This repository describes the Speaker Buddy System, an approach for conference speakers and organizers, to increase speaker confidence, and ensure a smooth speaker experience, before, during and after a speaking session.
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Speaker Buddy is not the same as Conference Buddy, the latter is focussed on connecting attendees, not speakers. I highly recommend visiting their website because I totally support their cause.
You can be a Speaker Buddy if you enjoy helping others to be successful during their talks.
You can help out by:
- Being kind and respectful (e.g. following the Code of Conduct of the conference).
- Announcing that you're available to help out as a Speaker Buddy (preferably do this via the conference organizers and their communication channels).
- Agreeing up front how you can help (see 1.2).
If you are going to speak at a conference and you would like some support from another speaker, then this is for you!
Once the conference agenda is known and the Speaker Buddies are confirmed by the conference organizers, contact one of the Speaker Buddies (who does not speak at the same time as you!) to ask if they are willing to support you. If they are, you can discuss the details such as:
- Help with reviewing your slides.
- Help with rehearsing your talk.
- Supporting you by sitting in the front row (smiling and nodding) at the in-person event.
- Supporting your online session by attending with their camera on, so you see a friendly face.
- Have a copy of your presentation on their machine, in case your laptop fails.
- Cloning your code repository, installing SDKs and tools on their machine, if you want to show/run code locally.
- Doing a (remote) dry run via their laptop to be completely prepared for a technical failure. (You also test your database backups right?)
- Receiving supportive and constructive feedback after your session is finished.
- Is there any other way your buddy can help you out? Can they tell a funny story during the technical issue, ask a relevant question, help out in case you get difficult questions, or do something else to put you at ease?
Even with the existence of cloud-based coding environments, I still suggest having a local environment available in case the internet connection is not good enough.
You can offer your speakers some peace of mind when they know another speaker can support them.
When preparing the Call for Papers (CfP), add a field to whatever system you're using to have the speaker indicate if they are willing to be a Speaker Buddy. Include a link to this repo so they can read more about it.
When onboarding/confirming speakers to your conference, mention the Speaker Buddy System and provide the list of speakers who have volunteered to be a Speaker Buddy.
Feel free to use this template in your communication:
Hi {speaker},
We highly encourage you to look for a Speaker Buddy before attending our conference.
A Speaker Buddy is another speaker (or co-organizer) that can help you out with:
- slide review,
- talk rehearsal,
- technical assistance (e.g. laptop failure at an in-person conference),
- or simply being there as a friend in the audience (in-person or online).
These speakers are volunteering as Speaker Buddies:
- {list of speakers and contact details}
Our conference agenda is published at {conference agenda url}, so look for a Speaker Buddy that is available during your session.
It's best to prepare well in advance. For more information on how to be prepared, read the tips at https://github.com/marcduiker/speaker-buddy.
When you prepare the conference rooms for an in-person event, label a front-row seat for the Speaker Buddy. This way, they can be supportive and help out the speaker quickly in case of technical issues.
When you prepare the online conference, ensure that the Speaker Buddy has access to the systems that are used for streaming and/or moderating. This way, they can be supportive and help out the speaker quickly.
Thank you that you want to contribute! ❤️
If you have any suggestions, please open an issue or create a pull request.
I decided to create this repository after reflecting on an unfortunate technical issue I experienced when talking at a conference. Mattias Karlsson, who was also speaking there, really saved me by using his laptop and setting up a TeamViewer session between our devices. He was also the one who coined the term "Speaker Buddy". Read the full blog post on dev.to.