How to Get Accepted As A WordCamp Speaker

A wonderful way to contribute to WordPress, is to become a speaker at a WordCamp. However, how can you get accepted as a WordCamp Speaker? This post will give you some suggestions on how to get accepted as a WordCamp speaker.

I’m sure some of you who are new to Blondish.net, and to knowing me, are probably wondering how I can answer such a thing. Some of you may have tried submitting a speaker proposal to a WordCamp, or two, or three, and didn’t have anything accepted.

I’ve been speaking at WordCamps and other conferences since 2010, so I’m going to share the method to my madness. 😉

How to Get Accepted As A WordCamp Speaker

Just in case you’re not familiar with what a WordCamp is, it is a WordPress conference. It’s held in various cities all over the world to help come together and teach local communities on how to use WordPress in ways that they never thought to try before.

Each WordCamp is designed to have topics that cater to its own local community. Topics are usually varied, but some communities are more user-based, and some are more designer-based, or sometimes, they can be more developer-based.

1. WordCamp organization teams try to choose speakers from their local community first. So, if you live close to one of the communities listed on WordCamp Central, you may have a better chance of being chosen.

2. Contact the WordCamp organization team to ask what their community wants to hear. They usually are very involved with their local WordPress Meetup group, and have polled their community for topics that they would like to hear at their WordCamp.

3. Submit more than one topic proposal. In fact, submit 3-5, and make sure your topics are varied to show flexibility. You never know. You could be selected to speak on one of your topics, and then be invited to do a panel too. It’s perfectly fine to submit more than one, so if you feel that submitting more than one is an act of desperation, stop. Just submit. 🙂

4. Make sure your speaker proposal doesn’t fall flat. Like creating blog titles, you need to make sure your proposal is enticing. If it’s too technical, or just doesn’t say anything of interest, you won’t be accepted at a WordCamp speaker.

5. Make sure that you will comply to the Code of Conduct (example of the Code of Conduct.) Each WordCamp has one posted, and they aren’t much different from each other. If you can’t act friendly and professional at a WordCamp, then you probably shouldn’t bother submitting a speaker proposal.

6. If you can, get involved in the local WordPress meetup group. Most WordPress meetups can be found at Meetup.com. Just research “WordPress” and the location. Reach out to members and build a relationship. If you build a relationship with the community members, you will be well thought of, and probably considered as a WordCamp speaker, since some of those Meetup members will be part of the WordCamp organization team.

7. Submit a topic that you really love and want to talk about. In the case you get accepted as a WordCamp speaker, and you deliver a topic that seems like you’re pulling teeth just to finish it, then most likely, your audience will see that. Your story and experience is what WordCamp attendees are wanting to hear. They are looking to learn from it and use it in their own journey. If your talk is terrible, people will spread the word about it, which would be horrible to your brand reputation.

So, this is my recipe that I use on how to get accepted as a WordCamp Speaker. I don’t know if other WordCamp speakers do something similar, however, this has worked for me.

If you’ve spoken at a WordCamp, do you have any other tips you’d like to sharing on how to get accepted as a WordCamp speaker?

If you haven’t spoken at a WordCamp, then are you considering it?