Apr 24, 2015
Today’s topic was suggested by last week’s guest, Sedie Maruska. I’m going to share a 7 step process for pitching your ideas to conferences and events. This process is what I use both for yarn-related events, like regional fiber festivals, and for other types of venues, like blogging or social media conferences.
The 7 steps are:
As a teenager, I was part of a pilot program to train youth as HIV prevention peer educators. As a result, I received a lot of training in public speaking. This was very helpful because I’m a very introverted person (and was even more so as a teenager). I ended up entering into a career path which involved a lot of public speaking as a result. Pitching workshop ideas to professional conferences has been part of my career since way before I entered the yarn industry, and I wanted to continue that practice for my yarn-related business.
I’ve presented workshops at several local and regional fiber festivals, including the Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival, the North Jersey Fiber Arts Festival, and the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival. This year, I began presenting at blogging and social media conferences, including the We All Grow Summit by Latina Bloggers Connect, Social Media Week New York, and the upcoming BlogHer15.
There are many different reasons you might want to speak at an event. Some common goals are…
Once you have a clear idea of your immediate goals, you can start to identify potential venues. You can then narrow your focus to the events and conferences where you could most easily and quickly meet your goals by being selected as a speaker.
My favorite resource for finding fiber related events is the Knitter’s Review list of events. Larger, more established events may be looking for speakers as far as one year in advance, while smaller, local events may be refining the speakers list just a month or two in advance.
If you’re more interested in presenting on topics related to blogging or small business issues, She Owns It has a regularly updated list of Retreats for Women, Entrepreneurs, and Bloggers that I’ve found very helpful.
You can find out about other local or regional events through your crochet or knitting guild chapter, your local yarn shop, the local U.S. Small Business Administration field office, your area’s chamber of commerce, or any face-to-face business or professional associations you belong to. You might also hear about events from LinkedIn groups, podcasts you listen to, or blogs you read. Don’t forget about local themed events like Social Media Week or heritage events in your area!
New events are often more open to accepting speakers without an established background. Keep your eyes open on Twitter and other social media networks for announcement of new conferences and events.
Colleges and universities often host events and conferences. Students often organize these events and are looking for outside speakers. You can find more information through the college’s events calendar.
Review the event website looking for sections for teachers or speakers or information on workshops or the agenda.
Sometimes you will find a call for speakers, an email list sign up for prospective speakers, or forms to fill out with a clearly stated deadline and compensation. More often, you will need to reach out to the organizers via email and ask for more details.
If it isn’t explicitly stated, don’t forget to ask about compensation practices. I share some tips for pricing for events where you are asked to determine your own course fee.
Once you’ve narrowed down the list of potential venues, consider your goals as you decide what to pitch. You may want to consider different formats (e.g., a hands on workshop, a multi-speaker panel, a presentation/lecture). You will also have to decide whether to pitch one idea or multiple ideas. Some of this is decided for you by the venue as fiber events in particular often prefer to have each teacher offer multiple workshops, thereby requiring multiple pitches.
It’s important to follow directions for submitting your proposal. This is not the time to shine for your individual creativity :).
Conferences and events usually use a juried process to choose speakers, teachers, and presenters. For that reason, I often ask a colleague to look over my pitch before submitting it. (If that’s not possible, spend some time self-editing.) Consider whether the tone and content is appropriate to the venue as well as if you’ve clearly “sold” yourself as a great presenter.
Submit your proposal following the event’s guidelines and wait to hear back. Some events have a clear timeline for responding to speaker proposals.
In some cases, gentle follow up may be helpful to your submission. Rather than contacting the organizers to ask about the status of your application, you may want to share targeted updates that serve to highlight your expertise or skills as a teacher/speaker.
The Creative Yarn Entrepreneur Show is no longer broadcasting. Episodes are available as a service to the yarn community. This episode originally aired in April, 2015. Be aware that content may be outdated.
If you'd like to chat with other yarn-related business owners, join the Creative Yarn Entrepreneurs Facebook group. Support Marie's work by buying one of her books, Make Money Teaching Crochet: Launch Your Business, Increase Your Side Income, Reach More Students (Amazon | Gumroad) or Design It, Promote It, Sell It: Online Marketing for Your Crochet and Knit Patterns (Amazon | Gumroad).