Do you have a great story to tell?
We would like to hear it
We know from 25 years of experience in the conference business how important it is to present the most useful and engaging material, and have it presented in the most professional manner. It is what separates us from a trade show that cares more about its traffic flow and attendance figures than its seminar tracks.
There are several prerequisites for speaking at the Presentation Summit—we call them our three Ps:
There are several prerequisites for speaking at the Presentation Summit—we call them our three Ps:
Perspective
Pedigree
Poise
If you intend to show software technique, you are comfortable being your own narrator as you take hand to mouse to drive the software while a crowd of many dozens watches you.
Our commitment to diversity and inclusion
The Presentation Summit seeks excellence in all its possible forms and from the widest group of talent. The prerequisite of experience and expertise is considerable and we lower it for nobody. We welcome qualified applicants from every culture, every ethnic group, and every socio-economic class that exists in the known universe.
Delivering a Seminar or Workshop
Our presentations are 10, 30, and 45 minutes long. They typically take one of four forms:
- A general session or keynote about a topic of universal interest
- A compelling story about how the presentation medium was used for extraordinary purpose
- A step-by-step journey through how a slide deck was created, using an imaginative technique, clever workaround, or compelling design
- Authoritative advice with respect to best practices in presentation.
In all of these cases, you would be expected to prepare handout and download material, following a specific editorial guideline which we would furnish. And now that our conference has a virtual component, your participation implicitly permits your session to be watched on demand, unless you specifically forbid it.
Two moments of reality, based on our experience:
1. Giving a presentation about presentations to an audience of presentation professionals represents a unique challenge. Speaking candidly, to be thought of as the PowerPoint guru within a specific industry is not necessarily sufficient credential to qualify you to speak at the Summit. This group will not impress as easily as your peers back home.
2. Speaking at the Summit is not necessarily your free pass to it. We regularly receive proposals from patrons and sponsors to speak at the conference and we are always looking to cultivate new talent. In most cases, you would be expected to register for the conference as a patron or as an exhibitor/sponsor. If you are invited to speak and you accept, a personal honorarium would be paid to you, separate from any fees you might pay to attend the conference.
Social Media
The Presentation Summit begins its 21st season as the standard bearer for all things presentation, and with a history as rich as ours, there is no shortage of content: breaking news, interviews with presenters, video snippets of keynotes and seminars, testimonials, and TBT nostalgia.
We seek a qualified individual to be an active part of a social media campaign to bring this content to life and create awareness of the Summit.
An excellent candidate would have some blend of the following qualities: 1) skilled using Hootsuite or similar to post to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; 2) comfortable mining LinkedIn to make personal connections with those in the industry; 3) Familiar, or able to become familiar, with the presentation industry; 4) fluent in English; 5) Command of grammar and syntax.
This position would potentially remain active right up to and through both sets of conference dates. Pay would be hourly, commensurate with experience.
On-Site Assistance
Think of the last big trade show that you attended. Did you not have to enter to a maze of pipe and drape, get a badge from a smileless worker, and then ask directions of someone who looked like a cop? Now you know precisely what we insist on avoiding at our conference. We have several openings for general assistants who would report to our seminar and registration managers.
You would help on the first day by greeting people and helping them with registration. Then as room monitors during the presentations, to make sure that the lights are on and off when they should be, the speaker’s needs are met, and general happiness prevails. Then on the final day, you would assist with tear-down and pack-up.
Qualifications for these jobs are not Einsteinian, but they are non-negotiable: Energy, enthusiasm, and an over-abundance of friendliness. PowerPoint expertise is not a job requirement here. As these are all public positions, you would be able to attend the seminars and other conference events.
We also have openings for volunteers who are comfortable with digital camcorders. We like to capture video from our patrons, either candid or in interview form. Qualifications for these positions are a basic comfort level with gadgets and gear and a noted extrovertedness.
Candidates accepted to these positions would see their registration fees reduced.