So now we're going to go into writing your pitch. Okay, so in this section, we are
going to talk about what a proposal AKA pitch is, coming up with a great title,
and a little writing exercise. That's actually switched around... Writing your
bio, writing exercise, and then optionally anybody who wants to present their titles
into pitches. Okay, so, whatever your motivation is for speaking, you first need
to get selected to speak. And for that, you need to create a proposal or pitch.
And we'll use those terms interchangeably. And one will that will get your talk
selected. And also, since your proposal defines the scope of your talk, it can be
a good early step in the overall process of developing your talk.
What makes a great pitch? So first, here's an example of a good one. Responsify all
the Things. In our new web multiverse, it's more important than ever to make your
valuable content available to all users, regardless of how they access your site.
In this talk, we'll cover how responsive web design came about, the latest RWD news
and trends, and some basic and not so basic techniques you can use to make your
next WordPress theme a responsive one. Intended for developers and designers who
aren't afraid to get their hands dirty with a little code.
So this is a good length. It tells you what the talk will cover and it tells you
who it's aimed at. In some cases, you might also want to say what people will
walk away with from this talk. On the topic of the title, beware of too clever
titles. The title should stand on its own without a blurb. Here's an example of a
bad one, "CSS dreams and elephants." What do you think makes this a good or bad
title? And this is a question for discussion right now. Aurooba?
It doesn't really tell me what I will be getting out of this talk.
Right? So in that title we have no idea what it's about, what you'll be getting
out of it. Anyone else have anything to add? Okay, great. Yeah, that's pretty much
it. That's, it's it's a cute title, but it is too vague.
Generally, your talk proposal and the introduction of your outline will be quite
similar. A good introduction should have all the things a good pitch would have.
However, in a pitch, you might want to spice it up a bit. Ultimately, both the
introduction and pitch should contain some more content. For a pitch, you want to
tailor the tone of your writing and vocabulary to the specific audience and
event that you're applying to. This is very important. Some ideas of how you may
tailor your pitch for specific audiences and events: The tone may be different. A
business crowd may be formal, a Meetup may be more casual, so customize the tone of
your pitch to your specific audience. At WordPress events, in general, we tend to
be pretty casual. You might want to use different vocabulary depending on the
audience. And you might want to stress different talks or points of interest
depending on the audience or event.
There are six important points to take note of when writing both your outline and
your pitch. And this comes from the site that is written on the screen:
weareallaweso.me/for_speakers/how-to-write-a-compelling-proposal.html. Point number one: Direct the proposal to
the attendees, not the curators. Many conferences use your talk proposal as the
description of the talk in their program. With that in mind, your target reader is
the conference attendee who is reading the program. Tell the reader why your talk
will interest them and what they will learn. The curators want to put together a
great conference with compelling talks for their attendees. The talk will be part of
the package they offer so sell it! Make sure you research the event. Are there
different tracks? Is the audience. Are there lots of devs? Is it mostly for
users? Is it design heavy? Different WordCamps have different personalities.
Are they short on really technical presentations? Light on talks for
beginners? Try to fill a need, such as podcasting.
Number two: Be specific about the focus that your talk will have. Generally
speaking, a shallow introduction to many things is not as interesting as an in
depth introduction to one thing. If you discuss the broader topic, do so only to
set the context for what you'll focus on.
Number three: One strategy is pose the question that your talk will answer. Often
talks answer questions that start with how, why, when, and so on. An easy trick
is to directly ask these questions in your proposal, leaving the reader wondering the
answer.
Number four: Make your point as simply as you can. If your first draft requires more
than two paragraphs to get to the point of your topic, edit to narrow things down.
Take out any words that can be removed without changing the meaning. You may have
a lot of competition so try to make a good impression quickly. If your proposal is
too much work to read or understand, i might get skipped during the selectio
process.
Number five: Use proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation. If you submit a sloppily
written proposal, you appear careless and as if you're not taking the opportunity
seriously. You risk being rejected on those grounds outright. Speaking requires
a lot of thoughtful preparation, and curators can only assume it will be as
careless when preparing the talk itself.
And number six: Have your proposal reviewed by someone with experience. Just
as you might ask a friend to critique a draft of your CV, an essay or the talk
itself, ask someone, ideally a writer, speaker or curator to review your talk
proposal. They'll catch typos as well as verify whether your proposal explains the
scope of your talk, and explains its benefits to your audience.
