Lessons from Bob Galen
We asked Bob Galen, Agile coach with more than 20 years of successful experience in public speaking at Agile conferences, if he could share some life lessons for beginners. As a program chair in several local and national US conferences, he understands well what the organizing committees are looking for in the submission process. So, if you want to craft a proposal or abstract submission, but don’t know where to start, or how to improve your chances of getting picked, here are some tips from the expert!
Get the courage and energy to submit your ideas
There are 3 impediments you’ll have to overcome in order to submit your ideas. Know beforehand what those traps are:
- Imposter Syndrome convinces you that you can’t give a solid talk for a wide variety of reasons.
Antidote: practice and understand that everyone feels this way. - Newbie Syndrome tells you that you lack the experience, so you’re not “expert” enough to share your experiences and learnings.
Antidote: just do it, and did I say…practice? - Nothing New Syndrome leads you to believe that there is nothing new in your idea and that folks have heard it all before.
Antidote: Yes, there is probably nothing new on the planet Earth. Someone, somewhere had probably done it or spoken about it before. Tough! They weren’t you, so just do it!
You can probably find many other excuses for not giving talks and sharing. Bob’s advice is to work up your courage and try it. See if you like it and if people resonate with what you have to offer. If so, then do it again…
How to Build an Abstract
Creative Title
You need a (New Age/Relevant/Interesting/Sexy/Hook) sort of title. That’s 80% of the effort to get a submission accepted. Put some thought into your title. Share your ideas in your network and get feedback from others too.
Focus
Although this is a hard step, nobody wants to review a long abstract. Keep it between 150 – 175 words. No more (ever) than 200 words. You have to work on saying more with less and staying focused.
Flow
This is a tip Bob uses in every conference since the 90s! Break each abstract up into 3 parts:
- Define the problem/challenge you’re trying to solve/help with.
- Share what specific tools/techniques/focus points/strategies will you be sharing to meet the challenge.
- Close with the big learning/takeaway from the talk. What will they immediately be able to do?
A rough split of the word count is recommended across the 3 parts. Part 1 might be a bit shorter so that you can increase part 2. But there needs to be a balance across all 3. I sometimes color-code the words/sections when I’m writing a new abstract to check on my balance across the 3 parts. I’d encourage you to do that when you’re starting to use this technique.
Learning Objectives
A lot of conferences want learning objectives when you submit. I recommend pulling together a list of 3 LO’s when you write your abstract. Then you have them if you need them.
Extra Ideas
- Don’t use bulleted lists – Even though the examples have a bulleted list, you generally want to avoid them. Instead, convert your points into prose across sentences.
- Mention yourself – Bob often mentions himself and co-presenters in the example abstracts. He likes the personalization aspect of it.
- Avoid promising – For example, telling folks that they’ll learn a lot about Agile values in your talk is a promise. Instead, speak to which values—specifically and what they’ll learn—specifically. Don’t promise.
- Consider your central persona – Don’t target your talk to EVERYONE. Take some time to consider your specific audience. Who are you trying to help? Even write a brief persona that describes them. Then, target your pitch to those folks. And keep them in mind when your constructing your talk.
- Tell a STORY – The old trick of: “I’m going to tell you a story”, tell them, and then say that still works. Think of the central story to your talk. Keep it singular and focused. And there are many types of stories: success, failure, learning, techniques in use, teams, your journey…
Conclusion
Bob doesn’t want to come off like a “know it all” when it comes to submitting to conferences (because he is not!). He gets rejected all of the time… (for conference submissions 😉). To be a successful conference speaker, you need to develop a thick skin, have faith in yourself, persevere, be mindful of reviewer feedback, continuously learn & adjust, and find your personal style! There is only one YOU. And you are unique as are your experiences. Don’t forget that! Also realize there is great value to others in sharing what you have learned. So, don’t be selfish. Stay Agile, my friends!
Bob Galen – Agile coach, Podcaster and Conference Speaker
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobgalen/
If you liked Bob’s tips for successfully speaking at an Agile conference, you’ll be happy to know we prepared some bonus content for you! To receive examples of Bob’s abstracts that have been accepted at conferences, please let us know in the comments below which one was your favorite tip 🙂
