What do you look for in a conference speaker or chair?

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It’s one of the things I seem to do – I enjoy it, and apparently I’m quite good at it 🙂

I recently chaired the #OperationalExcellence summit in Hamburg, and I’m pleased to have been accepted as a speaker again for #StretchCon23 in Budapest in October. I find it a great chance to hone my thoughts and present my ideas, and to network, and – often – to engage with different sectors and groups of people than my usual work.

But, every time I do it, I have a bunch of thoughts

– I definitely could do better – partly since every audience is different, and you never know what’s going to connect until you’re into it (but I tend to feel an obligation to deliver on my headline – and then, there are usually slides!)

– what do people really want from this?

– am I speaking into their context, with enough commonality of language and examples to make it useful?

And – for sure – ‘how can I do this in a way that gets my expertise used?’ – I’m a consultant available for hire, so of course I want to inspire people to work with me!

One of my learning points for 2023 is to just be myself more – think less about dressing for the occasion or the audience, less about tailoring to what’s acceptable (though making it relevant is always important), and more about just expressing myself. I remember that at every school and college, the last two or three weeks when I finally relaxed were a lot more fun – ‘presence’ is a gift.

That’s my top tip, what’s yours?