Next, we're going to talk about coming up with a great title. We need a good title
for your talk. You're going to want to try to think of something catchy but
explanatory. Be aware of too clever titles and create a title that can stand on its
own without a blurb. For example, don't use something like "CSS and Elephants."
We're also going to talk right now about writing your bio. When you submit a
proposal or pitch to an event, you'll most often be asked to include a short bio.
Bios are often the hardest to write well, but here are some pointers to follow. It
should be written in the third person.
It should be succinct, but descriptive. It should only be a short paragraph and go
for economy of words. Try to say the most you possibly can with the fewest possible
words. Mention what your position or job is, and include any credentials that might
be relevant. Mention how many years you've been in this field, or if it hasn't been
that many, tell a short story about how you've ended up in your new field. Look at
past examples for the conference you're submitting to. Why are you the right
person to give this talk and tailor your bio so your topic makes sense. You might
want to tweak it differently for different topics and different events. Be human.
WordCamps are usually not too formal. And feel free to add something about your non
professional interests at the end, but don't make it your entire bio.
So what we're going to do now is we're going to have 15 minutes to try drafting a
talk proposal for the idea that you brainstormed earlier, the title, and your
bio, There'll be a chance to read the title and pitch to the group after if you
wish. We'll see if we have time for reading it to each other today or that'll
be part of tomorrow's session. But let's go ahead and do the 15 minutes. If you
need me to flip back and forth between any of the slides, you can write that in the
chat; I'll watch for that. I'll also grab a link from our Slack. I put the link to
the slides if you want to grab them and be able to refer to those sections because
we're working on three things at once right now. So go ahead and start that. If
you've any questions about it, put it into the chat. I'll check that as well. So I'm
going to go ahead and start 15 minutes.
There's about 30 seconds left. All right. If anyone needs more time, you can always
keep writing while we're going through with presentations. So what I'd like to do
now is hear from anybody who would like to share some titles and pitches. You'll have
about two minutes or less for a mini presentation. There's no expectations;
it's not a chance to practice being great. It's just an opportunity to practice being
in front of people. And you may request proceeding feedback if you wish. And if
you do, they'll be about time for a minute of feedback. So would anybody like to
share their pitch? Title and pitch? Miriam? Don't feel guilty for being
awesome.
All right, so, my title is "The Big Transition: Moving from an Office to a
Remote Work Culture." And the pitch I have is, "Traditionally people have gone to an
office building for a typical nine to five job. But more and more people, myself
included, make the transition to remote, whether it's by their choice or not. So
find out about the successes and struggles that this transition may cause and tips to
help you flourish going forth."
Would you like feedback?
Yes, please.
Awesome. That sounds great to me. Everything was clear. It didn't leave me
with any questions. I was clear of what I'd be getting out of it. And it sounds
pretty engaging to me. Does anybody else have any other thoughts? And if you do,
just to reminder that be sure to say something that you liked about it before
suggesting improvements.
It's it's really clear medium, what the topic is, and it's really nice.
Thank you.
I don't really have any edits. That was really solid.
Awesome. Okay, would anybody else like to share theirs? Aurooba.
Okay.And yes, I'm absolutely open to feedback. The title is "Extending Existing
Gutenberg blocks." And then the pitch is, "Instead of creating entirely new blocks
to add a few features, learn how to save time by extending existing Gutenberg
blocks. We'll cover basic JSX syntax, how to create block variations, and how to add
custom attributes and controls to any block. This is intended for intermediate
WordPress developers getting started with native Gutenberg development."
Awesome. Great. That, to me, also seems super solid. I have nothing to add or
change on it. It is very clear. I think it's something that people are going to
want to hear about. And like you said, really well in the pitch, you know, kind
of, you address the difference between writing a whole new one and extending. So
I really like that. Bhargav, are you giving feedback or sharing yours?
Sharing mine?
Okay, well, I'm just gonna see if anybody has feedback for Aurooba before
continuing. Okay, I'm
Also very clear, so excellent job.
Awesome.Great work, everybody so far. All right, Bhargav. Thanks for volunteering.
"Try to lose career opportunity that I grabbed." Title two like, I thought, "A
journey of transformation from developer to functional consultant: Challenges and
Outcomes." That is the title. And the pitch decks is, "In the current market
scenario, everyone is trying to become a developer. He also wanted to be one. But
destiny had other options in favor, and he wanted him to try other career options. To
break the notion that 'once a developer is always a developer,' he switched his
career to become one which he was comfortable with. And which given him more
respect and reputation in the company. Know his struggle and his journey of
switching the career. Everyone who is confused in choosing their career path
must join this session."
