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Alistair Croll
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Propose, Prepare, Present: How to become a successful, effective, and popular speaker at industry conferences 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

by Alistair Croll (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 338 ratings
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Every year, tens of thousands of companies—from industry giants to aspiring upstarts—apply to speak at conferences. They pump millions of dollars into these events, hoping to find new customers, strengthen their brand, and meet new partners. Sadly, for most of them, things don’t go that way. Submitted topics aren’t chosen; when they are, they come across as tone-deaf sales pitches.

What does it take to be chosen to speak—and to rock the mic when given the chance? This book takes you behind-the-scenes of the conference process, showing you how to submit, plan, and deliver a talk that matters. Event organizer Alistair Croll provides many examples based on his experience with a wide range of conferences, including O’Reilly’s Strata, Velocity, Web2Expo, and TOC Conferences.

  • Learn 11 items that help your submission stand out—and 11 items that will get it tossed
  • Explore the hurdles your proposal has to clear before it’s accepted
  • Tailor your talk to a conference’s topics and themes
  • Discover why images work better than words in your slide deck
  • Achieve your business goals by engaging the audience before, during, and after your talk

"We’ve been running successful events worldwide for over a decade, and the simple truth is that the people who get chosen, and give great presentations, follow the rules in this book."

--Gina Blaber, VP Conferences, O’Reilly Media

Previous page
  1. ISBN-13
    978-1449366377
  2. Edition
    1st
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    O'Reilly Media
  5. Publication date
    May 30, 2013
  6. Language
    English
  7. File size
    1480 KB
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"We've been running successful events worldwide for over a decade, and the simple truth is that the people who get chosen, and give great presentations, follow the rules in this book."

--Gina Blaber, VP Conferences, O'Reilly Media

From the Author

This started as a short list of things that separate great proposals from ones that don't get chosen. But to understand that, you need to know how conference operate, and what the organizers have in mind. By the time it was all written down, it had turned into the book you see here.

Companies spend countless hours honing proposals, courting event moderators, and investing in their participation at industry events. This short text takes you behind the scenes of conferences, showing you what it takes to propose a great presentation, prepare for its delivery, and get the most out of your time on stage.

I've been helping to run conferences for over a decade for companies like O'Reilly, Techweb, and GigaOm. In that time, I've probably reviewed over 10,000 proposals. While most of this book is based on my experiences, it includes tips and advice from other organizers who stand between you and the spotlight.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00D3VH4KW
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ O'Reilly Media; 1st edition (May 30, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 30, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1480 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 72 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 338 ratings

About the author

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Alistair Croll

Alistair Croll

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Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Author, analyst and entrepreneur who's somehow turned chronic ADHD into speaking with smart people about interesting things.

Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars
3.6 out of 5
338 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

PeggyJ
5.0 out of 5 stars Recommend
Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2016
Verified Purchase
This book was very helpful for me when I was preparing to present at my first conference. Recommend to all first time presenters out there.
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Jennifer Frey
1.0 out of 5 stars This book grossly overpriced.
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2015
Verified Purchase
This book grossly overpriced. In fact there is only 56 pages of content not 80 as described - the rest are blank pages. The content is okay, but is extremely limited, which the highlights the fact that his book highly overpriced.
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5.0 out of 5 stars This should be a must-read before ever submitting a session abstract...
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2013
I've been a speaker at conferences over the last decade, and I've also helped organize various gatherings. I've been both on the submitting and the receiving end of session abstracts. As I read Propose, Prepare, Present: How to become a successful, effective, and popular speaker at industry conferences by Alistair Croll, the one word that kept going through my mind was "YES!" If you are at all interested in learning how to be a conference speaker, you owe it to yourself to get this book and take it to heart.

Contents:
The Conference Industry; From Idea to Stage - A Conference Timeline; What Organizers Are Looking For; Some Thoughts on Superb Presentations; But How Do I Make Money?; Further Reading

Most books on "public speaking" (is there such a thing as "private speaking"?) focus on the mechanics and techniques of standing on stage in front of an audience and delivering a presentation. Where this book differs (and shines) is that it covers the "how do I get up on stage" process. If you want to speak at a conference, it's likely you'll have to submit a session abstract. There are right and wrong ways to do that, and there are things that you can do that will either endear you to the conference organizers or blacklist you from ever getting a speakers slot. You have to make a serious effort in preparing and "presenting" your session abstract, just as you do in preparing your material (especially if you are not a known commodity to the conference organizers). Just because you're convinced that your material *has* to be included doesn't mean that the organizers will. You have to sell your session as well as yourself. Croll presents a behind-the-scenes (and accurate) look at what goes on prior to the point of you getting your acceptance or rejection email.

