We Need to Improve the Conference Experience
Starting by giving the speaker experience the attention it sorely needs
The Speaker Experience
Over the last decade, I’ve had the privilege of being part of the industry speaking scene. From conferences to meet-ups and events of all shapes, sizes, and focus areas, I’ve been involved as a speaker, attendee, guest, and sometimes as a volunteer.
One thing has become abundantly clear: the effort, care, and attention that organisers put into the ‘speaker experience’ is just as critical as what they provide for attendees and sponsors. It's also clear which organisers care about and prioritise diversity and inclusion when selecting their speakers, panelists and hosts, and those that do not.
I genuinely love public speaking. I love meeting people that share their own insights into the topics I present, it's a great learning experience for me. But I also want to see organisers improving how they provide the experience that speakers and the paying audience deserves.
Event organisation is hard, there’s no doubt about that. There’s many decisions and choices to make, but the good ones really do shine and those choices permeate through to the paying audience. They know what good looks like and they are willing to pay for it.
We can’t let audiences down by filling the stage with sponsor talks, lazy choices where content just isn't right for the audience, a stage of unsupported lesser experienced speakers or a panel filled with only ‘white-men-in-tech’.
Supporting New Speakers
It’s important to give speakers with less experience their time on stage - of course, this is how they learn. But to give them every chance of success they must be supported. Organisers have a duty to help reduce nerves, give energy and guidance. Too many times I’ve seen a new speaker’s confidence dashed through poor support.
One experienced speaker I met at a recent conference described how the host spoke with her prior to her talk. Giving advice and guidance on particularly engaged audience members and where the best place to stand on the stage might be, they even emailed upfront to explain the microphone types they had so she could wear the right clothing on the day. This support not only increased their energy but also enabled them to give a highly engaging audience experience.
Compare her story to another, and less experienced speaker, I met last year. They had never spoken publicly and while some nerves were present she was confident in her content. The organiser shared very little to no information up front before the conference and even on the day showed little interest in the speakers, including getting numerous names wrong.
Unfortunately, five minutes prior to her taking the stage the sound engineers struggled to fit the lapel mic to her high-necked top. It meant she had to stand at the lectern or use a handheld mic. For any speaker, with any level of experience, this is jarring.
Where is the value exchange?
We must make sure speakers are supported throughout the experience so that the audience remains engaged. While we know that experienced speakers will entice more sponsors, increase credibility and draw bigger audiences, their ability to command the stage and hold the audience ensures high engagement throughout the event.
However, these speakers are not just doing organisers a favour. For them the stage is often their chance to showcase leadership in the field; for career development or their personal marketing opportunity. There is a value exchange between them and the organisers of the events.
Unfortunately, that value exchange is often overlooked. Although covering travel and accommodation expenses is the norm, more often than not speakers are not paid. Just to be clear - this value exchange is not always a financial one.
Speakers should be given every opportunity to promote themselves in the best way possible. I think it’s important that organisers engage with their speakers, introduce them to the more experienced folks, support their marketing; sharing live photos, quotes and sound bites on social media, and follow up with audience feedback so they can learn where and how to improve. You’d be surprised how often this does not happen.
Diversity is still lacking
Emily Webber’s article ‘Considerations for more diverse conferences’ was written in 2016. Has much really changed since then? (If anyone has new data on this I’d love to see it.)
It feels like, and I’m happy to see, an increase of conferences taking a public stance on diversity and inclusion; to include more women and people of colour on stage (particularly in these harrowing political times). There are still many that do not prioritise this whatsoever and this is very disappointing.
At a recent product conference I attended there was a panel of 5 white men, while the audience was overwhelming female and visually diverse. Why are organisers still making these lazy decisions?
A recent LinkedIn post for a well known technology conference excitedly states “What do all these legends have in common? They’re all live on our stage!” above six profiles of white-men-in-tech. And they don’t even see it.
Going forward, as a ‘white-man-in-tech’ myself I will not be accepting larger speaking opportunities unless diversity has been a clear factor in their choices and is apparent on the stage.
Is the future looking any better?
As we look ahead to conference season 2025, I’m hopeful that with thoughtful planning and collaboration, we can create events that inspire, educate, and uplift everyone involved.
To organisers: Are there aspects of the event organisation I’m missing? What challenges do you face in balancing these priorities?
To speakers: Which are the best conferences for the speaker experience and prioritisation of diversity? What examples of great experiences do you have?
Finally I’ll leave you with a comment that resonated with me from May Wong (they/them):
As many artists so eloquently put it: 'I can't eat exposure.'