1. BECOMING A
RCUIT SUPERSTAR
CONFERENCE
7 STEPS FOR SUCCESS
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tedxsomerville/

2. Thanks for your interest!
However, there is a newer version of
this deck
Please click here
http://www.slideshare.net/selenasol/yo
u-can-be-a-conference-circuit-
superstar

3. this is me.

4. i’m giving a talk on
technology strategy
at The Asian Banker
2014

5. <whisper>
i’m not actually a superstar
https://www.flickr.com/photos/conveniencestoregourmet/

6. but i have been on
the circuit for about
20 years, and have
probably done 150
engagements

7. so if you are
interested in
speaking at an
industry conference
https://www.flickr.com/photos/schani/
This is not me!!!

8. i can share my
industry speaking
journey
This is definitely not me!!!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rachelstrum/

9. I’m gonna cover these things:
• Why you should speak
• How to get gigs
• How to develop a topic
• How to prepare
• How to present
• How to handle Q&A
• How to follow-up

10. 00QUICK SCOPE CHECK

11. 00QUICK SCOPE CHECK
By the way, I’ve been working in
technology in the Asian Financial
Services Industry for some time

12. 00QUICK SCOPE CHECK
So when I say Industry Conference, for
me that means conferences specific to:
Asia
Technology
Banking

13. 00QUICK SCOPE CHECK
However, this deck is not meant to be
specific to any industry

14. 00QUICK SCOPE CHECK
You might very well be in the
Pharmaceuticals Industry, High-Tech
Industry, Start-up Industry, Healthcare,
Law, FMCG, Electronics.….

15. 00QUICK SCOPE CHECK
That’s just fine. Keep reading! It all
applies

16. 00QUICK SCOPE CHECK
Also, this deck is meant to be read.
This is NOT an example of a
presentation deck. In fact, this would
be a terrible format for presenting 
You’ll see example of good stuff later.

17. 01 WHY SPEAK AT AN
INDUSTRY CONFERENCE

18. 01 WHY SPEAK AT AN
INDUSTRY CONFERENCE
Getting yourself a speaking gig,
preparing to speak, and actually
speaking means a bit of
personal/career risk, quite a bit of grunt
work, and some gumption

19. 01 WHY SPEAK AT AN
INDUSTRY CONFERENCE
So the first question you need to
answer is…
“Why should I do this!?! Is it really
worth it? ”

20. 01 WHY SPEAK AT AN
INDUSTRY CONFERENCE
Well, for me it is worth it.
And here are some reasons why…

21. 01 WHY SPEAK AT AN
INDUSTRY CONFERENCE
1. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Whether with fellow speakers, audience
members, exhibition vendors, colleagues or
industry press, speaking is a great way to
build your professional network & CV
Your first impression will be as a charismatic,
confident, industry expert. Not too shabby!

22. 01 WHY SPEAK AT AN
INDUSTRY CONFERENCE
As a measure, though I haven’t taken
them all, I’ve easily received a dozen job
offers as a direct result of contacts I made
speaking

23. 01 WHY SPEAK AT AN
INDUSTRY CONFERENCE
2. SPECIFIC BUSINESS OBJECTIVES
Speaking is also a great way to deliver
specific business results, like sales,
branding and PR, or business development.
When I calculated backwards for this deck, I
could identify at least USD 2.5 million in
sales generated directly from speaking
engagements.

24. 01 WHY SPEAK AT AN
INDUSTRY CONFERENCE
3. BENEFIT FROM PREPARATION
Although a truism, it is still true. You only
really know something once you’ve taught it.
By preparing to speak, you will gain an
incredibly clear understanding of whatever
subject you’re speaking on. You’d never get
that without the discipline of prep.

25. 01 WHY SPEAK AT AN
INDUSTRY CONFERENCE
4. STRETCH YOURSELF
A bit of stage fright? No time in your
schedule? Is this out of your comfort
zone?
GOOD! EAT IT! Stop whining. Get all
Nike on it and Just Do It!

26. 01 WHY SPEAK AT AN
INDUSTRY CONFERENCE
One final note
Although there are lots of reasons to
speak, there are some important
considerations

27. 01 WHY SPEAK AT AN
INDUSTRY CONFERENCE
Most importantly, make sure to clear
your speaking engagement and
materials with:
• Your Line Manager
• Corporate Communications
• Marketing
• Legal

28. 01 WHY SPEAK AT AN
INDUSTRY CONFERENCE
That’s true whether or not you are
formally billed as representing your firm

29. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS

30. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
Once you’ve decided that you want to
do an industry conference, how do you
actually get a speaking slot?

31. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
I’d start with a SWOT – TOWS for
yourself so that you can define a
personal Strategy

32. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
Start with a SWOT
INTERNALEXTERNAL
STRENGTH
• TOGAF certified expert in
Enterprise Architecture
• 15 years of industry experience
• etc, you fill it in…
WEAKNESS
• I’ve no experience speaking in public
• Nerves!!!!
• etc, you fill it in…
OPPORTUNITIES
• There are loads of conferences
this year
• I could be up for a promotion
by year end
• etc, you fill it in…
THREATS
• My boss may not allow me to do it
• I’m very busy with project work and
deadlines
• etc, you fill it in…

33. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
Then do a TOWS to turn SWOT
observations into actionable tasks
STRENGTH
• TOGAF certified expert in Enterprise
Architecture
• 15 years of industry experience
• etc, you fill it in…
WEAKNESS
• I’ve no experience speaking in public
• Nerves!!!!
• etc, you fill it in…
OPPORTUNITIES
• There are loads of conferences
this year
• I could be up for a promotion by
year end
• etc, you fill it in…
THREATS
• My boss may not allow me to do it
• I’m very busy with project work
and deadlines
• etc, you fill it in…
SMART GAOLS TO USE STRENGTHS TO DELIVER
OPPORTUNITY
• By next Friday, Go online and make a list of
all the Enterprise Architecture related
conferences in Q3 and Q4
• Contact some EA speakers in Q1 and talk to
them about their experiences speaking
SMART GAOLS TO ENSURE WEAKNESS DOES NOT
UNDERMINE OPPORTUNITY
• Get the idea? You fill this out for yourself. But
define SMART Goals (Specific, Measurable,
Achievable, Relevant, Timely)
SMART GAOLS TO USE STRENGTHS TO
COUNTER THREATS
• Get the idea? You fill this out for yourself.
But define SMART Goals (Specific,
Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely)
SMART GAOLS TO ENSURE WEAKNESS DOES NOT HELP
MANIFEST THREAT
• Get the idea? You fill this out for yourself. But
define SMART Goals (Specific, Measurable,
Achievable, Relevant, Timely)

34. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
After you’ve done a SWOT-TOWS, it is
time to get out there and start
marketing yourself.
I’ve found 5 things work effectively….

35. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
1. SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKING
At the end of the day, marketing requires
market research and networking.
One convenient source of both are
google and linked-in.

36. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
I’d start by putting together a spreadsheet
of all the major conferences that you
could speak at, by searching with relevant
google keywords.

37. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
From there, go to each conference
website and check out the “about us”
section.
This section will likely provide the names
of key organizers and admins.

38. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
Now head over to linked-in.
Search for these folks (or search by the
names of the event organizer firms) on
linked-in, and when you find them, send a
connect request

39. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
Some may not reply to your “SPAM”
request, but, from experience, 70% will
accept (linked-in is far more of a slutty
social media network than Facebook).

40. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
Now, any good conference organizer worth
their salt will be friended with other
conference organizers.

41. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
So the next step is to go through the contact
lists of the few who accepted your initial
request.
Then friend their conference organizing
contacts.

42. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
After you get 3 or 4 connections, it will get
easier.
These are small communities and you’ll end
up with a lot of 2nd degree connections
quickly. As a result, your friend-request-
accept rate will go up and up.

43. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
Finally, make sure that your own linked-in
profile has the right keywords. For example,
add, “Public Speaking” in Skills, and get
buddies to endorse you. Or add, “Dynamic
Industry Speaker and XYZ Domain expert”
to your Summary.
You get the idea

44. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
All this is important because conference
organizers use linked-in to source speakers.
The more 1st degree connections you have
and the better your profile keywords are, the
more likely it is that your profile will bubble
up in search results for, “speaker on XYZ
Topic”

45. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
Last but not least, generate content.
For example, post the decks that you
present on Slideshare.com and then link
them to your linked-in profile page.

46. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
Similarly, if you can get a copy of a video of
you speaking, add it to youtube and link that
from your Linked-in profile too.
Finally, make sure your social media identity
is all over your slide deck.
Be very findable.

47. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
2. SPONSORED SLOTS
Of course, many speakers get gigs
because they pay to speak. This is very
common for vendors.
If you sponsor an event, you usually get X
speaking slots and a trade show booth.

48. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
This can get expensive quickly though, so I
don’t suggest this as a long-term approach.
But it is a good way to get a few events
under your belt so that you can start
leveraging the other guerrilla marketing
methods suggested here.

49. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
3. BEFRIEND SPEAKERS
IMHO, the best way to get gigs is to
become friends with good speakers, and
position yourself as a go-to speaker for
event overflow.

50. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
I get about 2 requests per month to
speak. In order to maintain a modicum of
sanity, I speak at 1 event ever month and
a half or so. That means I have to turn
down lots of events.
Hence, event overflow

51. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
Of course, as you can imagine, I don’t
exactly turn these things down. Instead, I try
to find good alternate speakers for the
conference organizers.
This earns me reciprocity credit from both
my pals and the event organizers.
Whoo hooo!

52. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
So, the more speakers you can understudy,
build a mentoring relationship, or who are
just buddies, the more gigs you’ll get.
Of course, you’ll need to do a phenomenal
job, or you’ll burn your rep fast! So I’d get
your chops down first and then develop this
resource.

53. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
4. WORK YOUR WAY UP
Further, start small and work your way up.
There are many opportunities to speak in
front of crowds of 8!

54. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
While this may seem small, doing this builds
your experience and reputation so that when
you get a chance to front a 400 person
stage, you’ll be ready.

55. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
Also, scoring a small gig at a user group or
meet-up is much easier as these groups are
often undersupplied

56. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
I’ve even heard of people volunteering for
stage-crew one year and then coming back
to speak in the next in a slightly
Machiavellian tit-for-tat play.

57. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
5. BE PERSISTENT
Finally, listen, you are going to get rejected.
No problem. Just keep trying.
Think Barney Stinson’s approach to the bar
scene.

58. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
Oh. And one last thing.
Payment.
It will take some time before you can
realistically demand payment for speaking.
However, you should never be out of pocket.

59. 02HOW DO YOU GET GIGS
Ensure that the conference organizer agrees to
pay you for (and actually pays):
• Transport to & from the airport (I used to forget this, and
it adds up)
• Plane tickets (usually economy / budget)
• Travel insurance embedded in flights
• Accommodation charges (including room-service meals
and wi-fi) – I recommend that you arrive the day before,
so you have time to scope venue & get your groove on

60. 03HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A
TOPIC

61. 03HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A
TOPIC
Many conference organizers will give
you a topic, or a set to choose from

62. 03HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A
TOPIC
Don’t feel restricted to those topics.
Though they may not say it, most
organizers are happy for you to change
topics or just create your own - so long
as it blends with the overall conference
theme

63. 03HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A
TOPIC
What is more important is that you
choose a topic that makes you
passionate

64. 03HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A
TOPIC
Because, more than anything else, it is
passion that creates memorable
conference audience experiences.

65. 03HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A
TOPIC
That said, I’d also recommend
choosing a topic that has the potential
to make the audience passionate too.

66. 03HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A
TOPIC
With this in mind, when I speak, I try to
choose something inspirational,
contrarian, or unexpected.

67. 03HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A
TOPIC
What I never do, is set out to explain
anything. Explanation is better done in
other mediums like books, videos, or
workshops.
In a 30 minutes presentation, you simply
don’t have time to explain anything.

68. 03HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A
TOPIC
Conference presentations should
inspire, not explain!
They should leave the audience
wanting to follow-up in greater detail,
not satiated (bored).

69. 03HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A
TOPIC
That doesn’t mean that your talk should
be all fluff. You do need credibility and
to add value as an expert.
But it does mean that the focus should
be on “why” questions, not “what”
answers.

70. 03HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A
TOPIC
Finally, scope down your messages.
As a rule of thumb, I try to hit no more
than 3 major themes in 30 minutes and
no more than 1 minor theme every 3-5
minutes of speaking time.

71. 03HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A
TOPIC
Oh wait, one more thing. Make sure
your presentation is going to be sexy to
the conference attendees

72. 03HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A
TOPIC
Have a strong and relevant bio and a
good, professional, hi-res photo

73. 03HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A
TOPIC
Have a sexy presentation title!
Approaches to dealing with software
end-of-life issues
10 Ways to Kill Zombie Software!
BAD!
BETTER!

74. 03HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A
TOPIC
Proper pre-event marketing can really
make a difference.
You’ll help self-select the audience as
they will attend the talks that pique their
curiosity,

75. 04HOW DO YOU PREPARE

76. 04HOW DO YOU PREPARE
I don’t want to repeat what is already
well documented online.
So, what follows is a set of slideshare
decks that together give you every trick
you need to produce awesome
material.