Propose, Prepare, Present is not a very big book. Amazon says 80 pages but it's actually closer to 60. It won't take very long to read, but everything in here is dead-on in terms of what you need to do and not do. I've been in the position of looking at 100+ abstracts for ten session slots. I've done the exact same things as Alistair when it comes to weeding out 80% of the submissions. And I can also tell you that his "Eleven Things That Will Get You Rejected" should be required reading before anyone submits an abstract. Conference organizers *do* have very long memories, and they *do* talk to other organizers. You don't want to end up on their blacklist, and it's easier to do than you might think.

If you're serious about speaking at a conference, include Propose, Prepare, Present on your list of reading material. It will up your odds in getting selected, and it will definitely lower your odds of making a mistake that could put a stop to your speaking career before it ever gets started.

Disclosure:
Obtained From: Publisher
Payment: Free
3 people found this helpful
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Luis Abreu
4.0 out of 5 stars Good short book on this subject
Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2013
[Disclaimer: I've received a copy of this book for reviewing]

In this (really!) short book, Alistair Croll presents you several tips on how to improve your chances of becoming a good professional speaker. Alistair starts by introducing the conference industry world. Having an idea about how it works is important for understanding the risks and obstacles you might face. After this introduction, you'll see how you can adapt an idea to a specific type of event. As you'll find out (if you read the book), having a good idea is not enough for making into the conference as a presenter. You'll probably need to have one or two good topics, write a good CFP about it and, if you get picked, you'll probably need to adapt it to the available sessions/slots.

Chapter 3 is a great one because it will present several tips that will help you get chosen from the available candidates. It also presents several things which will probably hurt you during the process, so you should really pay attention to this chapter. The last two chapters give you some tips on how to improve your presentations and on how you can improve your chances of making money at these conferences.

Typically, this is not the sort of book I read. However, I was looking for something to give me some tips on this subject (conferences) and this book was really what I needed to get an overall look on the topic. Overall, I'm giving it a 7/10.
3 people found this helpful
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Paula Henson
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2014
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Some very obvious tips but somewhat helpful
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speaker4hire
3.0 out of 5 stars Ok
Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2015
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eh,ok
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Jose Betancur
2.0 out of 5 stars Could be more
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2013
It's a short book, its easy to read. Saying that, this books cover only 2 things: help your presentation to be selected by a conference organization and keep your presentation more attractive and effective.

The 11 key points, are not easy to apply, and even the one that says that help to be a minority looks like there is no room for your presentation to stand up and shine. The other 10 ones are good.

The second objective: improve your presentation. I think it could be presented in a more detail version, and this book doesn't give new tips, or a really good way to apply them.
2 people found this helpful
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Andy
3.0 out of 5 stars My Expectations were a bit high
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2013
Summary
This book summarizes a fairly standard way conferences are created, organized and run. It puts a framework around some of the standard things that organizers and audience members are looking for in an event. It also offers some tips to help get your submission accepted and some things to avoid.

Reactions
This book would help a person, who has never been behind the scenes at a conference, understand what goes on. I have been there, so I found the book mostly a review. The best part of it was the tips for getting your submission approved, my favorite being "An Understanding of Macroscopic Trends without a Macroscopic Presentation". I didn't get what I had hoped for, perhaps my expectations were too high, but it did deliver what it's title promised.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Samson
5.0 out of 5 stars microphone
Reviewed in India on January 20, 2024
Verified Purchase
this microphone was singing a song and such wonderful voices
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Sundip Barmi
5.0 out of 5 stars Clear directions and instructions!!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 31, 2020
Verified Purchase
A must for all public speakers. This book will help you understand and deliver a concise structured well thought out presentation or talk.

Propose, Prepare, Present: How to become a successful, effective, and popular speaker at industry conferences is very simple and easy to follow.
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cactus323
2.0 out of 5 stars des conseils très généraux
Reviewed in France on November 16, 2014
Verified Purchase
C'est gratuit; bien. Par contre, il ne faudra pas attendre une analyse en profondeur pour savoir comment faire une bonne conférence...
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Shivakumar
1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of money 😭
Reviewed in India on April 13, 2023
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Disliked made in chaina
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Brian Lister
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 19, 2015
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A good read but there are better books on the subject.
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