Thanks, would you like feedback?
Yeah.
Awesome. Does anybody have some feedback to give?
I vote for title number two. I thought that was like more clear. And aside from
that, maybe the pitch could be slightly shorter, but I felt like it also covered
everything. So maybe like some parts could be shortened a little bit but otherwise,
it was pretty solid. I kind of knew what I would be getting in for.
What else?
I also vote for the second title. I think that's much better.
Awesome.
Everything else sounds good.
All right. Anybody else for feedback or sharing their pitch?
Mine is still a pretty rough draft. So I..
Are you willing to share it?
I'm not sure though.
Okay. Angela?
Yeah, I can share mine. So my title is "Building WordPress: Tips for
collaborating across time and space." And the pitch is, "The WordPress open source
project is built by a global diverse community. If you've contributed in the
past, perhaps something got lost in translation. timezones made it impossible
to connect. In this session, Angela will share some tips for stronger global
collaboration when it comes to contributing to WordPress. She'll share
personal stories where things didn't quite go as planned, and how the global teams
were still able to move forward, all in the hope that you'll feel more prepared to
collaborate asynchronously and with a greater shared understanding."
Awesome. Feedback?Are you willing? Great! So the pitch is super solid. I...
everything was clear. It sounded really engaging to me. Can you repeat the title?
For some reason? I did not hear it.
I called it "Building WordPress: Tips for collaborating across time and space."
So I like it. But some refinements I would suggest, I think "building WordPress"
doesn't address the fact that we are talking about the distributed part. And
the the part about "across time and space." I mean, I'm always thinking
"Doctor Who". And also I think I'm not really clear from the title, like, from
the pitch its totally clear what it is. And from the title, I don't quite get it.
I think I might use some of the words from the pitch in your title instead.
I'm struggling to... I feel like my... what I want to put into this talk is too
broad so I really would like to condense more.
Okay, yeah. Um, is that something you want help with now? Or do you want to just work
on that before our session tomorrow?
Oh, nope. Not now. My time is expired.
We have we have an extra minute or two. But yeah. Great. Yeah. So yeah, I think
you're really onto it. And I think it's just the title just needs a bit of
tweaking, or like you said it could be reining in the whole thing in a bit. But
from the description itself, it sounded that part sounds fine to me.
I have a question. So can I work on mine? And do we have time to go over that
tomorrow? Or...?
Yeah, we absolutely could go over them again tomorrow.
Okay.
In our last few minutes, I'd actually love to hear bios from anybody who had the time
and wants to share theirs. I'll let Aurooba go first, and then Miriam, and
then Bhargav. It'll be about a minute each and we'll see if we have time to get
through everybody.
Okay, I am terrible at bios and I hate writing them and every single time I have
to write them I want to kill myself a little bit.
Thank doing it today!
No, but that I need help. So any feedback you guys give, you folks give, that will
be helpful. "Aurooba was the co founder of design and development studio Wanderoak.
She has been developing bespoke WordPress solutions for five plus years and is
currently writing a course on WordPress theme development. She's the co-organizer
of the Calgary WordPress meetup and has been helping organize WordCamp Calgary for
three years. She loves putting together dinner parties and getting lost in a
really good book." This is the longest bio I've ever written in my life and all I can
think is, like "Oh my God, this is too braggy."
I love it. I have no changes. It is succinct. It's really clear. It's
friendly. It's... Ship it, in my opinion. And I'm seeing Angela's nodding. Any any
other thoughts on that? Everyone is nodding. Does anybody have any changes to
suggest? We all love it. Ship it! Good work!
Is it maybe like too many things to say or no? No,
I don't know. I don't think so either. It. It sounds good.
It felt like the right length. It didn't feel like you're going on and on. A lot of
people put a lot of stuff in their bio, but I felt like it was, you know, economy
of words, not too many sentences. It just covered everything.
Okay. Thank you. I always also feel nervous.
Bios need to be a bit braggy which is one of those things that folks from
underrepresented groups tend to not like to do that as much. There's a bit of
conditioning in the world around that. And the over represented population tends, not
always, but in general tends to be more okay with it. So it's a great opportunity
to practice leaning into that, and owning some of the awesome shit you've done.
Fair enough.
