A guide to successful FOSS conference presentations

“We just wrapped up the Ohio LinuxFest call for presentations,
so pitching presentations is on my mind. Regional, volunteer-run
conferences are not only a good way for people without a travel
budget to see some big names in open source, they’re also a way for
first-time or inexperienced speakers to hone their presentation
skills. Regional conferences also provide an excellent forum to
educate users about your favorite project or topic.

“But competition for speaking slots can be fierce. Established
conferences like SCALE, Ohio LinuxFest, and others receive many
more proposals than available slots. For example, the 2010 call for
presentations for Ohio LinuxFest received about 120 proposals for
less than 30 speaking slots. Some of the talks for regional
conferences will quickly go to experienced speakers who have
presented at the show before and/or have established a name for
themselves as a topic expert and competent presenter. But most
presentation committees for community shows also try to select
local talent who are new to presenting, and those slots will go to
the speakers with the best proposals.

“Pitching your Proposal

“”Submit early and often” is a good rule of thumb. Speakers
should develop at least two presentation ideas, and submit them as
early as possible — certainly well before the deadline. It’s
usually a bad idea to wait until the last minute to submit a
proposal. In some cases, the committee takes note of which talks
come in early. Even if that isn’t the case, waiting until right
before the deadline usually means that the proposal you submit will
not be of the same quality as a proposal developed over the space
of a few days. Submitting multiple talks boosts your chances if the
committee likes you as a speaker, but doesn’t like one of your
topics or has to choose between you and another speaker who
submitted a similar topic.”

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