortable submitting.

Now, press "Submit." Do a little celebration, take another deep breath, and move on with your life.

It can take a long time for organizers to process submissions and figure out an agenda. Try to be patient. It’s tempting to email organizers and ask about the status of your proposal, but resist the urge. Organizers are extraordinarily busy — with the conference and their full-time jobs — and should be left to review proposals instead of fielding emails from impatient potential speakers.

A good organizer will get back to you when they’re ready and let you know the status of your submission — good or bad. If they don’t, chances are the event wasn’t that great to begin with. The key thing is to try to forget about your submission as much as possible (while still keeping the event on your calendar, just in case) and focus on more important things. Not only will this ease your anxiety but you’ll be in for a wonderful surprise when your proposal is accepted.

Speaking at events can be incredibly rewarding. Sure, it’s massively time-consuming and, depending on your disposition, extremely stressful, but it’s an excellent way to build connections and help others in the industry. While you could start spamming every event with proposals, your chances of being invited to speak all hinge on the amount of preparation you put into your submission. Taking the time to make sure you’re a good fit for an event, that you understand the audience, and that you have a focus and are able to clearly communicate your idea will up the odds of you standing onstage, clicking through slides, and (hopefully) solving some problems for the folks that paid to be there.

I’m definitely not the first person to write about answering CFPs. There are a ton of good tips out there for crafting the perfect proposal. Here are a few of my favorites:

Write a Good Abstract, from Notist

How to Find Ideas for Your Talk, from Notist

What Your Conference Proposal is Missing, from Sarah Mei

How to Rock the Call for Papers and Get Your Talk Picked, from Jono Bacon

My Presentation Workflow and Challenges, from Lara Hogan

Demystifying Public Speaking, from Lara Hogan

Conference Speaking Like a Boss, from Jennifer Wadella

Finally, if you have any hesitation about not being "good enough" to speak at conferences, read this excellent post from Sara Wachter-Boettcher. Then start crafting that perfect proposal.

The post So, You Wanna Submit a Proposal to Speak at an Event appeared first on CSS-Tricks.

So, You Wanna Submit a Proposal to Speak at an Event published first on https://deskbysnafu.tumblr.com/

[siliconwebx]

So, You Wanna Submit a Proposal to Speak at an Event

You’ve been scouring the web for upcoming events. You’ve subscribed to Developer Avocados and you’ve bookmarked conferences.css-tricks.com. And now you’ve found a call for proposals (CFP) that you can’t wait to enter. You quickly fill out the online form and your pinky races towards the Enter button...

Stop. Take a deep breath. And move slowly away from the keyboard.

As a conference organizer, I’ve gone through hundreds — if not thousands — of speaking proposals. While many are excellent, there are always a bunch that show a profound misunderstanding of the event, audience, and duties of a speaker. These are the ones that immediately get dumped onto the "No Thanks" list on my Trello board. And, as a regular speaker, I’ve learned more than a few things about getting proposals accepted.

While there’s no magic bullet for fast tracking your talk, there are a number of habits you can develop and questions you can ask yourself before hitting "submit" to improve your chances of getting invited to events. If you’re a fan of checklists, I’ve put one together to guide you through the process of submitting a proposal.

It’s even available on CodePen. 😉

See the Pen The CFP Checklist by Jason Rodriguez (@rodriguezcommaj) on CodePen.

Start with some research

The first thing before submitting a proposal is to research the heck out of the event.

There are a ton of events out there, each with its own unique audience and vibe. Some are big, some are small; some have huge budgets and some are bootstrapped and brand new. Your first task as a potential speaker is to learn as much as you can about the event to make sure that you’re a good fit for it and the audience. There are a few ways to do this.

First, check out the website to get a feel for the event. See when and where it is, check out past years (if there are any), and read every last bit of copy on the site. A few things to keep an eye out for: an FAQ page, a CFP page, info about sponsorships or speaking opportunities, lists of past speakers, and a hashtag. The event hashtag is important, as that will allow you to check out hype and past attendee experiences on Twitter, as well to as get a sense of excitement about the upcoming event. If there isn’t a hashtag, or all of the comments about the event are terrible, then perhaps it’s time to move on to the next CFP.

Next, do a search on YouTube, Speaker Deck, SlideShare, and Notist for past talks and slide decks. These will give you a great idea of what to expect at the event and what kinds of talks go over well with the audience.

After you’ve completed a first pass of research, it’s time to answer some key questions:

When and where is the event?

Who’s organizing it?

Do they have a code of conduct?

Do they value diversity and inclusion?

Are they looking for specific topics or proposals?

Do they cover travel/hotel?

Do they pay speakers?

Most importantly: who is their audience?

You may not be able to find an answer to all of these, but try your hardest. Feel free to reach out to organizers — most are happy to answer questions for potential speakers, and the more you know, the better you’ll be able to determine whether or not you’re a good fit for their event.

Add focus your idea

After you’ve done your research, it’s time to focus in on your proposal idea. Chances are good that you’re hunting around for events with a talk idea already in mind, but even so, you should take a few steps to make it’s as compelling for organizers as possible.