We have time for maybe one or two more, probably one. Miriam was next.
I decided to write a totally new bio other the one I've been using, so we'll see how
well this one is. So, "Miriam is a web developer with 15 years experience and
currently works for Pondstone Digital marketing. She's been working with
WordPress since 2008 and fell in love with the community in 2016. Passionate about
giving back, she's an organizer for both the Ottawa WordPress meetup and WordCamp
Ottawa. When not in front of a computer, Miriam is either a karate sensei, ballroom
dancer, or clarinetist, just not all at once, but she's working on it.
Awesome. Feedback? Open to it?
Oh, you always,
Always. Um, again, it is super clear, succinct. I am friendly. I liked it. My
only feedback is you didn't mention your work in our group. And I want you to
always mention our group,
I didn't know. I have that written down. "And she is also involved with the diverse
speaker training group as between-the-trainers lead." Yeah, I think
maybe that's a bit too wordy. Maybe I'll just say "she's involved with the diverse
speakers training group."
That or saying "a leadership position."
Leadership position. Yeah. Instead of going specific? Yeah.
I just want you to be mentioning it. Because anytime you're speaking, we'll
have at least one spot to have a shout out and get our name out there.
Now, I mentioned it in Niagara last weekend.
Yes. Any other comments for Miriam?
That's good.
Great! I'm sorry, Angela?
I agree. It's great. And I think.. add a little bit, a little bit more to your
experience, because you say you have like 15 years of experience as a web developer
but you didn't specify like one experience. You can add, you can add a
little more in there. It's 15 years, you've got a lot to share.
Okay, so where we left off in our session was Bhargav was going to share his bio.
Did you still want to do that?
Yes. We'll proceed with it. Just Yes.
Great.
So should I stand?
Yes. Thanks.
I'm currently working as a functional consultant at KrishaWeb. Ecommerce
increases my dopamine levels. He says humming to the melodies of A.R. Rahman is
his full time job. Expanding the horizons of knowledge by reading is what people
will always find him doing. Bhargav is a co-organizer for the Ahmedabad WordPress
meetup and also WordCamp.
Nice! I think... did you want feedback?
Yes
Awesome. I thought you had some really good points in there. It illustrated a lot
of, you know, what you do and a little bit of your personality. And I think probably
just tightening it up a bit. Maybe starting with some of your big roles and
just saying just a little bit. Probably. It'll depend a bit on where you're
submitting the bio to. Some of them can be more and a little bit more playful and
some of them should be really short and tight. Any other thoughts? Aurooba!
I love the reference to A.R. Rahman. I would like to see maybe another sentence
about your work. Just to make it a little more balanced. I I felt had the feeling
that it's the doesn't really share a lot about your experience as much. So maybe
another sentence about that might help but otherwise really good.
Anyone else? Great, thanks very much Bhargav. And Chandrika, did you work on
your pitch and want to share it with us?
Okay, my pitch is not ready yet, I tried to work on it yesterday, but I just
couldn't get it. I just don't like it. So I think it's, I know what I want to say,
but I just can't put it in words yet. So,
okay. Yeah. If you want it to run it past us now or another time of whatever you
have currently, that's totally fine. And otherwise,
I could do it. What I have now but it's... I really don't like it. Okay, so the title
is "Building custom WordPress sites with ACF blocks." Um, "ACF provides an easy way
to build custom functionalities and templates in WordPress sites. Combining
this with Gutenberg gives more power to the users, your clients. This talk is
geared towards beginner developers who build custom WordPress sites for their
clients. You'll learn how to build ACF blocks and how these blocks can be used on
multiple sites in different ways."
Nice. Did you want thoughts from us once? Are you done?
No, no, I was done. I was done. I'm done.
Awesome
It's early. I would love to get feedback.
Great. I loved the last few sentences. I loved the like, where you specified what
people are getting out of it and who the talk is for and all those things. And
yeah, I think just working on that first part, but you already said it was kind of
rough. Yeah. Maybe something around? I'm not sure right now. It's kind of tough.
Does anybody else have thoughts on that?
It looks like Aurooba does.
Oh, sorry.
I think that maybe including who it's for? Something about who it's for in the first
part will help. And the other thing I would probably personally suggest is
mentioning that it's ACF Pro, because you can't build blocks with the free version
way.
Okay. Sure. Thank you.
I will look forward to hearing the rest of that when it's done. Does anybody else
have anything they wanted to cover before we move on to section number four?