77. CLICK THUMBNAIL TO VIEW THE DECK
04HOW DO YOU PREPARE

78. CLICK THUMBNAIL TO VIEW THE DECK
04HOW DO YOU PREPARE

79. CLICK THUMBNAIL TO VIEW THE DECK
04HOW DO YOU PREPARE

80. CLICK THUMBNAIL TO VIEW THE DECK
04HOW DO YOU PREPARE

81. 04HOW DO YOU PREPARE
But, in case you’ve no time, here is my ‘best
of’ notes:
1. One Message / slide (no bulleted lists like this one)
2. Make your slides beautiful and engaging (font, color,
images, etc.)
3. Present ideas, not data
4. Have an awesome cover page (that is the slide that will be
shown longest) that looks beautiful and summarizes the
important message
5. Know your audience and what’s in it for them
6. Know the A/V setup and requirements

82. 05HOW DO YOU PRESENT

83. 05HOW DO YOU PRESENT
Once again, I don’t want to repeat what
is already well documented online.
So, what follows is a set of slideshare
decks that together give you every trick
you need to present awesomely.

84. CLICK THUMBNAIL TO VIEW THE DECK
05HOW DO YOU PRESENT

85. CLICK THUMBNAIL TO VIEW THE DECK
05HOW DO YOU PRESENT

86. 05HOW DO YOU PRESENT
But, to summarize, here is my ‘best of’ notes:
1. Practice, practice, practice (be able to give the presentation
even if all A/V fails)
2. Be rested & ready (No changes to your deck within 24 hours of
presenting)
3. Arrive early & scope out the venue, the A/V, and the audience
4. Watch your body language, volume, tone, and speed
5. Ask conference admins to get you a speaker monitor so you
never have to turn around to see your slides
6. Make sure you control the text of your introduction and talk
through it with whoever is introducing you

87. 06HOW DO YOU HANDLE Q&A

88. 06HOW DO YOU HANDLE Q&A
OK, Just one more slideshare
reference, I promise!

89. 06HOW DO YOU HANDLE Q&A
And the ‘best of’ summary:
1. Prepping for Q&A is just as important as prepping the deck
2. Stay on Message during Q&A
3. Predict the questions (and prepare answers) in advance
4. Paraphrase before answering
5. Engage everyone
6. Be nice
7. Don’t bullshit
8. Don’t end on an answer. End on your messaging
9. Be brief

90. 07HOW DO YOU FOLLOW-UP

91. 07HOW DO YOU FOLLOW-UP
If you are building a brand as a
speaker, follow-up is perhaps just as
critical as the presentations
themselves, because this is where you
generate marketing momentum.

92. 07HOW DO YOU FOLLOW-UP
I’ve got 4 pieces of advice…

93. 07HOW DO YOU FOLLOW-UP
1. Link-in to fellow speakers
We already mentioned how important it is to
build your network of speakers. Overflow
work is a great way to pick up speaking
gigs. In addition, if you are linked-in to
speakers, you will be more credible to
conference organizers looking for talent as
they will source first from who they know.

94. 07HOW DO YOU FOLLOW-UP
2. Link-in to conference organizers
And, not to beat a dead horse, but get
those organizers into your contact list
so that you always stay at the top of
their mind as they plan for future
events.

95. 07HOW DO YOU FOLLOW-UP
3. Link-in to audience members
Beware of conference stalkers. You’ll see
what I mean.
However, do link-in whenever you can.
These guys can even give you
recommendations on linked-in if you ask
them.

96. 07HOW DO YOU FOLLOW-UP
4. Post
• Post your deck, videos, and photos to
all your social media channels
• Blog about the experience
• Have a speaker’s page that lets folks
know when, where and what of
upcoming engagements

97. That’s it! Good luck!

98. 1. WHY SPEAK
• Professional Dev
• Business Dev
• Benefit from prep
• Stretch yourself
• Get approval
2. HOW TO GET GIGS
• Social Media Networking
• Sponsored slots
• Befriend speakers
• Work your way up
• Be persistent
• Don’t go out of pocket
3. DEVELOP TOPICS
• Have and inspire passion
• Don’t explain, inspire
• Limit your scope
• Be sexy
4. HOW TO PREPARE
• One Message/slide
• Beautiful slides
• Ideas, not data
• Great Title page
• Know what’s in it
for audience
• Manage A/V
5. HOW TO PRESENT
• Practice,
• Be rested
• Arrive early & scope
• Watch body language,
volume, tone, & speed
• Speaker monitor
6. HOW TO HANDLE Q&A
• Stay on Message
• Predict the questions
• Paraphrase
• Engage everyone
• Be nice
• Don’t bullshit
• Be brief
7. FOLLOW-UP
• Link to speakers,
organizers &
audience
• Post like mad!

99. SHARE THIS
DECK &
FOLLOW ME(please-oh-please-oh-please-oh-please)
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http://www.slideshare.net/selenasol/presentations
stay up to date with my future
slideshare posts
selena@selenasol.com
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/eric-tachibana/0/33/b53

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