The main question you want to answer when developing a talk idea is, "What will attendees get out of my session?" This is where knowing about the audience and event — all of that research — pays off.

Far too many would-be speakers submit proposals for the wrong reasons. Many think of events as marketing and sales opportunities for their business. Others are looking to make a name for themselves so they can start charging on the speakers circuit. But the best talks come from sharing personal experiences, challenges, and solutions to problems you’ve experienced in your own work.

By researching the audience, you can determine what’s likely to be important to them. You get a feel for their challenges and interests, and you can think more deeply about how your experiences and skills can best serve them. Try to forget about the actual organizers and making a pitch to them, and instead focus all of your energy on clearly communicating how attendees’ lives and work will be improved after they sit in on your session.

A great exercise is to list out the key things attendees would take away from your talk. Try to focus on 3-5 things that people can put to work when they get back home. Making them as actionable as possible is a fantastic idea. While some proposals are all about inspiration, wrapping practical advice into inspirational examples is an excellent way to make that inspiration stick in people’s minds.

Another suggestion is to run your idea by colleagues, friends, or your partner. Put together a two-minute summary, stand up in front of them, and give them the ol’ elevator pitch. Not only will this force you to add a clear focus to your idea, but it’ll let you know if you’re ready to get up on stage in front of strangers. If you can’t give a short talk in a few minutes now, then you should probably sit back down and prepare some more before answering that call for proposals.

Craft your proposal into something worth reading

Finally, it’s time to craft your proposal and get it ready to submit.

Most CFPs consist of an online form. They can range from a few questions to multiple pages of inputs, but you’ll be filling something out for organizers to review. Although some speakers are able to fly through the forms and quickly hit "Submit," I’d recommend prepping your CFPs outside of the form first.

Open up a text file or make a note in your app of choice on one side of your screen and the CFP form on the other. Go through each field in the form and write down your response in your notes. Putting together a rough draft outside of the form gives you the opportunity to think through your answers and edit them until they clearly reflect your focused idea and the value for attendees. What’s better is that you can take that note and share it with someone you trust and respect. Gather feedback from them and use it to further refine your proposal.

A lot of CFP ask for supporting materials. These can be videos showing that you are a clear communicator, links to your website or social media accounts showing your personal interests, or even slides from previous talks. Instead of fumbling around and potentially timing out the CFPs form (and having to start all over), collect all of those materials in your note or a folder on your computer. If you’re a seasoned speaker, make sure you curate your materials to show your best and most recent talks.

Submit and wait

OK. You’ve done the research. You’ve focused your idea. You’ve even drafted the answers to the CFP, pitched the idea to your partner in the kitchen, and collected feedback from a co-worker or two. It’s time to scratch that itch and submit your proposal.

Go back to the CFP form, open up your notes and resources, and start copying and pasting. Take your time to work through the form and triple-check that you’ve filled everything out. Attach any supporting materials (seriously, how many times have we all sent an email that says "See attached file" without actually attaching anything?) and take a deep breath. Scroll to the top and read through every response as many times as you need to before you feel comfortable submitting.

Now, press "Submit." Do a little celebration, take another deep breath, and move on with your life.

It can take a long time for organizers to process submissions and figure out an agenda. Try to be patient. It’s tempting to email organizers and ask about the status of your proposal, but resist the urge. Organizers are extraordinarily busy — with the conference and their full-time jobs — and should be left to review proposals instead of fielding emails from impatient potential speakers.

A good organizer will get back to you when they’re ready and let you know the status of your submission — good or bad. If they don’t, chances are the event wasn’t that great to begin with. The key thing is to try to forget about your submission as much as possible (while still keeping the event on your calendar, just in case) and focus on more important things. Not only will this ease your anxiety but you’ll be in for a wonderful surprise when your proposal is accepted.

Speaking at events can be incredibly rewarding. Sure, it’s massively time-consuming and, depending on your disposition, extremely stressful, but it’s an excellent way to build connections and help others in the industry. While you could start spamming every event with proposals, your chances of being invited to speak all hinge on the amount of preparation you put into your submission. Taking the time to make sure you’re a good fit for an event, that you understand the audience, and that you have a focus and are able to clearly communicate your idea will up the odds of you standing onstage, clicking through slides, and (hopefully) solving some problems for the folks that paid to be there.

I’m definitely not the first person to write about answering CFPs. There are a ton of good tips out there for crafting the perfect proposal. Here are a few of my favorites:

Write a Good Abstract, from Notist

How to Find Ideas for Your Talk, from Notist

What Your Conference Proposal is Missing, from Sarah Mei

How to Rock the Call for Papers and Get Your Talk Picked, from Jono Bacon

My Presentation Workflow and Challenges, from Lara Hogan

Demystifying Public Speaking, from Lara Hogan

Conference Speaking Like a Boss, from Jennifer Wadella

Finally, if you have any hesitation about not being "good enough" to speak at conferences, read this excellent post from Sara Wachter-Boettcher. Then start crafting that perfect proposal.

The post So, You Wanna Submit a Proposal to Speak at an Event appeared first on CSS-Tricks.

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